Guidance

Schools operational guide: 2025 to 2026

Updated 28 November 2024

Applies to England

1. Introduction

This guide helps local authorities, and their schools forums plan their implementation of the local funding system for the 2025 to 2026 financial year.

2. Expiry or review date

This guidance is for the 2025 to 2026 funding year.

3. Who is this publication for?

The guidance is for:

• local authorities

• schools forums

Throughout this guide the Department for Education (DfE) and Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) are referred to as ‘the department’: the ESFA’s functions are being transferred to other directorates in the department prior to the ESFA ceasing to exist as a separate agency from 1 April 2025.

4. Changes in 2025 to 2026

The department has published the national funding formula (NFF) for 2025 to 2026. A summary of the formula is set out in the NFF policy document, with more detailed information available in the NFF technical notes. NFF changes which affect local formulae arrangements are also covered in this guidance.

4.1 Changes to the NFF

Key changes to the schools NFF in 2025 to 2026 are:

• rolling the 2024 to 2025 teachers’ pay additional grant (TPAG), the teachers’ pensions employer contribution grant (TPECG) 2024, and the core schools budget grant (CSBG) into the NFF. For TPAG and TPECG this is done by:

  • adding amounts representing what schools receive through the grants into their baselines

  • adding the value of the lump sums, basic per pupil rates and free school meals Ever6 (FSM6) parts of the grants onto the respective factors in the NFF

  • uplifting the minimum per pupil values by the TPAG and TPECG basic per-pupil values and an additional amount which represents the average amount of funding schools receive from the FSM6 and lump sum parts of the grants

The methodology for rolling in the CSBG into the NFF is the same as for TPAG and TPECG, except that the CSBG 2024 to 2025 grant rates are uplifted to make them annualised before they are rolled in to the NFF. (This is not necessary for TPAG and TPECG, as they were already provided on a full year basis in 2024 to 2025).

• further increases to NFF factor values (on top of the amounts we have added for the TPAG, TPECG and annualised CSBG), as can be afforded following the settlement of the core schools budget for 2025 to 2026

• amending the private finance initiative (PFI) factor such that:

  • the lower of the local authority’s 2024 to 2025 PFI premises factor (as given on the 2024 to 2025 authority proforma tool (APT)) and the school’s PFI funding from the 2024 to 2025 NFF will now be taken as the baseline for calculating the 2025 to 2026 PFI factor

  • where PFI contracts expire part way through the financial year, the 2025 to 2026 PFI factor value is pro-rated accordingly

  • exceptions to the above are made for local authorities that have provided the department with an affordability model which demonstrate that a different amount is required

• some technical changes to the split sites factor which was first introduced in the 2024 to 2025 NFF.  In particular, the transitional floor protection that was included in 2024 to 2025 has now been removed. That protection was only needed in 2024 to 2025 to ensure that any school losing out from the formularisation itself was protected through the NFF floor. Some further, technical changes to the operation of the split sites factor in relation to mergers, amalgamations and de-amalgamations are covered in the split sites section of this guidance

The department has confirmed the following aspects of the high needs NFF for 2025 to 2026:

• the funding floor is set at 7% so each local authority will see an increase of at least 7% per head of their 2 to 18 population (as estimated by the Office for National Statistics (ONS))
• the gains limit is set at 10%, allowing local authorities to see gains up to this percentage increase under the formula, again calculated on a per head basis of their 2 to 18 population

4.2 Requirements on local formulae

Local authorities were required to bring their own formulae closer to the schools NFF from 2023 to 2024. This transition will continue in 2025 to 2026. In particular:

• local authorities must move their local formula factor values at least a further 10% closer to the NFF (building on the movement towards the NFF made in 2024 to 2025), except where local formulae are already ‘mirroring’ the NFF. These criteria do not apply to rates, PFI or exceptional circumstances factors. Details of how the department calculates the 10% move and how the department defines ‘mirroring’ for the purpose of the tightening criteria are given below

• for 2025 to 2026, local authorities will no longer be allowed to increase the pupil number count for schools with higher reception pupil numbers in the January 2025 census

• local authorities must follow the local formula requirements for growth funding (first introduced in 2024 to 2025), whereby additional classes (driven by basic need) must be funded by at least the minimum funding level set out in the funding calculation

• local authorities with a falling rolls fund must also continue to follow the requirements for falling rolls funding introduced in 2024 to 2025

Local authorities have the freedom to set the MFG in their local formulae between minus 0.5% and +0.0% per pupil.

From 2025 to 2026, split sites funding will be excluded from the calculation of the MFG.  This change reflects that the transitional protection that was included in 2024 to 2025 when the split sites factor was first formularised in the NFF is no longer required. The exclusion from the MFG means that schools gaining or losing split sites from 2025 to 2026 onwards will see a commensurate increase or decrease in split sites funding, without that having an impact on the rest of their formula allocations.

From 2025 to 2026, PFI funding will also be excluded from the calculation of the MFG. This reflects what most local authorities already did before 2024 to 2025 and ensures that changes in PFI funding for a given school do not impact the rest of their funding allocations.

4.3 Dedicated schools grant (DSG) transfers

Local authorities continue to be able to transfer up to 0.5% of their schools block to other blocks of the DSG, with schools forum approval. You can read further information in the transfer between blocks section.

A disapplication is required for any transfers above 0.5%, or any amount without schools forum approval; this applies to any transfers, even if an amount was agreed in previous years. Local authorities with safety valve agreements will have this managed as part of safety valve monitoring.

5. Notional special educational needs (SEN) budgets

Local authorities are required to identify a notional budget for their mainstream schools which helps them comply with their duty to use their ‘best endeavours’ to meet the special educational needs (SEN) of their pupils. The notional SEN budget is not a separate budget but is identified within a maintained school’s delegated budget share, or an academy’s general annual grant and is calculated by local authorities using their local mainstream schools funding formula factors.

The department has updated the guidance to help local authorities review their notional SEN budget calculations and to help schools understand the intended use of the notional SEN budget. All local authorities should review this calculation each year alongside their local formula to make sure that their schools notional SEN budget is a realistic amount for meeting the costs of additional SEN support up to £6,000 per pupil, noting that any shortfall in this notional budget for schools where a standardised calculation does not work can be met from additional high needs targeted funding. High needs top-up funding should be allocated in addition to the notional SEN budget for SEN provision costs (including support for pupils with education, health and care (EHC) plans in excess of £6,000 per pupil.

Further guidance can be found in the notional SEN budget for mainstream schools: operational guide. Local authorities can also review other local authorities’ current notional SEN budget calculations in section 20 of the schools block funding formula 2024 to 2025: analysis guide.

6. Reviewing and consulting on the pre-16 formula

The department recognises that timelines for review and consultation have been squeezed this year, given the delay to the NFF publication.

Local authorities must engage in open and transparent consultation with all maintained schools and academies in their area, as well as with their schools forums, about any proposed changes to their local funding formulae, including the principles adopted and any transfer of funds between blocks.

Any consultation should include a demonstration of the effect of modelling such changes on individual maintained schools and academies.

Local authorities also need to set out how their proposals meet the requirements to move the local formulae towards the NFF, if they are not already ‘mirroring’ the NFF.

Local authorities should communicate proposed formula changes to all bodies affected by the changes.

The local authority is responsible for making the final decisions on their formula; each local authority’s process should ensure that there is sufficient time to gain political approval before the APT deadline in January 2025.

Political approval means approval in line with the local authority’s local scheme of delegation, so this may be decisions made by the council cabinet, cabinet member or full council. The schools forum does not decide on the formula.

The department expects local authorities will have, as much as is possible, ensured that they allowed sufficient time for wider consultation with schools, agreement by their schools forum, and political approval where they wish to transfer funding out of the schools block, or submit a disapplication request.

Further information is included in the transfer between blocks section of this guidance.

Schools forums can meet remotely. This includes, but is not limited to, telephone conferencing, video conferencing, live webcast and live interactive streaming.

7. Disapplications

Under the finance regulations, the department allocates the DSG to local authorities to fund schools and early years establishments. The department recognises situations will arise where local authorities have unusual circumstances where particular provisions of the regulations or conditions of grant are not appropriate. Where this occurs, local authorities can make what are known as disapplication requests to the Secretary of State.

For 2025 to 2026, the department has encouraged requests to be submitted by 18 November 2024. This is necessary to provide timely answers and ensure local authorities can submit the APT by 22 January 2025, set their local funding formulae for 2025 to 2026 and issue compliant maintained school budgets by the end of February 2025.

The department has moved to a digital form for disapplication requests, that covers general, high needs, early years and block transfer movement requests. We have published guidance on completing the digital form.

Local authorities are required to comply with the duty under Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 when making decisions about disapplication proposals. Section 149 places a duty on local authorities to have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations when making decisions and delivering services. The department expects local authorities to have considered, consulted and explained the specific equality impacts their proposals might have in the disapplication request.

If an Equality Impact Assessment has not been provided to support the disapplication request it will remain on hold until this has been made available

Additional information on the process for specific requests is provided in more detail in relevant subsections of this guide.

8. Delegated funding

8.1 Local authority funding formula factors for 2025 to 2026

There are 15 allowable funding factors in 2025 to 2026; most are compulsory for all local authorities:

Compulsory

• basic entitlement

• free school meals (FSM)

• free school meals Ever6 (FSM6)

• income deprivation affecting children index (IDACI)

• minimum level of per-pupil funding for primary and secondary schools

• low prior attainment (LPA)

• English as an additional language (EAL)

• pupil mobility

• sparsity

• lump sum

• London fringe – compulsory for the eligible authorities

• split sites

Optional

• rates

• PFI factor for schools with PFI contracts

• exceptional circumstances (with the department’s agreement)

8.2 Methodology underpinning the 10% tightening requirement

Local authorities are required to move their local formula factor values at least 10% closer to the NFF factor value, except where local formulae are already ‘mirroring’ the NFF. This requirement does not apply to the optional, locally determined factors.

For the purpose of the tightening criteria, local factor values within 2.5% of the respective NFF values are deemed to be ‘mirroring’ the NFF. This means that local authorities which had factor values within +/- 2.5% of the NFF values in 2024 to 2025 will be allowed to set their 2025 to 2026 factor values anywhere within +/- 2.5% of the 2025 to 2026 NFF values. Likewise, no local authority will be required to move their factor values closer than +/- 2.5% of the 2025 to 2026 NFF because of the 10% tightening requirement.

The 10% movement is calculated such that local authorities are required to bring their local formula factor values 10% closer to the NFF, compared to the difference between the local factor value and the NFF value in 2024 to 2025. Worked examples are given in table 1 below.

For local authorities where an area cost adjustment (ACA) is applied, the comparison is made between the local factor values and the NFF factor values with the ACA applied. As such, the required movement towards the NFF is a movement to the NFF value, as adjusted by the ACA.

As part of the tightening requirement, local authorities are not allowed to ‘overshoot’ the NFF value by more than the 2.5% ‘mirroring’ threshold. As such, a local authority which had a local factor value below the NFF value in 2024 to 2025 should increase the local factor value in 2025 to 2026 to get closer to the NFF – but it cannot set the factor value more than 2.5% above the NFF value. Conversely, a local authority which had a local factor value above the NFF value in 2024 to 2025 cannot set that factor value more than 2.5% below the 2025 to 2026 NFF value. Table 1 below shows 2 examples illustrating how the tightening criteria work in practice.

Table 1: the tightening criteria in practice

Local factor value in 2024 to 2025	NFF factor value in 2024 to 2025 (including ACA)	NFF factor value in 2025 to 2026 (including ACA)	Minimum allowable local factor value in 2025 to 2026	Maximum allowable local factor value in 2025 to 2026
£500	£1,000	£1,050	£600 The minimum value is £450 less than the 2025 to 2026 NFF factor value. This is 10% less than the £500 difference in 2024 to 2025	£1,076.25 The maximum value is 2.5% above the 2025 to 2026 NFF value
£1,300	£1,000	£1,050	£1,023.75 The minimum value is 2.5% less than the 2025 to 2026 NFF value	£1,320 The maximum value is £270 above the 2025 to 2026 NFF value. This is 10% less than the £300 difference in 2024 to 2025

The allowable factor value ranges: 2025 to 2026 for each local authority have now been published.

