Correspondence

ESFA Update local authorities: 18 December 2024

Published 18 December 2024

Applies to England

Information: Schools, high needs and early years funding 2025 to 2026

Today, the Department for Education (DfE) announced the funding settlement for 2025 to 2026.

We have published the dedicated schools grant (DSG) funding allocations for the 2025 to 2026  financial year.  

To continue helping with the costs of the 2024 teachers’ pay awards and pensions increases, we have also published details on a consolidated core schools budget grant for special schools and alternative provision in 2025 to 2026.

We will confirm the rates for pupil premium for 2025 to 2026 in the new year.

We have updated the schools operational guide and high needs funding operational guide for 2025 to 2026 with links to the published documents.

We have also released the 2025 to 2026 authority proforma tool (APT) via the ESFA data collection portal. Emails were sent to local authorities with the details to access the portal and the password to open their APT.  

If you have not received this email, contact: [email protected]. The deadline for returning the completed APT is Wednesday 22 January 2025. 

Information: Core schools budget grant update – academy rates for April to August 2025 

At the Wednesday 30 October budget, we announced an additional £2.3 billion for mainstream schools and high needs for the 2025 to 2026 financial year. Some of this funding will cover the remaining April to August 2025 costs of the 2024 teachers’ pay award in the 2025 to 2026 financial year. This is on top of the existing funding that schools are receiving through the core schools budget grant (CSBG) in the 2024 to 2025 financial year.

For maintained schools, this will be received through their core funding allocations from April 2025.  

For academies, this will be through a continuation of the CSBG in the period April to August 2025, but with the rates reflecting five twelfths of the full-year costs.

Academies can see these updated rates in the published methodology document.

From September 2025, this funding will be rolled into academies’ general annual grant (GAG) allocations. 

Information: 2025 to 2026 high needs place change process 

We have updated the published high needs student and pupil numbers for the 2023 to 2024 and the 2024 to 2025 academic year. This data now includes the 2023 to 2024 individualised learner record (ILR) R14 data and place numbers for the 2023 to 2024 and the 2024 to 2025 academic years, for:

• further education providers

• 16 to 19 academies

• free schools and independent learning providers  

This workbook also includes data for special post-16 institutions (SPIs) and is provided for information purposes only as SPIs return ILR R14 data to Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). 

This data has been used to determine the outcomes of not agreed cases submitted by local authorities as part of the 2024 to 2025 place change process, in line with the published guidance. The outcomes will be published in January 2025. You can also use this to inform local discussions about commissioning arrangements for the 2025 to 2026 academic year. 

Information: Changes to the national non-domestic rates payment process for local authority-maintained schools 

We have published the NNDR payment process for 2025 to 2026 for billing authorities and schools confirming the process your billing authority is implementing from April 2025. 

If your billing authority is implementing the central NNDR payment process, you:  

• should not pay your business rates bill to the billing authority – we will do this on your behalf  

• will continue to receive a rates bill from the billing authority; this is for information only  

• will not receive NNDR funding as you did previously 

If your billing authority is remaining on the old NNDR arrangements, you: 

• should pay your business rates bill directly to the billing authority as previous year’s arrangement or as instructed on your rates bill for April 2025 to March 2026 

• must contact the billing authority directly for any adjustment queries related to your rates bill  

• will continue to be funded for NNDR as per current arrangements 

For NNDR enquiries contact our customer help portal. 

Information: Updated national non-domestic rates accounting guidance for local authorities and academies for 2025 to 2026 

We have published the national non-domestic rates (NNDR) accounting guidance which provides details on how local authorities and academies should account for their NNDR.   

Local authorities should refer to their completed the 2025 to 2026 financial year authority proforma tool (APT), alongside the NNDR accounting guidance.   

Academies should refer to the Academies Accounts Direction and submitting your audited 2022 to 2023 financial statements alongside the NNDR accounting guidance.

Information: October 2024 local authority webinars now uploaded to the Education and Skills Funding Agency YouTube channel 

We have published the autumn 2024 local authority webinar presentations on the ESFA YouTube channel.

These webinars are designed to cover guidance on data collections and key operational areas of work within ESFA’s funding directorate.   

You can also view the webinar slides presented at each webinar in the local authority workshops 2024 Google Drive folder. 

Information: Maximum loan amounts for advanced learner loans 

Maximum loan amounts for advanced learner loans (ALLs) will remain unchanged for the 2025 to 2026 academic year. These can be found in the maximum loans amounts for ALL designated qualifications guidance. 

For any enquiries, contact our customer help portal. 

Information:  Outcomes of the review of qualifications reform

Last week, the government announced the outcomes of the review of qualifications reform, confirming we:

• will retain 157 qualifications in the system (alongside T Levels and A levels), that were due to be defunded, to support learners and the economy
• will not be applying the previously proposed rules of combination – it should be for colleges and sixth forms to work with students to devise the best mix for each individual
• have provided certainty to education providers, students and their parents and guardians to make the position clear up to 2027
• have confirmed that T Levels are the primary technical route for 16 to 19 year olds, being based on the knowledge, skills and behaviours that employers need and including the much-valued industry placement

Read more on the outcome of the review, and the route-by-route outcomes.