Correspondence

ESFA Update further education: 6 November 2024

Published 6 November 2024

Applies to England

Action: December 2024 college financial statements submission

We have published the 2023 to 2024 Finance Record (FR) on the college accounts direction page. This needs to be submitted with your college financial statements by Tuesday 31 December 2024. To help you complete the finance record, there is guidance available.

Colleges must complete and return the following financial accounts documents:

1. A signed copy of the audited annual report and financial statements for the college corporation/college group.
2. Audit committee’s annual report.
3. External auditor’s management letter (including the corporation’s responses to the findings raised).
4. Finance Record – the updated template requiring 2023 to 2024 outturn year financial information.
5. Audited, signed accounts of all non-dormant subsidiary companies (if any).
6. Optional additional evidence, for example, short period accounts for dissolved colleges or documentation to support moderation requests.

We will only accept submissions that have been signed off by the accounting officer.

If you have any issues with completion or submission of the return, select ‘college financial returns’ as the query type on the customer help portal.

Any college that has concerns about meeting the December deadline should speak to their Department for Education (DfE) place-based team contact as soon as possible.

Reminder: 2025 to 2026 high needs place change process closes Friday 8 November 2024

This is a reminder that the high needs place change process for 2025 to 2026 closes on Friday 8 November 2024. 

Schools and colleges should contact their local authority about their high needs places for the 2025 to 2026 academic year. Local authorities will use this process to notify us of changes to your high needs place numbers. In most cases, where no change is requested, your 2024 to 2025 academic year place numbers will be used to determine your funding allocation. 

We have published guidance on the high needs place change process.

We have also published the spring 2024 census data for high needs pupil numbers in special academies and free schools, and the place numbers for 2023 to 2024 and 2024 to 2025.

You can use this to inform local discussions about commissioning arrangements for the 2025 to 2026 academic year.  

Your feedback: Tell us about your experience of our funding service

If you receive Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) funding, we want to hear about your experience of our service. Please complete this short survey by Friday 29 November 2024. It should take you 5 to 10 minutes to complete. 

We aspire to run an excellent education and skills funding service that gives providers as much certainty as possible. The survey asks whether we deliver:

• certainty on what we pay you and when
• clarity on how to comply with funding rules
• services that are accessible and easy to use
• answers when you have funding-related queries

We will keep your personal data confidential, and your feedback will help us to improve the service.

Your feedback: Changes to the financial statement submissions process

We are planning changes to how organisations submit financial statements.

If you belong to one of the following organisations and submit financial statements to ESFA, we’d like to hear your thoughts on the proposed changes.

• Special post-16 institutions
• non-maintained special schools
• employer providers
• independent training providers

Your feedback will help us design a service that meets your needs.

How to participate

We invite you to take part in a research interview which will be:

• 45-60 minutes long
• on Microsoft Teams

To express your interest, complete this participant information sheet and consent form by 5pm on Wednesday 20 November.

We’re committed to making our services accessible. We encourage participation from individuals with disabilities, neurodivergence, and those who use assistive technology. If you need any adjustments to participate, please state this in the consent form.