Local authorities are not permitted to seek to disapply the tightening requirements. Instead, local authorities have a number of other options for managing any affordability constraints that occur as a result of these tightening requirements. All local authorities can make use of the 2.5% threshold for ‘mirroring’ the NFF by setting their factor values 2.5% below the NFF values (including the ACA uplift). As outlined below, local authorities are also allowed to cap and scale back overall gains for individual schools to ensure affordability. If affordability constraints remain once these options have been exhausted, local authorities can also submit disapplications to the MPPL and the MFG, as set out below.

8.3 Basic entitlement

This compulsory factor assigns funding based on individual pupils in reception to year 11 who are aged 4 and above at the start of the academic year. The number of pupils for each maintained school or academy is based on the October 2024 pupil census.

Funding is allocated according to a basic per-pupil rate.

There is a single rate for primary age pupils.

For key stage 3 and key stage 4, rates should be different as they are for the schools NFF.

The rates for primary, key stage 3 and key stage 4 pupils must be at least 10% closer to NFF values than their respective baseline values, subject to the 2.5% threshold for ‘mirroring’ the NFF described above.

Local authorities must add the rolled-in basic entitlement elements of the TPAG, TPECG and (annualised) CSBG to their basic per-pupil rates in 2025 to 2026, and the allowable values for each local authority are calculated on that basis.

From 2025 to 2026, local authorities can no longer choose to increase the pupil number count for schools with higher reception pupil numbers in the January 2024 census.

8.4 Free school meals (FSM)

This is a compulsory factor.

For FSM, factor values must be at least 10% closer to NFF factor values than their baseline factor values, except where local formulae are already ‘mirroring’ the NFF values.

The department measures eligibility for current FSM using the October census.

8.5 Free school meals Ever6 (FSM6)

This is a compulsory factor.

FSM6 factor values must be at least 10% closer to NFF factor values than their baseline factor values, except where local formulae are already ‘mirroring’ the NFF values.

Local authorities must add the rolled-in FSM6 entitlement elements of the TPAG, TPECG and (annualised) CSBG to their FSM6 rates in 2025 to 2026 and the allowable values for each local authority are calculated on that basis.

The department measures eligibility for FSM6 using the October census.

8.6 Income deprivation affecting children index (IDACI)

This is a compulsory factor and all IDACI bands must be used.

The IDACI measure uses 6 bands. Different values can be attached to each band and different unit values can be used for primary and secondary within each band. The per pupil value for each band must be at least 10% closer to the NFF than the baseline values, except where local formulae are already ‘mirroring’ the NFF values.

The 2025 to 2026 NFF, as in the previous year, uses IDACI 2019 ranks to group each lower super output area (LSOA), an area with typically about 1,500 residents, into one of 6 bands of decreasing deprivation. Table 2 below shows the requirement and ranks for each IDACI band.

Table 2: IDACI band requirement and ranks

IDACI data	Ranks	Band
Pupils in the most deprived 2.5% of lower super output areas	1 to 821	A
Pupils in the next 5% most deprived lower super output areas	822 to 2463	B
Pupils in the next 5% most deprived lower super output areas	2464 to 4105	C
Pupils in the next 5% most deprived lower super output areas	4106 to 5747	D
Pupils in the next 10% most deprived lower super output areas	5748 to 9032	E
Pupils in the next 10% most deprived lower super output areas	9033 to 12316	F

8.7 Minimum per pupil level (MPPL) for primary and secondary schools

This is a compulsory factor. It must be used in local funding formulae, at the NFF values (no ACA is applied to this variable).

The purpose of this factor is for local authorities to provide the NFF minimum per pupil levels (MPPLs) to every school. All local authorities must implement the MPPLs by following the same methodology used in the NFF, summarised below and detailed in the NFF technical note.

For all schools, the calculation for a school’s individual MPPL is:

(number of primary year groups × £4,955) + (number of key stage 3 year groups × £6,221) + (number of key stage 4 year groups × £6,831)

divided by

total number of year groups

This provides per-pupil funding of at least £4,955 for each primary school, and £6,465 for each secondary school with standard structures of 7 and 5 year groups, respectively. For middle schools, all-through schools, and other schools with a non-standard year group structure, this will produce a specific minimum per-pupil value that relates to the number of year groups in each phase.

When calculating the MPPLs for individual schools, local authorities should take the number of year groups from the APT, which is the approach taken in the NFF. When completing the APT, local authorities should only list the number of year groups in each key stage which have pupils in them at present or, will do so in the upcoming year. Where a school will have empty year groups in the upcoming year, for example, a school which has recently opened, these should not be included in the APT.

The only factors not included in per-pupil funding for the purpose of the MPPL calculation are the premises factors (split sites, rates, PFI and exceptional circumstances) and explicit growth funding. Any prior year adjustments local authorities have made should also be excluded from the calculation.

Any capping and scaling cannot take a school’s per-pupil funding, defined above, below the MPPLs. The only further calculation that local authorities can make once their formula has provided the minimum levels is, for maintained schools only, to deduct funding for de-delegated central services if the schools forum has agreed this can be taken from their budget shares in 2025 to 2026. It should be noted that the risk protection arrangement (RPA) is also exempt from the MPPLs.

Local authorities have the option, as with other aspects of the school funding regulations, to request to disapply the use of the full NFF MPPL values. Such requests should only be made on the grounds of affordability, including in relation to the circumstances set out in the final paragraph relating to the tightening of local formulae within the methodology underpinning the 10% tightening requirement section.

Disapplication requests may also be submitted to alter the NFF methodology, for specific schools only, where the local authority can show that the relevant MPPL value for that school is skewed significantly by unusual year group sizes. For example, a local authority may want to provide a higher MPPL for an all-through school with significantly larger secondary than primary year group sizes.

While the department will consider any individual request on its merits, it expects the commitment to MPPLs to be implemented in full locally, and both local authorities and schools should work on that basis. The department will scrutinise any disapplication requests in this context.

Local authorities that have discussed disapplications to MPPLs with the department in the context of safety valve agreements should make associated disapplication requests to the safety valve team at [email protected]

9. Low prior attainment (LPA)

This is a compulsory factor.

Factor values must be at least 10% closer to the NFF values than their baseline values, except where local formulae are already ‘mirroring’ the NFF values.

Local authorities must apply this factor for:

• primary pupils identified as not achieving a good level of development in the early years foundation stage profile (EYFSP)

• secondary pupils not reaching the expected standard in key stage 2 at reading, writing or maths

Since 2017 to 2018, the department has weighted the LPA factor for secondary year groups so that year-on-year fluctuations in pass-rates do not disproportionately affect the distribution of funding through the LPA factor in the mainstream formula.

In 2025 to 2026, the department has carried forward the weightings it used in 2024 to 2025 for the year 7 to year 10 cohorts, so they will apply to the year 8 to year 11 cohorts, respectively.

For the financial year 2025 to 2026, the weightings are:

• pupils in year 7 in October 2024: 58%

• pupils in year 8 in October 2024: 56%

• pupils in years 9 and 10 in October 2024: 54%

• pupils in year 11 in October 2024: 65%

The weightings will operate in the same way as in 2024 to 2025: the number of pupils identified as having LPA in the data will be multiplied by the relevant weighting to determine the number of pupils eligible for the factor for funding purposes.

Following the cancellation or incompleteness of both EYFSP and key stage 2 assessments in summer 2020 and summer 2021 due to COVID-19, local authorities will not be able to use assessment data from these years in the low prior attainment factor in their local funding formulae. Instead, local authorities will use:

• 2022 attainment data as a proxy for the missing assessments in 2021

• 2019 attainment data as a proxy for the missing assessments in 2020 for primary pupils

• 2019 attainment data from the 2024 to 2025 APT as a proxy for the missing assessments in 2020 for secondary pupils. (The 2024 to 2025 data is used for secondary since the secondary pupils who sat the 2019 assessments have now left key stage 4)

This will be reflected in the APT for both primary and secondary.

For primary schools that do not have a cohort which sat the assessments in 2019, local authorities will use data for those schools from the final 2024 to 2025 APT as a proxy for the missing assessments in 2020. This will be based on the overall primary LPA proportion for the schools in question, since the APT does not separate LPA proportions by year group for primary.

For schools that do not have a cohort which sat the assessments in 2022, local authorities will use the schools’ LPA proportions from the 2024 to 2025 APT as a proxy for the missing assessments in 2021. For secondary, this will be based on the cohort that would have sat the assessments in 2021. For primary, it will be based on the overall primary LPA proportion for the schools in question.

In the pre-populated APT, the department will use local authority average LPA ratios if the 2024 to 2025 APT data described in the paragraphs above is not available. Where the department has used local authority average LPA ratios as a proxy for the missing assessments in the APT, local authorities will be allowed to make amendments to this data where it is not deemed appropriate.

LPA funding is allocated to all pupils identified as not reaching the expected standard at the previous phase, regardless of their year group. Pupils who have not undertaken the assessment are given the overall average attainment score of their year group, so are taken into account when calculating a school’s LPA rate. For primary LPA, the ratio of eligible pupils is calculated from pupils in years 1 to 6. This ratio is then applied to all pupils in years reception to year 6. This ensures that reception pupils also attract LPA funding.

10. English as an additional language (EAL)

This is a compulsory factor.

The factor values must be at least 10% closer to NFF values than their baseline values, except where local formulae are already ‘mirroring’ the NFF values. There can be separate unit values for primary and secondary.

Pupils identified in the October census with a first language other than English attract funding for 3 years after they enter the statutory school system.

11. Pupil mobility

This is a compulsory factor.

The factor values must be at least 10% closer to NFF values than their baseline values, except where local formulae are already ‘mirroring’ the NFF values.

The mobility factor allocates funding to schools with a high proportion of pupils who have an entry date in the last 3 years that is ‘not typical’. For year groups 1 to 11, ‘typical’ means that the first census on which a pupil is recorded as attending the school (or its predecessors) is the October census. ‘Not typical’ means that the first census a pupil is recorded as attending the school is a January or May census. For the reception year, ‘typical’ means that the first census is in October or January.

The mobility methodology involves tracking individual pupils using their unique pupil ID through censuses from the past 3 years. If the first census when the pupil was in the school was a January or May census, they are a mobile pupil. This excludes reception pupils who start in January. This methodology also excludes pupils who joined in the summer term after the May census, or pupils who joined in autumn before the October census.

To be eligible for mobility funding, the proportion of mobile pupils in a school must be above the threshold of 6%. A per pupil amount is then allocated in respect of all mobile pupils above that threshold.

12. Sparsity

This is a compulsory factor.

Factor values must be at least 10% closer to NFF values than their baseline values, except where local formulae are already ‘mirroring’ the NFF values. Different values can be set in local funding formulae across all phases, as long as they all move at least 10% closer to NFF values.

The sparsity factor allocates funding to schools that are remote, measured by sparsity distances, and are small, based on average year group size.

The department measures sparsity distances using road distances. To calculate a school’s sparsity distance, the department takes all the pupils for whom it is the nearest compatible school and find the average shortest road distance from these pupils’ home postcodes to their second nearest compatible schools.

A school is eligible for sparsity funding in the NFF if:

• its sparsity distance is equal to or above the main distance threshold, or above the tapered distance threshold

• the average year group size (calculated as the APT-adjusted pupil count divided by number of year groups present at the school) is below the relevant size threshold

Table 3 below shows the requirements for sparsity funding and the tapers.

Table 3: requirements for sparsity funding and the tapers

School phase	Size threshold: maximum average number of pupils per year group	Main distance threshold: minimum average distance to second nearest compatible school	Distance taper threshold: minimum average distance to second nearest compatible school
Primary	21.4	2 miles	1.6 miles
Secondary	120.0	3 miles	2.4 miles
Middle	69.2	2 miles	1.6 miles
All-through	62.5	2 miles	1.6 miles

Local authorities can reduce the average year group size threshold or increase the distance threshold in their local funding formulae. The distance and group size taper thresholds remain optional in local funding formulae for 2025 to 2026.

