Correspondence

ESFA Update academies: 9 October 2024

Published 9 October 2024

Applies to England

1. Action: Submit your 16 to 19 tuition fund end of year spend for 2023 to 2024 by Friday 11 October 2024

You must submit a digital form to tell us your tuition fund spend, if your organisation received 16 to 19 tuition funding for the academic year 2023 to 2024.   

You must submit the form by 5pm on Friday 11 October 2024.   

Failure to submit a report will result in the full recovery of your tuition funding for the 2023 to 2024 academic year. 

Guidance on how to complete the digital form is available in how to complete the 16 to 19 tuition fund: 2023 to 2024 form.

2. Action: 2025 to 2026 high needs place change process

The high needs place change notification process for 2025 to 2026 is now open until Friday 8 November 2024. Schools and colleges should contact their local authorities about their high needs places for the 2025 to 2026 academic year. In most cases, if you do not request a change 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 your discussions about commissioning arrangements for the 2025 to 2026 academic year.

3. Action: Final funding claim for 2023 to 2024 window opens on Tuesday 22 October 2024

The final funding claim window will open at 9am on Tuesday 22 October 2024.   

Submit your final funding claim by 5pm on Friday 25 October 2024.  

The claim form will be available on submit learner data. The funding claims user guide is available to help you complete the form.   

If you have any exceptional adjustments to enter on the claim form, you will require prior agreement by ESFA. The claim should be supported by relevant evidence, which we may request. Any unauthorised exceptional adjustments will be disallowed.  

Your principal or delegated authority must sign your claim digitally on manage your education and skills funding by 5pm on Tuesday 29 October 2024.   

You will need to submit a claim if you receive funds through these grant-funded contracts:    

• ESFA-funded adult education budget (AEB) (adult skills, community learning, 19 to 24 traineeships and level 3 free courses for jobs offer)   

• advanced learner loans bursary (ALLB)   

The 16 to 19 delivery section of the funding claim will be included in the final funding claim for your principal or delegated authority to sign off.  

Providers with only a 16 to 19 allocation do not need to submit a funding claim at R14 but they do need to sign the R14 form digitally on manage your education and skills funding by 5pm on Tuesday 29 October 2024.   

You must not enter any adjustments relating to the earnings boost in your funding claim. We will do this after you have submitted the claim. Your indicative reconciliation statement (for grant-funded providers) will include the earnings boost that we have calculated. We will contact all providers with the details behind the calculations as we did last year. We will review claims to ensure they are substantiated by the data you have submitted in your ILR and present value for money.  

Once you have submitted your year-end funding claim on submit learner data, you will also be able to view it on manage your education and skills funding.

4. Information: Schools funding arrangements 2025 to 2026

The publication of the notional schools and high needs national funding formula (NFF) allocations for 2025 to 2026 has been delayed due to the timing of the general election.  

In advance of the Department for Education (DfE) confirming the NFF factor values and NFF allocations for 2025 to 2026, we have published a summary policy note to help local authorities, academy trusts and schools with their planning. 

This sets out the structure of the schools NFF for 2025 to 2026 (that is the factors that will be used in the NFF, and how they will operate). There will be no substantial changes to the NFF for 2025 to 2026. 

We aim to publish notional NFF allocations for schools and all supporting documents for 2025 to 2026 as soon as possible following the budget announcement on Wednesday 30 October 2024. The dedicated schools grant (DSG) allocations will then be published in December 2024.

5. Information: Updated good practice guide for streamlined energy and carbon reporting in academy trusts

We have updated our good practice guide for streamlined energy and carbon reporting (SECR) to reflect the latest emissions conversion factors. The guide will help chief financial officers, accounting officers and trustees of academy trusts to comply with their legal obligations to report energy consumption in their 2023 to 2024 accounts. 

The updated guide can be found in the full list of available good practice guides.  

These guides support trustees, accounting officers, principals and chief financial officers to develop good practice in their trust.