Guidance

Estimated pupil numbers: guidance for completing the form

Published 9 October 2023

Applies to England

1. Introduction

The autumn census return forms the basis for calculating pupil-led funding for the following academic year for most academies. In some cases, we use estimated pupil numbers if the academy’s funding agreement includes a clause to this effect.

Please refer to the academies revenue funding allocations for more information on how your allocation is calculated.

2. Eligibility

2.1 Conditions for accessing this form

The online form is now open for institutions to provide estimated pupil numbers for the 2024 to 2025 academic year, where their funding agreement allows for estimate funding.

Please submit your estimate by 5pm on 20 October 2023. Your final budgets may be delayed if we do not receive your pupil number estimates by the above deadline.

Where estimates of pupil numbers are not provided, we will use the most recent census data to calculate your funding. If you are a growing school that is still adding year groups, this can result in a funding shortfall.

3. When to submit your estimates

You can complete your online form for the academic year 2024 to 2025 now.

The deadline for submitting your estimates is 5pm on 20 October 2023.

You can amend your submission up until the deadline It will not be possible to grant any extensions to the deadline.

4. Accessing the estimated pupil numbers form

Click on the link to the form.

4.1 Before you start

Before you start the submission process, please ensure that you:

• have a DfE Sign-in account
• are an eligible institution
• have details of your estimated pupil numbers, and the guaranteed pupil number received from your local authority, if applicable
• have evidence to support an increase in your estimated pupil numbers

4.2 DfE Sign-in

You log in to your DfE Sign-in account: 

1. When prompted, enter your DfE Sign-in credentials (this is just for authentication)
2. Choose the organisation you are completing the form for
3. The next page will display the details we hold about your organisation. This will show the name, address and URN or UKPRN of the organisation, as well as the name and email address of the person who logged into DfE Sign-in
4. If these details are correct, then all you need do is to click ‘Continue’ to step to the next page
5. If you believe they are incorrect then please complete the ESFA online enquiries form and we will investigate.  You can still proceed with your submission
6. Complete the form as instructed

Your account must be connected to the organisation you are completing the form for. You do not need to add any services in DfE Sign-in; it is used only for authentication.

If you do not have a DfE Sign-in account

You will need to create one: 

1. Select the create account button from the DfE Sign-in page
2. Enter your name and email address (use a valid business email address that contains your name)
3. We will send you an email to verify your email address; copy the code from this email and paste it into the box on the verification page
4. Create a memorable password of 8 characters or more. Your password must include 2 uppercase letters, 2 lowercase letters, and 2 numbers
5. Sign in using your new credentials, and request access to the organisation for which you would like to submit your estimates. Your request will be sent to the approver(s) at your organisation for action

Once your request to access an organisation has been approved, you can follow the steps outlined under the  already have a DfE account section to complete the form. 

You might have noticed the term ‘approver’ during account creation. An approver is someone at your organisation responsible for controlling who has access to DfE Sign-in and the services within the system. It is usually a senior person, such as an administrator or manager. 

For security reasons you will need the approval of one of your organisation’s approvers before you can access the form. 

If you need further assistance 

If you are having problems using the DfE Sign-in service, follow DfE Sign-in help. You will be able to request further assistance if required. When raising a support request, please select ‘other’. 

If you believe you are eligible to submit your estimates but have problems accessing the form, please get in touch with us via the ESFA helpdesk.

5. Completing the form

There is a ‘save and continue’ button at the bottom of each page, this will take you to the next page. The form will retain information you have saved if you sign out or if you leave it open for an extended period.

You will be presented with a number of pages to go through which will ask you to complete information related to your estimated pupil numbers. You will then need to complete the required declarations.

5.1 Your details

We will show you the information we hold about your organisation when you signed into your DfE Sign-in account. 

5.2 Your funded pupil numbers

This page shows your funded pupil numbers. For most schools, a reasonable starting point to determine your estimated pupil numbers for the 2024 to 2025 academic year is your current intake.

The table shows October census data for the 2022 to 2023 academic year and the 2023 to 2024 academic year funded numbers for your institution. Both should be used as a guide to estimate your pupil numbers for the 2024 to 2025 academic year.

5.3 Pupil’s age range

You must select the age ranges for your institution. You can select one or all of the related options on this page.

5.4 Primary, secondary and 16 to 19 pupil numbers

Depending on the option(s) you chose on the previous page, you will be presented with 1, 2 or all 3 pages. Use these to give us a detailed breakdown of estimated pupil numbers for each year. 

If there are no pupils in a particular year group, you can enter zero to continue with your form.

5.5 Guaranteed pupil number

Select the right option for your institution and continue to the next page. Depending on which option you have selected, you will be able to enter the guaranteed pupil number for your institution.

5.6 If your estimates for 2024 to 2025 are higher than your current intake

We have included your 2023 to 2024 academic year actual pupil numbers and your funded pupil numbers in this form. The form will request further information if you are adding a year group and the number of pupils in that year group differ from the number recorded on your previous census return. Please select all options that apply to you to tell us why your estimates for 2024 to 2025 are higher than your current intake.

5.7 Upload evidence if your estimates are higher than the current intake

This page will display if your current intake is higher than previous academic year. Evidence could be a revised deed of variation, a letter agreeing a change by deed of variation, a local authority email, or a revised funding agreement.

Do not include any information containing personal data.

5.8 Thank you page

Upon completion of your estimates, the form will prompt you that it is complete. However, your submission will only be considered complete when you submit your form at the summary page.

5.9 Providing additional contact details

We will ask you to enter contact details of additional personnel at your setting. We only use this information if we need to validate something in your estimated pupil numbers return.

5.10 Declarations

You must complete all declarations before you can submit your form. You will not be able to submit your form without completing this section fully.

5.11 Check your answers

You will see a summary page so that you can check your answers before submitting the form. You can change your answers using the ‘change’ link that appears next to each data entry.

You can also save this summary by clicking ‘save summary as PDF’ before you submit. Alternatively, you can download it by following the steps below.

1. On the summary page, select ‘file’ and then ‘print’. A new window will open
2. From the dropdown, select ‘save as PDF’
3. Click ‘save’

It is important to note that a PDF summary of your answers will not be accepted as proof of submitting. You must click the ‘submit’ button at the bottom of the page and receive a unique reference number for your answers to be processed.

Once submitted, we will also email you to confirm we have received your submission with a link to download your submission summary as PDF.

5.12 Confirmation

The final page confirms your submission and shows a unique reference number.

We will email you to confirm we have received your submission with a link to download your submission summary as PDF.

We will then review your submission and may contact you if additional information is required.

5.13 Resubmitting your form

If you have incorrectly submitted your estimated pupil numbers form, you can make changes and resubmit the numbers until 5pm on 20 October 2023. To do this, you’ll need to log in and resubmit the form.

You cannot amend your submission after the submission deadline. We will use your latest submission as final.

You will receive a new unique submission reference for an amended submission.

6. Enquiries

If you’ve read this guidance and have any questions about the estimated pupil numbers or how to complete the online form, please contact us via the ESFA helpdesk.

When completing the enquiry form, select ‘some other academy related query’ as your query type.