12.1 Year group size taper

In the NFF, schools’ sparsity allocations are tapered according to average year group size, so that the smaller the school the greater the allocation. Schools with a sparsity distance equal to or greater than the main distance threshold (2 or 3 miles) and an average year group size of less than or equal to half the year group threshold receive 100% of the sparsity funding for their phase. See examples in annex 1: examples of how sparsity funding can be allocated. More information on the calculation of schools’ sparsity weightings and allocations is available in the NFF technical note.

Local authorities can also determine schools’ allocations by a ‘continuous’ year group size taper or a fixed sum. Unlike in the NFF methodology, the continuous taper means schools with an average year group size of half the year group threshold will not receive 100% of the sparsity funding for their phase. Instead, they will receive half the maximum. The fixed sum means all eligible schools will receive the exact same sparsity amount irrespective of their size.

12.2 Distance taper threshold

Schools with a sparsity distance between the distance taper threshold and the main threshold will attract some sparsity funding through the NFF. The amount depends on both their size and how far away their sparsity distance is from the main threshold. The closer the school’s sparsity distance to the main distance threshold, the greater their allocation.

The distance taper threshold is optional in local funding formulae for 2025 to 2026. Where used, it must be set 20% below the main distance thresholds used in local funding formulae, as in the NFF. It can be used irrespective of whether the NFF year group size taper, the continuous taper, or the fixed sum is used. The same principle applies across these methodologies, in that the further away the school is from the main threshold, the smaller their allocation. See annex 1: examples of how sparsity funding can be allocated for examples of use of the distance taper threshold.

12.3 Local flexibilities and applications

As mentioned, local authorities have some flexibility over the design of the sparsity factor in 2025 to 2026. Any changes can be made in the APT, and updates would be recalculated automatically. In addition, local authorities can make applications to the department about very small, sparse secondary schools, as follows:

• local authorities can make an application to the department to include an exceptional circumstance of up to £50,000 for very small sparse secondary schools, which would otherwise be unable to attract sufficient funding to remain viable. Local authorities can only make an application for this where schools have:

  • pupils in years 10 and 11

  • 350 pupils or fewer

  • a sparsity distance of 5 miles or more

The department produces sparsity distances for all schools in the schools block dataset and makes them available to local authorities.

If a school opens after the sparsity distances have been calculated, the local authority can make a disapplication request for the school. The process is the same for schools that are affected by neighbouring schools closing. The department will not recalculate figures during the year in these situations.

An existing school, qualifying for sparsity funding, would not lose the funding in year if a new school opened nearby.

Local authorities should agree any of the above disapplication requests with their schools forum before submitting to the department for consideration.

13. Lump sum

This is a compulsory factor.

The factor values must be at least 10% closer to NFF values than their baseline values, except where local formulae are already ‘mirroring’ the NFF values.

Local authorities must add the rolled-in lump sum elements of the TPAG, TPECG and (annualised) CSBG to their local formula lump sums in 2025 to 2026, and the allowable values for each local authority are calculated on that basis.

Local authorities can set a flat lump sum for all phases or differentiate the sums for primary and secondary schools.

All-through schools will receive the secondary lump sum value and middle schools will receive a weighted average lump sum value based on the number of primary and secondary year groups in the school.

This worked example in table 4 below shows how the lump sum amount for a middle school is calculated. In this example, the primary lump sum is set at £100,000, and the secondary lump sum is set at £120,000.

Table 4: calculation of the lump sum for a middle school

School phase rate	Lump sum amount
3 year groups at primary rate ((3 divided by 5) × £100,000)	£60,000
2 year groups at secondary rate ((2 divided by 5) × £120,000)	£48,000
Total rate for all 5 year groups	£108,000

This middle school has a total of 5 year groups: 3 year groups (years 4 to 6) attracting the primary rate, and 2 year groups (years 7 to 8) attracting the secondary rate.

Where schools have amalgamated during the financial year 2024 to 2025, they will retain 70% of the second lump sum for the financial year 2025 to 2026.

For example, assuming a lump sum of £120,000, the additional payment would be £84,000 calculated as £120,000 × 0.7 = £84,000.

For mergers involving 3 or more schools or where merging schools would have received different lump sum amounts refer to the APT guidance.

Local authorities can apply to the department to reduce this in exceptional circumstances.

Where schools amalgamate after 1 April 2025, the new school will receive funding equivalent to the formula funding of the closing schools added together for the appropriate proportion of the year. This means that they receive the combined lump sums for the remainder of the year and 70% of the second lump sum in the following year, as outlined above.

Local authorities may apply to provide a second year of protection. This needs to be discussed and agreed with schools forum.

Applications must specify the level of protection sought, although in general the department would not expect the additional protection to exceed 40% of the lump sum. The department will consider applications on a case-by-case basis.

14. London fringe

This factor is only applicable to Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, and West Sussex. It is compulsory for these local authorities.

The purpose of this factor is to support schools that have higher costs because they are in the London fringe area, and where only part of the local authority is in this area. The multiplier should be applied to the 7 pupil-led factors, the lump sum factor, the sparsity factor and the split sites factor.

For 2025 to 2026:

• local authorities which were not already using the ratio of the 2 area cost adjustments (ACAs) in 2024 to 2025 will be required to move at least 10% closer to that ratio

• local authorities which used the ratio of the 2 ACAs in 2024 to 2025 will be required to continue to do so

The 2.5% ‘mirroring’ threshold does not apply to the fringe factor. This means that those local authorities which used the ratio of the ACAs in 2024 to 2025 will continue to be required to do so exactly in 2025 to 2026, without a 2.5% margin. It also means that those local authorities which are required to move 10% closer to the ACA ratios are not allowed to ‘overshoot’ and set a fringe multiplier which exceeds the ACA differential.

The ratios of the ACAs for 2025 to 2026 are:

• Buckinghamshire: 1.0177

• Essex: 1.0347

• Hertfordshire: 1.0312

• Kent: 1.0378

• West Sussex: 1.0588

For the London fringe local authorities, the 10% tightening requirements for all factors other than the fringe factor itself will be calculated in respect of the factor values for the part of the local authority which has the lower ACA value.

15. Split sites

The split sites factor is compulsory for all local authorities, ensuring that split sites funding will be allocated consistently and fairly across the country. Local authorities are required to set their split sites factor values within the 2.5% ‘mirroring’ threshold for the NFF.

The factor is made up of 2 parts, both of which are compulsory:

• basic eligibility funding: schools must be allocated a lump sum payment for each of their additional eligible sites (up to a maximum of 3)

• distance funding: additional funding must be paid out on top of the basic eligibility lump sum for schools whose eligible sites are separated by more than 100 metres (by road distance) from the main site

The basic eligibility criteria for split sites funding requires additional sites to:

• be separated from the school’s main site by a public road or railway

• have a building on them which is maintained by the school, and which is used for the education of 5 to 16- year-old pupils in mainstream education more than 50% of the time. This excludes playing fields, ancillary buildings and buildings leased out full time by the school to another entity

Further details on the eligibility criteria are set out in annex 5: split site eligibility criteria.

Funding for the distance element should be allocated through a tapered approach, beginning at 100 metres, with allocations increasing linearly up to 500 metres, from which point schools should receive the total maximum funding allowed.

The NFF lump sum for basic eligibility is £54,000 and the NFF maximum distance funding is £27,000. Local authorities are required to uplift these values with their respective ACAs in their local formulae and set their local factor values within the 2.5% ‘mirroring’ threshold of the ACA uplifted lump sum value. (For local authorities in the London fringe area, the relevant ACA as regards the split sites factor value will be the lowest ACA that applies within the local authority).

The number of additional sites that schools can receive funding for should be capped at 3 per school. If a school has more than 3 additional sites, the distance funding should be calculated based on those that are furthest away from the main site.

This worked example in table 5 below shows how split site funding for schools is calculated. The example is based on a local authority with an area cost adjustment of one.

Table 5: split site funding calculation for schools

	School A - has one additional site, located 400 metres from the main school site	School B - has 2 additional sites, one located 175 metres from the main school site, the other located 300 metres from the main school site
Basic eligibility	Funding = 1 × £54,000 = £54,000	Funding = 2 × £54,000 = £108,000
Distance eligibility	Distance weighting = 1 - ((500 - 400) divided by (500 - 100)) = 0.75 Funding = 0.75 × £27,000 = £20,250	Distance weighting 1 = 1 - ((500 - 175) divided by (500 - 100)) = 0.19 Distance weighting 2 = 1 - ((500 - 300) divided by (500 - 100)) = 0.5 Total distance weighting = 0.19 + 0.5 = 0.69 Funding = 0.69 × £27,000 = £18,630
Total allocation for split sites	Total = £54,000 + £20,250 = £74,250	Total = £108,000 + £18,630 = £126,630

15.1 New sites and/or changes to existing sites

It is the responsibility of local authorities to inform the department of new sites or changes to existing sites. This should be done as changes occur throughout the year, to ensure that the department’s record of eligible split sites is correct and up to date. The department will then assess eligibility accordingly and provide subsequent distance calculations if eligible.

Information on changes to split site eligibility should be sent to [email protected]

The deadline for changes to split sites to be incorporated into the pre-populated APT is 16 December 2024.  

In line with other factors in the schools NFF, and local authority formulae, funding for split sites will be lagged. Funding changes for new eligible sites will be made annually as part of the usual APT process. Schools should receive funding in the following year based on their split sites’ eligibility at the time of the APT deadline in January. (For example, if a school starts using a new eligible site at the start of an academic year, that site should be included in the following year’s APT. As a result, funding will flow through from the start of the following financial year for maintained schools, and the following academic year for academies). Conversely, where changes to school estates happen in-year, leading to a school losing a site, the school should continue to receive split sites funding for the remainder of that financial year (or academic year for academies).

Exceptions to this are:

Mergers and amalgamations

Where a school becomes eligible for split site funding as a result of a merger or an amalgamation, the relevant split sites funding should come into effect once the school no longer receives the 70% of the second lump sum in the financial year after the amalgamation. (However, if a local authority chooses to support the school with 40% of a second lump sum in the second financial year after the amalgamation, the school will benefit from both that and split site funding in that year).

De-amalgamations

In the case of de-amalgamations, where the 2 new schools will each receive a lump sum with immediate effect, any funding previously attracted through the split sites factor, which the new separate schools are no longer eligible for, should cease immediately. This is to ensure schools are not funded for both an additional lump sum and split sites funding at the same time.

Funding for split sites through the NFF to local authorities will be based on the department’s recorded list of eligible schools approximately one month before the NFF is published each year. Every year, the department will notify local authorities of the deadline for updates to the list ahead of the NFF publication.

As it is the responsibility of local authorities to inform the department of schools’ split site eligibility – for both maintained schools and academies – the department recommends that local authorities issue a request to all schools in the local authorities twice a year for information on any changes in split site eligibility: firstly, ahead of the deadline for inclusion in the NFF, and secondly, ahead of the deadline for inclusion in the APT. Failure to notify the department of eligible split sites can result in the local authority having to fund the site through its local formula, without receiving commensurate funding through the NFF.

16. Rates

This is an optional factor.

In 2025 to 2026 it remains optional for billing authorities to implement the central national non-domestic rates (NNDR) payment process where the department pays the NNDR bills on behalf of local authority maintained schools and academies. Local authorities whose billing authority remains on the existing NNDR process will continue to include NNDR data in the APT as in previous years.

All local authorities were required to enter an estimate for their 2024 to 2025 NNDR in the 2024 to 2025 APT. This has informed the NFF NNDR funding for 2025 to 2026.

For local authorities, whose billing authority is not on the central payment system, any adjustments to 2023 to 2024 rates (or inflationary increases to 2024 to 2025 rates) amounts included in the 2024 to 2025 APT have also formed part of the 2025 to 2026 NFF NNDR allocation. NFF NNDR funding for these local authorities also remains lagged, as in previous years.

Local authorities implementing the central NNDR payment process for April 2025:

• must upload their schools rates data for April 2025 to March 2026 to the NNDR online portal between 1 April 2025 and 22 May 2025 (these dates are provisional and subject to change)

• can submit adjustment claims to schools rates bills for 2025 to 2026 using the NNDR online portal from 23 May 2025 to 30 January 2026 (these dates are provisional and subject to change)

The department confirmed the payment process for April 2025 to billing authorities in December 2024.

NNDR payments will be made to billing authorities in June 2025, October 2025 and March 2026.

