Correspondence

ESFA Update local authorities: 19 March 2025

Published 19 March 2025

Applies to England

Action: Data collection – centrally employed adult education staff

On Wednesday 12 March 2025, we emailed a datasheet to all local authorities’ finance leads requesting additional information relating to centrally employed teachers and support staff employed for adult education programmes during academic year 2023 to 2024. This is a single, bespoke data collection to provide DfE with more detailed data on the usage of these staff and associated staffing costs in 2023 to 2024 than are currently gathered via the further education (FE) workforce census return.

Details and instructions are included within the datasheet you received on Wednesday 12 March 2025. Please fill in this data sheet and return to AdultCET.DATA@education.gov.uk by 5pm on Wednesday 26 March 2025.

Information: Transfer of Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) functions to the Department for Education (DfE)

ESFA will close on Monday 31 March 2025.

A letter from David Withey, Chief Executive and Accounting Officer of ESFA, to accounting officers has more information.

ESFA Update will be called DfE Update and will still be sent on a Wednesday. For help with DfE enquiries, complaints and general questions visit the customer help portal.

Information: National Insurance contributions grants

On Tuesday 18 March 2025, DfE announced the additional funding for schools and colleges to support them with the increases to employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) costs in financial year 2025 to 2026.

We have published information on the funding for NICs for:

• mainstream schools and schools with early years provision
• high needs settings, being delivered through the core schools budget grant for special schools and alternative provision
• post-16 provision

Information: Pupil premium funding rates for 2025 to 2026

DfE has confirmed schools’ pupil premium funding rates for the 2025 to 2026 financial year. The pupil premium funding rates are increasing by 2.39% compared with 2024 to 2025, in line with inflation forecasts. The new per pupil rates which will come into force on Tuesday 1 April 2025 can be found in pupil premium: overview.

We aim to publish the indicative allocations shortly.   

You can raise any queries you may have using our customer help portal.

Information: Pupil premium allocations for 2024 to 2025 financial year – quarter 4 update 

We have published the quarter 4 update for the pupil premium allocations for 2024 to 2025 financial year. Quarter 4 payments will be made to local authorities on Monday 31 March 2025.

Information: Update on adult skills funding for 2025 to 2026

We have communicated an update on adult skills funding allocations and changes to our funding methodology for academic year 2025 to 2026.

As confirmed in our allocations timeline, we are aiming to complete the issue of funding allocations for advanced learner loans, adult skills fund and adult skills fund contracts for services by the end of April 2025.

Information: 16 to 19 funding allocation statements for 2025 to 2026

Last week we started issuing 16 to 19 funding allocation statements. We aim to issue the majority of allocations by the end of April 2025. You will receive a notification once your allocation statement is available on Document exchange in the ‘documents received from ESFA’ section. We have included a breakdown of our calculation in your statement and published guidance to help you understand your statement. 

We have changed the deadline for business cases for academic year 2025 to 2026 and we will now only accept cases submitted within 4 weeks of your allocation statement being issued. We will not be able to consider late cases. Whilst the thresholds remain the same for academic year 2025 to 2026, we now calculate them using your total programme funding amount.

Further information can be found in 16 to 19 funding allocations. This information also includes the changes for business cases from academic year 2026 to 2027.

If you have any queries, use the customer help centre.

Reminder: Framework certificates must be claimed by 31 March 2025

DfE will stop funding for apprenticeship framework completion and certification on Monday 31 March 2025. Apprentices on frameworks will not be able to receive a certificate after this date, including if they have been on a break in learning. 

Providers must withdraw all learners (including those on a break in learning) by R11 return at the very latest - certificates must be claimed by 31 March 2025.

More information on prior communications can be found on completing and certifying apprenticeship frameworks and our [ESFA Update in September 2024] (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esfa-update-18-september-2024).

If you have any queries, contact us via the customer help portal.

Webinar: Risk protection arrangement (RPA) members only – summer fetes 

Wednesday 26 March 2025, 10am to midday. Register online

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Thursday 3 April 2025, 10:00am to midday. Register Online.