High needs funding arrangements: 2021 to 2022
Information for local authorities and institutions about high needs funding arrangements for the 2021 to 2022 financial and academic year.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
Operational guide
Read the operational guide to:
- find out how the high needs funding streams work for all types of provision
- help local authorities plan their 2021 to 2022 financial year high needs funding
- help institutions and providers plan their 2021 to 2022 academic year
Special free schools adjustments: a guide for local authorities
Use the special free schools guide to understand how local authorities’ dedicated schools grants are adjusted to account for new and growing free schools.
High needs place change process
Read the guidance for an overview of the place change process for the 2021 to 2022 academic year, including how to determine place numbers and a timeline.
How to complete the high needs place change workbook
Local authorities should use these detailed instructions to complete the place change workbook for institutions in your area.
High needs place change request outcomes: 2021 to 2022
The high needs place change notification outcomes inform the funded place numbers for the 2021 to 2022 academic year in academies, free schools, further education (FE) colleges and independent learning providers.
Local authorities, academies or further education institutions can raise a query with ESFA about their 2021 to 2022 place numbers if they are not as expected.
Read the enquiry window section of the high needs place change process document to find out how to submit an enquiry.
The enquiry window closes on 5 February 2021.
Hospital education funding: guidance
Read the hospital education funding guidance to find out how local authorities can apply for changes to their hospital education funding for 2021 to 2022 financial year.
High needs student and pupil numbers: 2019 to 2020 academic year
Use the high needs student and pupil numbers recorded in the ILR and school census to inform local discussion about commissioning arrangements for 2021 to 2022.
This workbook shows:
- the actual number of pupils in special academies and special free schools as recorded in the spring 2020 school census - it also shows the place numbers for the 2019 to 2020 and 2020 to 2021 academic years (see the ‘21-22 pupil and place numbers’ tab)
- the post-16 high needs student numbers for further education colleges, Independent Learning Providers, 16 to 19 academies and 16 to 19 free schools, as recorded in the 2019 to 2020 ILR R14 data return – it also shows the place numbers for the 2019 to 2020 and 2020 to 2021 academic years (see the ‘ILR actuals and published places’ tab)
- the post-16 high needs student numbers for special post-16 institutions (SPIs) as recorded in the 2019 to 2020 ILR R14 data return – it also shows the place numbers for the 2019 to 2020 and 2020 to 2021 academic years (see the ‘SPI actuals & published places’ tab)
Further information
Read the schools operational guide: 2021 to 2022 to help plan the local implementation of the funding system for the 2021 to 2022 financial year.
Read the high needs funding 2020 to 2021: operational guide for information about the 2020 to 2021 financial year funding arrangements.
You can read the national funding formula for schools and high needs for further details of the NFF funding system for 2021 to 2022.
View the provisional national funding formula allocation tables for schools, high needs and central schools services blocks for 2021 to 2022.
Updates to this page
Last updated 16 February 2021 + show all updates
-
We've updated the high needs funding operational guidance.
-
We have published the place change request outcomes for 2021 to 2022.
-
We have updated the student and pupil numbers workbook to reflect the high needs student numbers recorded in the 2019 to 2020 ILR R14 data return.
-
We have added guidance on the place change process, how to complete the place change workbook, and census data on the number of high needs pupils and places.
-
First published.