Rates should continue to be reflected in the section 251 (s251) outturn statement, and in each school’s accounts.

All state funded schools will retain liability for their own business rates, except for community and voluntary controlled schools for which liability will continue to rest with the local authority. Liable parties will continue to retain responsibility for the payment of any penalty charges incurred because of late or non-payment in instances where they are at fault, for example, if an academy converter fails to inform their billing authority of their conversion.

For those local authorities, whose billing authority is adopting the central payment process where a late or missed payment arises because of a department error, the responsibility of schools (or local authorities for community or voluntary controlled schools) for payment of any resulting penalty charges is waived and the department will cover any penalty charges incurred. Examples of such cases could include late payment due to processing delays or data upload failure.

For local authorities, whose billing authority decides they are not adopting the central NNDR payment process for April 2025, there are no changes to the existing NNDR arrangements.

Local authority DSG allocations will include the 2025 to 2026 NFF NNDR amount. Local authorities should include the 2025 to 2026 NFF NNDR amount in schools’ budgets. Further information is available in the 2025 to 2026 APT guidance.

NNDR adjustments due to revaluations for 2024 to 2025 will be submitted in the 2025 to 2026 APT by local authorities not on the centralised payments system. For local authorities, whose billing authority is on the central payments process, the department only expects to see adjustments such as revaluations in the 2025 to 2026 APT which occurred in the last quarter of 2023 to 2024 (January 2024 to March 2024) and were not included in the 2024 to 2025 APT. Any prior year 2024 to 2025 adjustments for local authorities whose billing authority have implemented the centralised payment process will have been paid in-year, as the department pays the actual bill.

In 2-tier local authorities, all billing authorities need to agree to implement the central payment process. If mutual consent is not reached it will not be possible for any billing authority to adopt the central payment process.

17. Private finance initiative (PFI) contracts

This is an optional factor.

The PFI factor is typically used to cover situations where funding for the PFI ‘affordability gap’ is passed through to schools, and where schools then pay it back to the local authority. It can also cover situations where schools face unavoidable extra premises costs related to the PFI contracts – over and above what other schools face.

The main purpose of the factor is to cover additional costs related to the cost of building the schools themselves. 

Revenue costs, such as for facilities management and energy, are costs which all schools face. These costs are covered by the funding schools receive from the other formula factors in their local authority’s funding formula and would not normally constitute a valid reason for additional funding through the PFI factor. The department would only consider limited funding to support these costs on a case-by-case basis in extreme cases where it can be shown that these costs are excessively high, and the excessive costs cannot be renegotiated. Agreement must be sought from the department before any funding for such revenue costs is included in the PFI factor.

Methodologies for funding PFI schools must be objective and clear, and capable of being replicated for academies. There may be different arrangements between contracts but, within a contract, all PFI schools should be treated on a consistent basis.

For each PFI project where there is a PFI factor, local authorities are expected to have an affordability model covering the whole term of the PFI scheme (typically 25 to 30 years) to substantiate the amount of funding allocated through the PFI factor. The department reserves the right to ask to see and review these models.

The PFI funding that local authorities receive through the NFF is calculated as the lower of:

• the previous year’s PFI factor allocation in the NFF, uprated by Retail Price Index excluding mortgage interest payments (RPIX)
• the previous year’s PFI factor allocation in the local formula, uprated by RPIX

Local authorities wishing to receive a higher NFF uplift need to submit an application to the department, accompanied by a clear affordability model to substantiate the requested increase. This should be sent to [email protected]

The department will also request to see affordability models where contracts are due to expire within the next one to 2 years. Any remaining reserves at the end of the contract will need to be returned to the department, as the department would not fund anything through the PFI factor which is above and beyond what the local authority needs to cover the affordability gap and any unavoidable extra premises costs as described above.

You can read further information on the PFI factor in the additional guidance published alongside this operational guide.

18. Exceptional circumstances

This is an optional factor.

Local authorities can apply to the department to use exceptional circumstances relating to school premises, for example rents, or joint-use sports facilities.

Local authorities should only submit applications where the value of the factor is more than 1% of a school’s budget and the factor applies to fewer than 5% of the schools in the local authority’s area. Local authorities should submit requests annually for approval. Even where local authorities received approval in 2024 to 2025, they should re-apply to the department, if the criteria are still being met.

Local authorities should submit requests for all exceptional circumstances in 2025 to 2026 by the disapplication deadline dates, setting out the rationale for the factor, and demonstrating that the criteria are met.

The deadline date for local authorities to submit a request for exceptional circumstances was 18 November 2024. This was to ensure decisions are communicated back to local authorities prior to the APT submission deadline.

Exceptional circumstances that have previously been approved include:

• rents

• joint use of leisure facilities by contractual agreement

• building schools for the future (BSF) schemes (additional contribution to lifecycle maintenance costs)

• hire of PE facilities

• school with a farm included as part of its educational provision

Exceptional circumstances that do not meet the department’s policy:

• utility costs for any type of building
• funding leases for costs other than delivering education
• circumstances where costs to the school do not exceed 1% of its budget share
• rental costs for local authority-owned facilities that are used for the purpose of delivering the curriculum (for both maintained schools and academies)

Supporting evidence must be provided with all requests, and for service level agreements (SLAs) and licences, the department will require:

• in date agreements
• agreements confirming revenue costs
• confirmation of hours and the facilities/premises being used
• detail of premises
• current invoices

Each application is considered on its own merits/on the evidence provided, and it should not be assumed that an application would be approved simply because it falls into one of the categories shown above or has been approved in prior years. The supporting information should evidence how the costs are exceptional and unavoidable.

Please contact [email protected] with any questions about a school’s eligibility.

The department will contact local authorities if the evidence provided is not sufficient. However, failure to provide the necessary supporting evidence may result in the disapplication request being rejected.

Local authorities are not obliged to request additional factors, but in considering whether to do so, they should look at the exceptional circumstances of academies and free schools as well as maintained schools.

19. Variations to pupil numbers

Local authorities are no longer expected to request approval from the department to increase the pupil numbers used for calculating funding for specific schools where:

• there has been, or is going to be, a reorganisation

• a school has changed, or is going to change, its admission limit

However, the department expects local authorities to present any pupil variations to their schools forum, to illustrate the impact to overall funding, and on specific schools’ budgets.

The department wants to continue to provide protection for all schools, including those where pupil numbers fall between census counts from one year to the next. This means that any request for a negative adjustment still requires a disapplication and compelling evidence to support it. Other increases not falling within the categories above would require a disapplication request.

Where a new school is due to open, local authorities must estimate the pupil numbers expected to join the school in September and fund accordingly, explaining the rationale underpinning the estimates.

Under the regulations, local authorities must estimate pupil numbers for all schools and academies, including free schools, where they have opened in the previous 7 years, and are still adding year groups. Local authorities can adjust estimates each year, to take account of the actual pupil numbers in the previous funding period. You can read further information in the treatment in the APT of new and growing schools section.

All mainstream free schools are recoupable from the first year of opening. This means the department will provide funding directly to the free schools opening, and recoup the funding from local authorities from the estimated pupil numbers in the APT.

Whilst the growth fund is a suitable route for short-term increases in pupil numbers and bulge classes, local authorities should vary pupil numbers in situations where the scale of change in numbers is sufficiently great and permanent that it should be applied to all factors in the formula.

If pupil numbers are not adjusted upwards to reflect actual intake, the department will adjust amounts recouped to enable the department to properly fund academies and free schools affected by this.

You can read further information in the flowchart at annex 2: funding for growing schools about when to request a variation, and when to use the growth fund. A text version of the flowchart is at annex 2a: funding for growing schools.

20. Minimum funding guarantee (MFG)

Local authorities will continue to set a pre-16 MFG in their local formulae, to protect schools from excessive year-on-year changes.

Local authorities will be able to set an MFG between minus 0.5% and +0.0% per pupil compared to the baseline. Any local authorities wanting to set an MFG outside of these parameters must submit a disapplication request. Applications to set a lower MFG than minus 0.5% will only be considered on the grounds of affordability where local authorities have already exhausted the flexibility available from the 2.5% threshold for ‘mirroring’ the NFF as well as capping and scaling - see final paragraph within the methodology underpinning the 10% tightening requirement section.

Local authorities must include funding representing the funding allocated through TPAG, TPECG and (annualised) CSBG in respect of their reception to year 11 pupils into the baseline. This includes the grants’ basic per-pupil, FSM6 and lump sum components. The required adjustment will be included in the APT when it is made available to each local authority. The funding added to the baseline is based on pupil numbers from the APT itself rather than the pupil numbers underpinning the actual TPAG, TPECG and CSBG allocations. That is to ensure that changes in pupil numbers do not distort the funding protected through the MFG in per pupil terms.

Local authorities need to consult on any changes to the level of the MFG, as with the rest of the formula.

The MFG applies to pupils in reception to year 11. Early years pupils and post-16 pupils are excluded from the calculation.

The following elements of funding must be added to schools budget shares before the MFG calculation:

• funding deducted through the negative factor for schools entered into the risk protection arrangement as set out in the school finance regulations

• funding for de-delegated services that have been agreed with the schools forum under regulations as set out in the school finance regulations

• negative adjustments for excluded pupils during the year as set out in the school finance regulations

The following elements of funding are automatically excluded from the MFG calculation, as not doing so would result in excessive protection, or would be inconsistent with the school finance regulations:

• the 2025 to 2026 lump sum: this is excluded from both the baseline and 2025 to 2026 funding so that schools are protected against significant change in the lump sum between years
• any higher lump sum paid under the regulations in 2024 to 2025 for amalgamated schools: this is excluded from the baseline only
• any higher lump sum to be paid under the regulations in 2025 to 2026 for amalgamating schools: this is excluded from the 2025 to 2026 funding only
• the 2025 to 2026 sparsity factor: this is excluded from both the baseline and 2025 to 2026 funding so that schools are protected against significant change in the sparsity value between years
• rates: these are excluded from both the baseline and 2025 to 2026 funding, at their respective values for each year
• any positive adjustments for excluded pupils during the year as set out in the school finance regulations
• split sites funding: this is excluded from both the baseline and 2025 to 2026 funding, at their respective values for each year (this includes any London fringe uplift funding applied to the split sites funding in relevant local authorities) - this exclusion ensures that funding increases and decreases in line with split site eligibility resulting from changes to the school estate
• PFI funding: this is excluded from both the baseline and 2025 to 2026 funding, at their respective values for each year - this ensures that changes in PFI funding do not impact on other aspects of school funding

The requirements for the MFG calculation are set out in detail in the school finance regulations.

The school finance regulations relating to the MFG allow for technical adjustments. These do not need authorisation from the Secretary of State but will need to be shown and explained in the tables contained within the APT. They include:

• where a budget was held centrally in the previous financial year and has now been delegated - this could include services that were previously funded centrally but have now been delegated, or additional funding released to schools as historic commitments have ended

• transfer of funding from the schools block to the high needs block, but only where the high needs block is now responsible for funding amounts that had previously been met by a school’s delegated budget; in other words, there is a transfer of funding responsibility, not just a transfer of funding between blocks to meet cost pressures

All other funding will be in the MFG baseline and there will be no other automatic adjustments. Local authorities can, however, exclude other premises factors from the MFG without a disapplication, if they wish to ‘mirror’ the NFF.

All approvals to disapply the MFG for 2024 to 2025 were specific to that year and the department does not expect these to be repeated. The department will not carry forward any previous approvals.

The deadline for local authorities to submit any applications to disapply the MFG for 2025 to 2026 was 18 November 2024, for them to be considered and decisions provided prior to the APT submission deadline.

The digital proforma continues to be used for all disapplication requests. It is important that local authorities use this route for submitting requests. This will enable the department to process and understand the details of each request more quickly.  All safety valve local authorities have been contacted individually with details about how they should submit disapplication requests for 2025 to 2026.

Applications to disapply the MFG for individual schools will only be considered if there is a significant change in a school’s circumstances or pupil numbers. The department will only consider requests where the inclusion of a factor in the MFG will lead to significant inappropriate levels of protection. Local authorities should provide detailed information on the financial impact of any request.

