College and local authority accountability agreements
College and local authority annual accountability agreements and Local Needs Duty information for 2025 to 2026.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
This document provides guidance for providers in scope to develop and submit an annual accountability statement (part 2) by 30 June 2025.
The guidance aligns with and simplifies the requirements for annual accountability agreements and – for further education colleges, sixth-form colleges and designated institutions – the statutory duty to review how well the education and training they provide meets local needs.
We’ve removed the need for colleges to publish 2 separate documents. They can now fulfil the requirements for both the accountability agreements and the Local Needs Duty in a single annual return.
The Local Needs Duty is a requirement of Section 52B of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, as amended by the Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022, which came into force on 28 June 2022.
The providers in scope for the annual accountability statement are all further education colleges, sixth-form colleges, designated institutions and local authorities delivering post-16 provision in excess of £1 million.
The providers in scope for the Local Needs Duty are all further education colleges, sixth-form colleges and designated institutions.
Updates to this page
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Updated 'Accountability agreements and the Local Needs Duty for 2025 to 2026', including the national skills priorities.
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Updated 'Published Accountability Statements 2023 to 2024' to include links to more providers.
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New attachment: Published Accountability Statements 2023 to 2024
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Guidance and information on this page has been updated for 2024 to 2025.
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We have updated the college and local authority accountability agreements guidance to reflect national priority sectors and programmes for 2023 to 2024.
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First published.