Guidance

Report fraud or financial irregularity to ESFA

Report suspected fraud or financial irregularity in academy trusts, colleges and independent training providers.

Applies to England

Make a report

You can report fraud or financial irregularity (including suspicions) by emailing allegations.mailbox@education.gov.uk.  

You should include (where possible):

  • your contact details
  • the name of your school, college or training provider (be specific)
  • the names of any individuals involved
  • full details of what has happened, including dates if known
  • how much has been lost, if known
  • what measures have been taken to prevent it happening again
  • whether the matter was referred to the police - if it was not reported, tell us why
  • whether insurance or the risk protection arrangement has offset the loss

We will not disclose your identity without your permission, unless there is a legal requirement to do so. If you make your report anonymously, we may not be able to investigate.

What to report

Report any knowledge or suspicions that an academy, college or training provider has:

  • claimed funding from the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) through deception
  • broken the funding rules
  • has not delivered education or training funded by ESFA

A list of Indicators of potential fraud in educational organisations lists some of the things that might indicate fraud or financial irregularity is taking place.

What not to report

We will not usually consider concerns about:

This list is not exhaustive.

After making a report

If you shared your contact details we:

  • will acknowledge your report
  • may get in touch for more information

We may not be able to share an outcome of our investigations.

If we cannot handle your report, we may refer it to another body.

Why make a report

Fraud takes away taxpayers money which should be used for schools, education and adult education. By reporting proven or suspected cases, we can:

  • launch an investigation
  • take appropriate action
  • recover any lost money

Read about some of the things you can do to protect your organisation against fraud in Reducing fraud in the education sector.

You can read reports of previous investigations for academies.

Whistleblowing

You may be protected as a whistleblower if you report something to ESFA as an employee of a school, college or independent training provider.

Find out how ESFA handles whistleblowing reports and how to make a report.

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Updates to this page

Published 4 November 2024

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