Examples of MFG disapplication requests that have been approved previously include:

• where the normal operation of the MFG would produce perverse results for very small schools with falling or rising rolls

• secondary schools that are admitting primary age pupils who would otherwise be over protected at the secondary age weighted pupil unit of funding

• where over protection would otherwise occur, for example, where additional funding has been distributed in the previous year and the local authority can demonstrate that the funding is genuinely one-off

The worked example in table 6 below shows how the MFG will be calculated (based on a MFG of 0.0%).

Table 6: calculation based on MFG of 0.0%

Line	Description	Items and calculation	Amount
1	School budget share (SBS) 2024 to 2025 (inclusive of any MFG and capping)	N/A	£3,010,000
2	TPAG, TPECG and CSBG adjustment for 2024 to 2025 (includes an uplift for annualised CSBG)	N/A	£200,000
3	2024 to 2025 rates	N/A	£40,000
4	Additional lump sum for schools amalgamated during 2023 to 2024	N/A	£105,000
5	2025 to 2026 lump sum	N/A	£130,000
6	2025 to 2026 sparsity value (including any additional sparsity funding for very small schools	N/A	£25,000
7	Agreed MFG exclusions and technical adjustments	N/A	£0
8	2024 to 2025 MFG baseline (including TPAG, TPECG and annualised CSBG)	1 + 2 – (3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7)	£2,910,000
9	Funded number on roll in 2024 to 2025	N/A	500
10	MFG baseline value per pupil	N/A	£5,820
11	MFG protected value per pupil	10 × (100% + MFG threshold)	£5,820
12	Formula funding 2025 to 2026 (includes rates)	N/A	£3,102,000
13	2025 to 2026 rates	N/A	£42,000
14	2025 to 2026 lump sum	N/A	£130,000
15	2025 to 2026 sparsity value (including any additional sparsity funding for very small schools)	N/A	£25,000
16	Agreed MFG exclusions and technical adjustments	N/A	£0
17	2025 to 2026 base funding	12 - (13 + 14 + 15 + 16)	£2,905,000
18	Funded number on roll in 2025 to 2026	N/A	500
19	2025 to 2026 base funding per pupil	17 divided by 18	£5,810
20	Guaranteed level of funding	11 × 18	£2,910,000
21	MFG adjustment	20 – 17	£5,000
22	Final 2025 to 2026 SBS	12 + 21	£3,107,000

The MFG calculation for mainstream schools applies only to schools block funding. Funding from the early years block, high needs block (including for PRUs and AP schools) or from the department for post-16 pupils is excluded from the calculation, so has not been shown in table 6, as it does not form part of the schools block formula funding.

The department will provide local authorities with a MFG exclusion model to account for infrastructure changes to ensure a consistent methodology to those local authorities that have received approval to disapply the MFG because the profile of primary and secondary age pupils in a school is changing

21. Capping and scaling

The department will again allow overall gains for individual schools to be capped as well as scaled back to ensure that local formulae are affordable.

Local authorities can continue to choose to cap any gains schools receive through the 2025 to 2026 local formula, unlike the NFF where no gains cap is applied. Capping and scaling must be applied on the same basis to all schools.

Local authorities and their schools forums will therefore need, as part of their formula modelling, to determine whether and how to limit gains. This remains a local decision.

The department applies any capping and scaling to academy budgets on the same basis as for maintained schools, although the values may differ from those shown in the APT since the actual baseline position for the academy may not be the same as that shown in the dataset.

Capping and scaling factors must not be applied to schools that have opened in the last 7 years and have not reached their full number of year groups. This definition of new and growing schools does not include existing schools that are extending to include a new phase and have empty year groups in the new phase.

Capping and scaling cannot take a school below the MPPLs.

Should local authorities elect to apply a gains cap in 2025 to 2026, the cap must be set at least as high as the MFG threshold. This ensures all schools retain any gains up to the MFG threshold even where a cap is applied.

22. Redetermination of budget shares

It is not permissible to make an in-year redetermination of schools budget shares other than in the explicit circumstances allowed for within the school finance regulations which relate to:

• sixth form funding

• early years funding

• reallocation of funding for excluded pupils

• rates

• risk protection arrangements

Therefore, any in-year underspends that are not covered by the above should be carried forward to the next funding year.

For local authorities that have an overall DSG surplus, any DSG underspend brought forward from the previous year can be used to support the growth or falling rolls fund in the schools block, or to support the CSSB, the high needs block, or the early years block. For local authorities with an overall DSG deficit, further information is provided in the DSG deficits and high needs exceptional funding section.

The local authority will need to consult its schools forum and will have to approve allocations from the underspend to any central budgets, where amounts must be approved by the schools forum.

Alternatively, local authorities can carry forward an underspend to the next funding period and allocate it to schools via the funding formula. In this situation, the local authority will again need to consult with its schools forum. In-year reallocations to schools cannot be made as these do not comply with the annually made school finance regulations.

23. Risk protection

Local authority maintained schools have been able to join the risk protection arrangement (RPA) since April 2020.

Local authorities may de-delegate funding from primary and/or secondary schools for schools entered into the RPA.

Local authorities are alternatively able to opt maintained schools into the RPA on a school-by-school basis and will need to do this for special schools and pupil referral units (PRUs).

The department operates a process whereby a deduction is made for the appropriate value, from the local authority’s DSG, as membership becomes known through an online form. Further guidance can be found in the risk protection arrangement for schools guide.

If local authorities are signing up any or all their maintained schools for a particular phase to become RPA members from the start of the new financial year 2025 to 2026, they must enrol schools through the link above to ensure schools are assigned to the correct RPA scheme rules. Appropriate deductions will then be made to DSG payments to local authorities to reflect the RPA membership.

In this situation, local authorities must include a factor that enables them (for their maintained schools) to determine and, if necessary, re-determine the schools’ budgets to take account of the cost of the RPA.

The cost of the risk protection arrangement is reviewed annually to ensure breadth of cover and value for money are balanced. The RPA contribution rate for 2025 to 2026 was published in December 2024.

24. New energy supply scheme for schools

The department is introducing a new energy supply scheme for schools, to be known probably as ‘DfE Energy’, which allows schools and academy trusts to buy into the department’s own supply contract with Crown Commercial Service. This is currently in pilot stage and should be rolled out for maintained schools from April 2025.

Schools will be responsible for paying their own bills when they join this scheme.  However, to protect the Secretary of State in the event that a school does not pay a bill for energy that has been supplied, the department is adding a new regulation to the school finance regulations for 2025 to 2026.

This regulation will require local authorities to include in their formula a provision that allows them to deduct money from a school’s budget share when the school has joined ‘DfE Energy’, and the department informs the local authority that the school has failed to pay within 3 months an amount that is properly due under the scheme. The provision will also cover cases where a competent court has ruled that the sum is due.

The department will recover the money from the local authority by reducing a future DSG payment, as is done in the case of the RPA.

25. Redetermination of budgets where pupils have been excluded

Where pupils are excluded, funding should flow in-year from the school that has excluded the pupil to the provision that takes responsibility for the pupil. If a school subsequently admits a pupil who has been permanently excluded during that financial year, it should then receive additional funding.

The provisions here also apply to pupils who leave a mainstream school for reasons other than permanent exclusion and are receiving education funded by the local authority other than at a school.

The provisions also act independently of whether a particular pupil has been on the census in the first place, and whether the school has received funding for them.

26. Deductions from the excluding school’s budget

When a pupil is excluded from a mainstream maintained school, the local authority must deduct from the school’s budget in-year the amount within the formula relating to the age and personal circumstances of that pupil, pro rata to the number of complete weeks remaining in the financial year from the ‘relevant date’. This means the deduction should cover not just the basic entitlement but also the relevant amounts for pupil-led factors, such as FSM or EAL, where the pupil would attract funding through those criteria.

Where the pupil is funded according to the post-16 formula, the amount attributable to the pupil will be the relevant national funding rate. Therefore, this national funding rate per pupil can be deducted from the excluding school’s budget. The school finance regulations, however, only apply to mainstream maintained schools.

The ‘relevant date’ is the sixth school day following the date of permanent exclusion.

Table 7 below demonstrates a worked example of how the deduction from the excluding school’s budget should be calculated, for a given set of factor values, where the ‘relevant date’ is 1 October, with 26 weeks remaining in the financial year.

Table 7: deduction calculation from an excluding school’s budget

Funding formula factor	Amount
Basic entitlement	£5,422
FSM	£495
FSM6	£1,555
EAL	£1,595
Sub-total	£9,067
Pro-rata total for 26 weeks	£4,533.50
Deduction from excluding school’s budget	£4,533.50

The only exception to using the number of weeks remaining in the financial year is where the exclusion takes place after 1 April, in a school year where the pupil would normally have left at the end of that school year. In that case, the calculation is based just on the number of weeks left until the end of the school year.

Where the excluded pupil is eligible for the pupil premium, the pupil premium itself cannot be recovered from the school from which a pupil is excluded, but the budget share must be adjusted for the pupil premium on the same basis as the calculations above. This part of the regulation also applies to special schools and PRUs.

The deduction should also include the amount of a financial adjustment order as made under regulation 25(5)(b) of The School Discipline (Pupil Exclusions and Reviews) (England) Regulations 2012, where this is relevant.

The adjustment for a particular exclusion relates only to the current financial year and cannot be applied to subsequent years. As set out in the annually made school finance regulations, any deductions or increases relating to pupil exclusions are not included in the MFG. A deduction can be made even if it reduces the budget share below the MFG and an increase will be in addition to the MFG.

The funding deducted should then be used by the local authority to add funding to the receiving school’s budget share (see below) and/or to help with the costs of making AP for the excluded child. Further information on the funding of AP can be found in the high needs funding: 2025 to 2026 operational guidance and you can also read further guidance on alternative provision free school revenue funding.

27. Additions to the admitting school’s budget

Where a mainstream maintained school admits a pupil who has previously been permanently excluded, the local authority must increase the school’s budget in-year.

The increase must be at least the amount of the deduction taken off the excluding school, multiplied by the number of complete weeks remaining in the financial year, and divided by the number of complete weeks remaining in the financial year from the ‘relevant date’.

In the example above, if a school then admitted the pupil from 1 January, this is with 13 weeks of the financial year remaining. As this is half the 26 weeks originally remaining, the admitting school should have its budget increased by at least £2,266.75.

Where the pupil is eligible for the pupil premium, the same principles apply as set out above. The principles also apply where the school’s governing body subsequently reinstates a permanently excluded pupil. The increase can also include an amount up to the amount of the financial adjustment order where this was applied to the excluding school.

28. Academies

Most academies have provisions in their funding agreement that require the same adjustments to their budgets if requested to do so by their local authority. The wording in model funding agreements states:

“If asked to by a local authority, the academy trust must enter into an agreement with that local authority that has the effect that where:

• the academy admits a pupil who has been permanently excluded from a maintained school, the academy itself, or another academy with which the local authority has a similar agreement; or

• the academy trust permanently excludes a pupil from the academy the arrangements for payment will be the same as if the academy were a maintained school, under regulations made under section 47 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998”

The adjustments should also relate to the local authority financial year. Local authorities can change this to the academy financial year, by local agreement.

It is possible to have a local agreement that adjustments will be made in line with the school or academy’s funding period, with academy adjustments being made on an academic year and maintained schools adjustments being made on a financial year. If these amounts are no greater than those specified in the operational guide, this would constitute a local agreement and would need to be agreed with individual academies.

Some of the oldest academies do not have any provisions in their funding agreement. In these situations, any adjustments would have to be by agreement between the local authority and academy.

29. Inter-authority funding transfers

There are education regulations ^{[footnote 1]} covering the movement of excluded pupils across local authority boundaries:

• The Education (Amount to Follow Permanently Excluded Pupil) Regulations 1999

These regulations cover situations where a pupil is excluded from a maintained school in one local authority, and is either:

• subsequently provided with education in the same financial year at a maintained school, or otherwise than at school (for example, in AP) in a second local authority

• subsequently provided with education in the same financial year at a PRU, or otherwise than at school in a second local authority, and then at a maintained school or otherwise than at school in a third local authority

The calculation is on the same basis described in the deductions from the excluding school’s budget section, using the number of weeks remaining in the financial year from the ‘relevant date’, but the payments are between the authorities concerned.

There would also be a proportional repayment if the pupil were subsequently reinstated by the governing body. The high needs funding: 2025 to 2026 operational guidance provides further information on the funding of AP for excluded pupils by local authorities.

30. Growth funding

Growth funding is provided within local authorities’ schools block DSG allocations.

For 2025 to 2026, it will be calculated using the same methodology as previous years, based on the growth in pupil numbers between the October 2023 and October 2024 censuses. This is detailed in the schools NFF technical note

The growth allocations for each local authority will be £1,570 per primary pupil and £2,350 per new secondary pupil, plus a lump sum of £77,225 for each new school (identified from the latest census data). Allocations are subject to an ACA.

Unlike the other factors in the NFF, provisional growth allocations are not published. This is because growth funding is based on the latest pupil data, recorded in the October 2024 census. Growth allocations are communicated to each local authority within their DSG settlement.

The department will not offer any growth funding protection in 2025 to 2026 - following the same approach as for 2024 to 2025.

As growth funding is within the schools block, a transfer of funding from the schools formula into the growth fund would not be treated as a transfer between blocks.  

The schools forum must be consulted on and agree the total size of the growth fund. In addition, it should be consulted before any expenditure from the growth fund is incurred. The schools forum should receive regular updates on the use of the funding. Any in-year reduction to the growth fund needs to be agreed with the schools forum.

The growth fund can only be used to:

• support growth in pre-16 pupil numbers to meet basic need

• support additional classes needed to meet the infant class size regulation

• meet the revenue costs of new schools (these are new schools identified from the latest census data)

• meet the revenue costs, for schools, of removing or repurposing surplus places

The growth fund must not be used to support:

• schools in financial difficulty: any such support for maintained schools should be provided from a de-delegated contingency
• general growth in individual schools (due to popularity) where there is no overall pupil number growth in the local area. This is managed through lagged funding. This includes cases where academies have admitted above pupil admission numbers (PAN) by their own choice

The costs of new schools will include the lead-in costs, for example to fund the appointment of staff and the purchase of any goods or services necessary to admit pupils. They will also include post start-up and diseconomy of scale costs. These pre and post start-up costs should be provided for academies where they are created to meet basic need.

The department will continue to fund start-up and diseconomy costs for new free schools where they are not being opened to meet the need for a new school as referred to in section 6A of the Education and Inspections Act 2006.

The growth fund may not be the most appropriate source of funding for growing schools, and the department expects local authorities to use varying pupil numbers where there is a more permanent and significant change to numbers, and where it is appropriate for the change to be reflected in the funding formula. The following examples provide the distinction between where the department would expect the growth fund to be used, and where the department expects pupil numbers to be changed on the APT:

Example 1:

Based on the pupil census data a local authority has projected that there will be a need for an extra 30 places in secondary provision in the next school year. They have approached a school which has agreed to increase provision from September 2025. This should be recorded on the APT in January 2025 and would be managed through a variation to pupil numbers.

Example 2:

Based on previous years and anticipated growth the local authority has forecast a possible need for 100 new primary places. At the time of completing the APT, this has yet to be confirmed and as such the local authority has not yet agreed any additional placements but know that they will need to do so within the next year. This is an appropriate reason to hold money in the growth fund and to use as and when the basic need occurs.

Local authorities remain responsible for funding growth needs for all schools in their area, including for new and existing maintained schools and academies. Local authorities should fund all schools on the same criteria. Where growth occurs in academies that are funded on estimates, the department will use the pupil number adjustment process to ensure the academy is only funded for the growth once.

The department will check growth funding criteria for compliance with the school finance regulations. The criteria should provide a transparent and consistent basis for the allocation of funding, which may be different for each phase.

All criteria will need to be captured in the APT return. This will allow us to publish each local authority’s growth criteria to increase transparency over the operation of growth funding.

Criteria for allocating growth funds should contain clear objective trigger points for qualification, and a clear formula for calculating allocations with these criteria applying to all schools on the same basis.

The department sets minimum criteria for local authorities’ growth fund allocations. Local authorities are required to provide growth funding where a school or academy has agreed with the local authority to provide an extra class to meet basic need in the area (either as a bulge class or as an ongoing commitment). This funding, either through the growth fund, or by adjusting pupil numbers in the APT, will need to be provided regardless of whether the additional class is within or outside of the PAN.

As a minimum, local authorities will have to provide funding to a level which is compliant with the following formula:

primary growth factor value (£1,570) × number of pupils × ACA

If a school or academy that has agreed to provide an additional class receives funding for this through a variation in pupil numbers (rather than through ‘explicit’ growth funding), this can still be compliant with the criteria above, if the additional funding is at least the level as calculated through the above formula.

The primary growth factor value is used as the factor value for this minimum criterion for all school types - recognising that this funding is a minimum value.

In addition to the compulsory minimum criterion above, compliant criteria would generally contain some of the features set out below:

• additional support where a school has extended its age range (the majority of funding would be paid through the funding formula, where the local authority should seek a variation in pupil numbers)
• support where a school has temporarily increased its PAN, by a minimum number of pupils, in agreement with the local authority
• support for key stage 1 classes where overall pupil numbers exceed a multiple of 30, by a minimum number of pupils
• pre-opening costs, initial equipping allowance, or diseconomy of scale allowance, for new maintained schools and academies; including new academies where the school is opening in response to basic need

While local authorities have flexibility on how they allocate funding, in cases of funding an additional class (as outlined above) funding must be compliant with the minimum funding requirement.

Methodologies for distributing funding can vary, and do not need to be on the same per-pupil basis as set out in the minimum criteria formula above. However, the additional funding that schools meeting these minimum criteria receive should be at least the level that they would receive through the minimum criteria formula, even if the funding is allocated on a different basis (for example, not on a per-pupil basis). Compliant methodologies could include:

• a lump sum payment with clear parameters for calculation (usually based on the estimated cost of making additional provision for a new class, or the estimated start-up costs)

• a per-pupil rate (usually based on the basic entitlement rate and reflecting the proportion of the year which is not funded within the school’s budget share)

• a per-pupil rate, with a maximum ceiling (where the ceiling must be equivalent to, or exceed, the minimum growth funding criteria calculation, as detailed above)

Where growth funding is payable to academies, the local authority should fund the increase for the period from the additional September intake through until the following August. Local authorities should enter the cost of growth funding for the April to August period, along with appropriate justification, on the recoupment tab of the APT so that the recoupment calculation can be adjusted accordingly.

The department will not make growth fund recoupment adjustments for diseconomy of scale, or start-up funding; local authorities should not enter these on the recoupment tab of the APT. This funding will continue to be met from the local authority’s growth fund.

Where schools have agreed an expansion in pupil numbers with the local authority, the school should ensure that they understand the methodology for funding the increase and are content that the expansion is deliverable within the funding available.

Local authorities should report any unspent growth funding remaining at the year end to the schools forum. For local authorities that have an overall DSG surplus, funding may be carried forward to the following funding period, as with any other centrally retained budget, and local authorities can choose to use it specifically for growth. Any overspent growth funding will form part of the overall DSG surplus or deficit balance.

31. Falling rolls fund

The department also allocates funding based on falling rolls within local authorities’ schools block DSG allocations, alongside growth funding.

The falling rolls allocation for each local authority is £141,890 per medium super output area (MSOA) which sees a 10% or greater reduction in the number of pupils on roll between the October 2023 and October 2024 censuses. These allocations will be subject to an ACA. This is detailed in the schools NFF technical note.

Local authorities will continue to have discretion over whether to operate a falling rolls fund. Where local authorities operate a fund, they will only be able to provide funding where the most recent school capacity (SCAP) survey shows that school places are expected to  be required in 2025 to 2026, or the subsequent 2 years.

Local authorities which choose to operate falling rolls funds have flexibility to set additional eligibility criteria, and also have flexibility over funding rates. The schools forum should agree both the value of the fund and the criteria for allocation and the local authority should regularly update the schools forum on the use of the funding. Any in-year reduction to the falling rolls fund needs to be agreed with the schools forum.

Criteria for allocating falling rolls funding should contain clear objective trigger points for qualification, and a clear formula for calculating allocations. Differences in allocation methodology are permitted between phases.

Compliant criteria would generally contain some of the features set out below:

• latest SCAP shows that school places are expected to be required in 2025 to 2026 and/or the subsequent 2 years (this is a mandatory requirement)

• surplus capacity exceeds a minimum number of pupils, or a percentage of the published admission number

• formula funding available to the school will not support provision of an appropriate curriculum for the existing cohort

• the school will need to make redundancies to contain spending within its formula budget

Methodologies for distributing funding could include:

• a rate per vacant place, up to a specified maximum number of places (place value likely to be based on basic per pupil funding)

• a lump sum payment with clear parameters for calculation (for example, the estimated cost of providing an appropriate curriculum, or estimated salary costs equivalent to the number of staff who would otherwise be made redundant)

The department will check the criteria for compliance with the annually made school finance regulations. The criteria should provide a transparent and consistent basis for the allocation of funding.

All criteria will need to be captured in the APT return.

Growth and falling rolls funding can also be used to help meet the revenue costs, for mainstream schools, of removing or repurposing surplus places. For example, the growth and falling rolls fund could be used to meet the revenue costs faced by schools for repurposing space to create SEN provision or early years places. Such use of funding must be for revenue, rather than capital costs.

Where growth and falling rolls funding is used specifically to meet revenue costs associated with removing or repurposing surplus places, the department does not require SCAP data to show an increase in pupil numbers in subsequent years. This is because the department recognises that the repurposing or removing of surplus places allows schools to make efficiencies when experiencing falling rolls but does not necessarily relate to future increases in pupil numbers.

Below, are 2 examples of potential compliant criteria for the allocation of falling rolls funding:

Example 1:

Identification of schools with falling rolls:

• the total number on roll (NOR) has dropped by at least 5% between last October census and the previous year’s October census
• spare capacity of the school is a minimum of 15% of PAN
• school capacity data shows that school places are expected to be required in 2025 to 2026 and/or the subsequent 2 years

Where a school meets all the above criteria, funding will be provided using the following calculation:

• the NOR as at the most recent October census will be deducted from the NOR of the previous October’s census. The result will be multiplied by the current basic entitlement rate, appropriate to phase, pro rata April to August (5 months)

Example 2:

Additional funding is allocated on a proportion of the basic entitlement for vacant places below 85% of the PAN for the normal year of entry (reception or year 7) and also for the next year group after entry (year 1 and year 8). Funding is available for a maximum of 3 years (provided SCAP data shows places are needed in 2025 to 2025 and/or the next 2 years) after which a school’s PAN may be adjusted or other action taken.

Where falling rolls funding is payable to academies, the local authority should fund the increase for the period from the additional September intake through until the following August. Local authorities should enter the cost of falling rolls funding for the April to August period, along with appropriate justification, on the recoupment tab of the APT so that the recoupment calculation can be adjusted accordingly.

Local authorities should report any falling rolls funds remaining at the end of the financial year to the schools forum.

For local authorities with an overall surplus, funding may be carried forward to the following funding period, as with any other centrally retained budget and local authorities can choose to use it specifically for falling rolls.

32. Transfer between blocks

Local authorities can transfer up to and including 0.5% of the schools block into another block, with schools forum approval. For a transfer exceeding 0.5%, or without schools forum approval, a disapplication request must be submitted to the Secretary of State. 

Most proposals by local authorities to transfer funding from their schools block arise because of pressure on their high needs budgets. The department therefore expects local authorities proposing to make a block transfer to provide details of how a transfer will decrease such pressures. 

Local authorities wishing to make a transfer out of the schools block in 2025 to 2026 should consult local maintained schools and academies, and the schools forum should take these views into account before making its decision. It is important that the consultation sets out the full amount of the proposed transfer for 2025 to 2026. For example, if a local authority wants to transfer 1%, the consultation documents must clearly state this. A document showing 0.5% on top of the 0.5% the schools forum can approve is not acceptable. Schools forum discussions should include appropriate representation from special schools and other specialist providers.

Local authorities that have safety valve agreements with the department should make disapplication requests to the safety valve team at [email protected].

Local authorities must submit disapplication requests to the Secretary of State, using the digital form provided by the department, in cases where: 

• the local authority wishes to transfer more than 0.5% of the schools block in total
• the schools forum has turned down a proposal from the local authority to transfer any amount of funding out of the schools block, but the local authority wishes to proceed with the transfer

The deadline for local authorities to submit a block transfer disapplication request was 18 November 2024. For requests received before this date, the department aims to communicate decisions in time for local authorities to submit the APT and provide maintained schools with their budget shares.

Wherever possible, schools forum meetings should have been arranged so that requests for block transfers have been considered prior to the disapplication deadline. If schools forum meetings need to take place after this deadline, the local authority should inform the department as soon as possible.

The department recognises there may be exceptional situations where local authorities need to amend their request, where circumstances change significantly. In these circumstances, local authorities should contact the department as soon as possible. Any result in changes to the transfer request would need to be submitted by 9 January 2025 at the latest. The department has included more information on the implications for APT submissions in completing the authority proforma tool guidance. 

In such circumstances, local authorities should also have considered how they will manage the timetable for setting their school budgets so that the notifications to schools of their budget shares, and the parallel department process for notification of academy allocations, are not delayed. The department suggests appropriate timetabling of schools forum meetings to discuss budgets and to agree the process should any amendments to disapplications need to be made. This allows for schools forum to be informed and vote on proposed changes. Further to this, arrangements for political approval should be timetabled to take account of this later date for amended requests. 

When submitting disapplication requests for transfers from the schools block, local authorities should provide the evidence detailed in the digital form provided by the department. This should be a DSG management plan that includes:

1. A forecast position for the next 5 years.

2. Details of predicted EHC plan growth, sufficiency, and the actions the local authority is taking to mitigate overspending.

3. Costed mitigating actions, with narrative explaining how the figures have been derived.

4. Rationale for this transfer, including changes in demand over the last 3 years and how the local authority has met that demand by commissioning places in all sectors.

5. Plans to change the pattern of provision where necessary.

6. Evidence of partnership working between the local authority, schools and parents - an explanation of plans to support the inclusion of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in mainstream schools.

7. Information presented to all schools through consultation and to the schools forum, and details of responses to the transfer proposal, including papers for and minutes of schools forum meetings, showing details of the vote.

Each request will be considered on a case-by-case basis. To support their request, local authorities should provide detail on:  

1. The specifics of their plans demonstrating that the transferred funding would contribute to addressing cost pressures in a sustainable way, such as ‘invest to save’ options.

2. The department will also consider the level of support from local schools and the schools forum for this plan, and if they do not support the plan, their specific arguments for this.

33. Transfers from other blocks

Transfers from the CSSB or high needs block to any other block are not subject to any limit and can be made in consultation with the schools forum.

Transfers from the early years block can be made in compliance with the early years pass through rate conditions, and in consultation with the schools forum.

Any local authority considering a transfer of funding out of the high needs block should have ensured adequate consultation, both with the relevant representatives on the schools forum (including any relevant sub-groups), and with any providers likely to be affected by the transfer.

34. DSG deficits and high needs exceptional funding

Following the consultation in 2019, the department made changes to the school finance regulations, to give statutory backing to a new process for managing DSG deficits.

In terms of looking at the overall position on DSG, a local authority must now either:

• carry all the deficit forward to set against the schools budget in the next financial year
• carry part of the deficit forward to set against the schools budget in the next financial year and carry the rest of it forward to the following financial year
• not set any of the deficit against the schools budget in the next financial year, but carry all the deficit forward to the following financial year

These provisions are being repeated in each set of school finance regulations so that part or all of the deficits can be carried forward further a year at a time, to be dealt with through DSG that will be received in future years.

If the local authority sets any part of the deficit against the schools budget for the next financial year, it must plan to eliminate that part of the deficit through funding from the DSG that it will receive during that financial year.

If the local authority carries any part of the deficit forward to the following financial year, that means it is not planning to eliminate that part of the deficit from DSG received in the next financial year but will need to eliminate it from DSG received in future years.

With effect from the 2020 to 2021 financial year, if a local authority with a DSG deficit wishes to use general funds to eliminate any part of the deficit, or otherwise to add general funds to its schools budget, it must apply to the Secretary of State as set out in the annually made school finance regulations, to disregard the requirement to carry deficits forward under the regulations, to the extent of the amount of general funds that it wishes to use.

Local authorities (other than those in the safety valve intervention programme) should use the disapplication proforma for disapplication requests regarding the use of general funds to eliminate any part of the DSG deficit. All safety valve local authorities have been contacted individually with details about how they should submit disapplication requests for 2025 to 2026.

The government has also taken action on local government accounting rules so that, on a temporary basis, DSG deficits are treated in a special way for accounting purposes (this is not the same as the treatment for the purposes of the school finance regulations).

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has amended ‘The Local Authorities Capital Finance and Accounting (England) Regulations 2003’ to provide that for the financial years beginning on 1 April 2020 and ending on 31 March 2026, any DSG deficit at the end of a financial year must not be charged to a general fund but must be charged to a separate fund established and used solely for the purpose of recognising deficits in respect of the schools budget. This has the effect of separating any deficits from a local authority’s general fund.

You can read the Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy (CIPFA) guidance on their website. Any additional DSG deficit at the end of 2021 to 2022 and subsequent years must be added to this separate fund.

These regulations alter the position on managing DSG reserves for those authorities who had a DSG deficit at the end of 2020 to 2021 or have an in-year DSG deficit in any subsequent year up to 2025 to 2026. Regulations set statutory rules for how a DSG deficit is to be calculated each year and that the whole of it must be put in an unusable reserve. The calculation covers the whole of the DSG and where the overall outcome is a deficit, it is not possible to hold separate reserves with surpluses in them for some blocks of the DSG.

35. DSG management plans

Many local authorities have been incurring a deficit on their overall DSG account, largely because of overspends on the high needs block.

Starting in 2020 to 2021, DfE extended the rules under the DSG conditions of grant to state that any local authority with an overall deficit on its DSG account at the end of the previous financial year, or whose DSG surplus has substantially reduced during the year, must cooperate with the department in managing that situation by:

• providing information as and when requested by the department about its plans for managing its DSG account in the current financial year and subsequently
• providing information as and when requested by the department about pressures and potential savings on its high needs budget
• meeting with officials of the department as and when they request to discuss the local authority’s plans and financial situation
• keeping the schools forum updated regularly about the local authority’s DSG account and plans for managing it, including high needs pressures and potential savings

DSG management plans should set out the local authority’s plans for reforming their high needs system, to provide effective and sustainable SEND services that will achieve better outcomes for children and young people with SEND and bring DSG spend back into balance. It should be a live document which is updated regularly to monitor how initiatives are having an impact and how DSG funding is being spent. The document should be discussed with the schools forum on a regular basis.

The department expects the DSG management plan to be co-produced. Relevant leads in the finance and SEND areas should be involved in developing the management plan, and should sign off each version, (with sign off to be at least at assistant director level).

Where a local authority has a substantial in-year overspend or cumulative DSG deficit balance at the end of the financial year, its management plan should focus on how they will bring in-year spending in line with in-year resources and address whatever the main causes of overspending on the DSG have been.

The department expects a range of evidence to support local authority management plans. The department will continue to review the management plan process and has provided a template DSG deficit management plan for local authorities to use. The department expects all evidence to have been presented to schools forums.

The evidence should include:

1. A full breakdown of specific budget pressures locally that have led to the local authority’s current DSG position. Where this has resulted from high needs pressures, information should include the changes in demand for special provision over the last 3 years, how the local authority has met that demand by commissioning places in different sectors (mainstream and special schools, further education (FE) and sixth form colleges, independent specialist provision and alternative provision) and if there have been any reductions in the provision for mainstream school pupils with high needs.

2. An assessment and understanding of the specific local factors that have caused an increase in high needs costs to a level that has exceeded the local authority’s high needs funding allocations; and a plan to change the pattern of provision where this is necessary, as well as to achieve greater efficiency and better value for money in other ways; together with evidence of the extent to which the plan is supported by schools and other stakeholders.

3. Evidence of how the local authority intends to bring its DSG account back into balance within a timely period, clearly showing clearly how expenditure will be contained within future funding levels.

4. Details of any previous transfers between blocks and any proposed block transfers. A detailed explanation of why these have not been sufficient in the past and why they will be needed going forward to meet the local authority’s high needs pressures is required. Further information is included in the transfer between blocks section.

Local authorities not in the safety valve intervention programme who wish to access support with DSG deficits and DSG management plans should contact the department at [email protected].

36. Central school services block (CSSB)

The CSSB continues to provide funding for local authorities to carry out central functions on behalf of maintained schools and academies, comprising 2 distinct elements:

• ongoing responsibilities
• historic commitments

Further details on the methodology used for the CSSB are set out in the 2025 to 2026 NFF technical note.

The total funding for ongoing responsibilities is £342 million in 2025 to 2026. This funds all local authorities for the functions they have a statutory duty to deliver for all pupils in maintained schools and academies. This includes £27 million of funding in respect of pay and pensions costs for centrally employed teachers, which was previously allocated to local authorities through TPECG and (the uplifted) CSBG. It also includes £4 million to cover the increased cost in copyright licences, which local authorities will receive as DSG top-up funding in 2024 to 2025, as well as a further £4 million for further cost increases from 2025 to 2026.

Local authorities will continue to be protected so that the maximum per-pupil year-on-year reduction in funding for ongoing responsibilities is minus 2.5%, while the year-on-year gains cap will be set at the highest affordable rate of +2.98%.

As in previous years, the department has reduced the element of funding within the CSSB that some local authorities receive for historic commitments made prior to 2013 to 2014. In 2025 to 2026, for those local authorities that receive it, historic commitments funding has been reduced by 20% compared to the previous year.

The department has protected any local authority from having a reduction that takes their total historic commitments funding below the total value of their ongoing prudential borrowing and termination of employment costs, in recognition of the time required for such costs to unwind.

For example, if a local authority had historic commitments funding of £800,000 in year 1, this would reduce to £640,000 in year 2 (a £160,000, or 20% reduction). However, if that local authority had a termination of employment and prudential borrowing costs to a value of £675,000 that value would be protected, and the reduction to the historic commitments would only be £125,000. Note that we only grant protection against the 20% decrease in historic commitments funding - the protection for 2025 to 2026 cannot increase funding beyond what was received in 2024 to 2025.

The department will continue to consider evidence from local authorities on the protection of historic commitments funding.

The department invites local authorities affected to contact [email protected].

Due to the revised timelines of the NFF for 2025 to 2026, there will only be one deadline for local authorities to request protection of their historic commitments funding. The deadline is Friday 31 January 2025 for the protection to be reflected in the March DSG publication. The department will not accept evidence after this date for 2025 to 2026 DSG adjustments. Agreements for protection are granted on an annual basis. As such, local authorities which have had their historic commitment funding protected in previous years need to resubmit an application for the year 2025 to 2026 for their protection to continue, with the most up to date supporting evidence.

Local authorities are required to have schools forum or Secretary of State approval for expenditure on historic commitments and they may not spend more on these commitments than they did in the previous year unless this is authorised by the Secretary of State. A local authority can maintain spending on these areas using other funding sources if they wish to.

The duties included in the CSSB are set out in annex 3: central services that may be funded with agreement of schools forum, which also includes maintained school only functions.

Where local authorities hold these duties in relation to all schools, all schools must be treated on an equivalent basis. Local authorities should not treat voluntary aided schools, foundation schools or academies differently from other maintained schools in the services they provide to them. This is set out in the DSG conditions of grant.

This does not include funding that has been retained centrally from maintained school budgets only, where some statutory duties relate to community and voluntary controlled schools only.

However, in these situations, local authorities should not charge voluntary aided and foundation schools if requested to provide services to these schools and where there is no charge to community and voluntary controlled schools for the same service.

37. Services for maintained schools

Local authorities can fund some services relating to maintained schools only from maintained school budget shares, with the agreement of maintained school members of the schools forum.

From 2022 to 2023, schools forums have been able to agree to de-delegate funding for local authorities’ core school improvement activities in relation to maintained schools. In addition, since 2017 to 2018, schools forums have been able to agree to de-delegate further funding for additional school improvement provision for maintained schools.   

The relevant maintained schools members of the schools forum (primary, secondary, special, and PRUs) should agree the amount the local authority will retain.

If the local authority and schools forum are unable to reach a consensus on the amount to be retained by the local authority, the matter can be referred to the Secretary of State.

Local authorities should set a single rate per 5 to 16-year-old pupil for all mainstream maintained schools, both primary and secondary. In the interests of simplicity, this should be deducted from basic entitlement funding.

The department will not allow adjustments to other factors, and the rate will not include early years or post-16 pupils, who are funded through different formulae.

Local authorities can choose to establish differential rates for special schools and PRUs if the cost of fulfilling the duty is substantially different for these schools. The rate will be expressed per place rather than per pupil for special schools and PRUs (the multipliers used in the CSSB predecessor grant previously were 3.75 for PRUs and 4.25 for special schools).

As with de-delegation (see de-delegated services section), the amount to be held by the local authority will be determined after MFG has been applied. If a school converts to academy status, the department will recoup the amount retained for that school from the local authority’s DSG for the remaining months of the financial year that the school is an academy. The academy will be reimbursed in its monthly general annual grant payment from the point of conversion.

Unlike for de-delegated services, there will be no phased transfer of funding following conversion so there will be immediate recoupment of this part of the budget. For example, if a school converts on 1 January 2026 (3 months prior to the end of the financial year), the department will recoup three-twelfths of the retained amount relating to that school.

Local authorities can fund some administrative functions relating to maintained schools from the DSG, with the agreement of either the schools forum or the Secretary of State. For expenditure to be funded from the DSG, it must be defined as part of the schools budget. This definition is set out in the annually made school finance regulations.

As an alternative, local authorities may not wish to fund these administrative functions from the DSG, but to fund them from general funds.

If a local authority wants to use general funds, it will make a deduction as set out in the school finance regulations without approaching the schools forum. In that case the expenditure ceases to be part of the schools budget and, therefore, cannot be funded out of the 2025 to 2026 DSG. Instead, it is treated as part of the non-schools education budget and falls to be funded out of the local authority’s general funds.

Local authorities should provide sufficient evidence to their schools forum to enable them to make an informed decision on the amount of funding to be held centrally. This could include:

• planned total spending for 2025 to 2026 on each of the headings set out in annex 4: schools forum approvals for centrally held funding, which also covers all central expenditure

• spending shown to at least the level of detail provided in the 2025 to 2026 s251 budget statement

• comparable figures for previous years’ spending, split where relevant between those relating to all schools, and those for maintained schools only

• consequences for the funding and delivery of each of the services provided, if the request was not approved

• the impact on individual school budgets and their overall financial position

• the impact on the local authority if the amount was not held centrally

• detail of the results of the equalities impact assessment carried out to assess the impact of the central retention/education functions of the funding on children or other people who have one or more of the protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010

38. De-delegated services

De-delegated services are for maintained schools only. Funding for de-delegated services must be allocated through the local funding formula but can be passed back, or de-delegated, for maintained mainstream primary and secondary schools with schools forum approval.

De-delegation does not apply to special schools, nursery schools, or PRUs. Where de-delegation has been agreed for maintained primary and secondary schools, the department’s presumption is that the local authority will offer the service on a buyback basis to those schools and academies in their area which are not covered by the de-delegation.

In the case of special schools and PRUs, the funding to buy such services will be included in any top-up payments. Any decisions made to de-delegate in 2024 to 2025 related to that year only, new decisions will be required for any service to be de-delegated in 2025 to 2026.

Schools forum members for primary maintained schools and secondary maintained schools must as set out in The Schools Forums (England) Regulations 2012 decide separately for each phase whether the service should be provided centrally; the decision will apply to all maintained mainstream schools in that phase.

They must decide on fixed contributions for these services so that funding can then be removed from the formula before school budgets are issued.

There may be different decisions for each phase. The services which may be de-delegated are:

• contingencies (including schools in financial difficulties and deficits of closing schools)
• behaviour support services
• support to underperforming ethnic groups and bilingual learners
• free school meals eligibility
• insurance
• RPA
• museum and library services
• staff costs supply cover (for example, long-term sickness, maternity, trade union and public duties)
• licences and subscriptions; except for the following, which are paid for by the department:
  • Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI)
  • Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA)
  • Education Recording Agency (ERA)
  • Filmbank Distributors Ltd. (for the PVSL)
  • Mechanical Copyright Protection Society (MCPS)
  • Motion Picture Licensing Company (MPLC)
  • Newspaper Licensing Authority (NLA)
  • Performing Rights Society (PRS)
  • Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL)
  • Printed Music Licensing Ltd (PMLL)

Local authorities should make a clear statement of how the funding is being taken out of the formula for each de-delegated service. For example:

• primary insurance £20 per pupil
• secondary behaviour support services £30 per FSM pupil

There should be a clear statement of how contingencies and other resources will be allocated. Academies will continue to receive a share of funding for these services in their delegated budget.

Where de-delegation is agreed, middle schools will potentially be subject to 2 different decisions and the unit value for de-delegation can be different for primary and secondary age pupils. For example, if the primary sector agreed to de-delegate a service but the secondary sector did not, middle schools in the local authority would have their formula allocation reduced only for their primary pupils at the agreed primary school rate.

2025 to 2026 de-delegation arrangements for schools converting to academy status are as follows:

• conversion date on or before 1 April 2025 – no de-delegation
• conversion date between 2 April 2025 and 1 September 2025 – local authority retains any de-delegated funding until 1 September 2025
• conversion date between 2 September 2025 to 21 March 2026 – local authority retains any de-delegated funding until 31 March 2026

After the dates specified, the academy will receive the full formula allocation, and the department will recoup this from the local authority.

The local authority should continue to provide the services to new academies where funding is de-delegated if they are asked to do so. If the local authority is unable to provide the requested service, the department expects the local authority and the academy to come to an arrangement to pay the funding directly to the academy.

Exceptions to this would be in cases where contractual arrangements to pay services in advance have already been made, and the local authority does not have the ability to continue to provide this service.

Where the local authority agrees that a school is entitled to receive an allocation from a de-delegated contingency fund, that agreement should be honoured if the school converts to an academy at any point in the year.

Where a school converts to an academy in the period 2 April 2025 to 1 September 2025, local authorities will have an opportunity to present an evidence-based case to request a recoupment adjustment for the period 2 September 2025 to 31 March 2026.

Local authorities should report any unspent de-delegated funding remaining at year-end to their schools forum.

Local authorities with an overall DSG surplus can carry funding forward to the following funding period as with any other centrally retained budget and can choose to use it specifically for de-delegated services.

39. Grants for 2025 to 2026

39.1 Pupil premium

The pupil premium will continue in the 2025 to 2026 financial year.

For 2025 to 2026 the October 2024 school census data will be used to allocate the pupil premium, just as the October 2023 census was used for the 2024 to 2025 pupil premium allocations.

39.2 Other non-DSG grants

The TPAG, TPECG and CSBG will cease to exist as separate grants upon being rolled into schools NFF from 2025 to 2026. In recognition of the funding cycle for academies, which follows the academic year (rather than the financial year used for local authority maintained schools), academies will receive an additional allocation of TPAG, TPECG and CSBG to cover April to August 2025. This is the period in advance of the funding being rolled into academies’ core budget allocations through the NFF.

40. High needs funding

The high needs block supports provision for children and young people with SEND, from ages 0 to 25, and AP for children of compulsory school age who, because of exclusion, illness, or other reasons, cannot receive their education in mainstream schools.

The department has confirmed the following aspects of the high needs NFF for 2025 to 2026:

• the funding floor has been set at 7% so each local authority will receive an increase of at least that percentage, considering changes in their 2 to 18 population (as estimated by the ONS)
• the gains limit has been set at 10%, allowing local authorities to see increases up to that percentage, also based on their 2 to 18 population as above

More detail on the high needs NFF is set out in the following documents:

• provisional high needs block allocations for 2025 to 2026 and supporting technical note explaining the calculations

• the NFF policy document, which provides more information about the overall NFF

The operational aspects of high needs funding and the process for finalising local authority allocations of high needs funding and schools and colleges allocations of place funding remain largely unchanged from 2024 to 2025. Details are available in the high needs funding: 2025 to 2026 operational guide.

41. Early years funding

The early years entitlement local authority funding operational guide 2025 to 2026 provides current guidance which local authorities should follow when funding providers to deliver the early years entitlements.

This guidance covers funding for:

• the 15 hours entitlement for eligible working parents of children from 9 months up to 2 years old (due to be extended to 30 hours from 1 September 2025)
• the 15 hours entitlement for eligible working parents of 2-year-old children (due to be extended to 30 hours from 1 September 2025)
• the 15 hours entitlement for families of 2-year-olds receiving additional support (formerly known as the 2-year-old disadvantaged entitlement)
• the universal 15 hours entitlement for all 3 and 4-year-olds
• the additional 15 hours entitlement for eligible working parents of 3 and 4-year-olds
• maintained nursery school supplementary funding for 3 and 4-year-olds
• the disability access fund for eligible children accessing the early years entitlements
• the early years pupil premium for eligible children and looked after children accessing the early years entitlements

42. Completing the authority proforma tool (APT)

Local authorities must report their local funding formula to the department on a combined modelling tool and proforma, the APT. The department will calculate academy budgets based on the formula set out in the proforma. Local authorities must also include on the APT their calculation of schools notional SEN budget, following a review of that calculation in accordance with the latest guidance on notional SEN budgets.

While local authorities can use their own spreadsheet modelling for their formula, the department strongly recommends the APT is populated alongside their own models to ensure consistency between them and to avoid unnecessary delay in the submission process.

To help local authorities plan and model their funding formula, the department has provided a final APT with information from the October census, which includes the changes announced in the DSG settlement. Local authorities must submit their final APT by 22 January 2025.

Where in exceptional circumstances a local authority has made a significant change to a disapplication request for a transfer from the schools block, the department recognises that it cannot finalise the APT until a decision on the disapplication has been reached.

The department will aim to make final decisions in time to allow the local authorities concerned to submit their final APT by 22 January 2025. Local authorities considering this should ensure that they have procedures in place to meet the requirement to calculate maintained school budgets by 28 February 2025. This includes gaining political approval of budgets.

The APT is an integrated tool which contains a range of information, including the underpinning data for school level allocations, details of how split sites and PFI allocations have been calculated, and the methods used for de-delegation of services.

The APT contains a range of validation checks to identify inconsistencies in the data local authorities have entered, and to highlight where required data and information may be missing.

Local authorities should have ensured that all validation checks have passed before submitting the APT. The department has published detailed guidance on how to complete the APT.

Local authorities must ensure they have built the relevant political approval into their planning, as the deadlines shown in the timetable below are critical to achieving the advantages of issuing earlier budgets. The department appreciates that formulae often have to be approved by the local authority’s cabinet or lead member, so it is important that the forward plan takes account of this.

To speed up the approval process, once the DSG and pupil numbers are known, the department strongly advises that local authorities obtain earlier approval for the principles they will use to balance the budget if pupil numbers differ from the estimates they used. Examples could include scaling back the basic per pupil entitlement across all key stages or carrying forward any marginal shortfall on DSG to the following financial year.

43. Completing the APT for split site schools

The APT is pre-populated with information on split sites schools. Local authorities should contact the department if there are any split sites that have not been included on the pre-populated APT (for example, if they are new or in cases of late identification) and if there are any split sites recorded in the APT which should no longer be there (notably, if a school has stopped operating on split sites). For new split sites, the department will assess eligibility and calculate the split site distance. Once the department has confirmed this, the local authority should manually add, or remove the site to the APT itself.

The department holds a live list of eligible sites which is updated throughout the year. In preparation for changes to be reflected and funded by the department in 2025 to 2026.

Please ensure that the department is aware of any new or incorrect split sites by contacting [email protected].

This includes letting us know of any schools which stop being split sites and should be removed from the spreadsheet.

Local authorities may not set their own criteria for split sites funding and can only award split site funding to their schools where that meets the NFF’s eligibility criteria. These are set out in annex 5: split site eligibility criteria.

44. Treatment in the APT of new and growing schools

The annually produced school finance regulations require local authorities to provide estimated numbers on the APT for new schools and schools that have opened in the last 7 years that do not yet have pupils in every year group. This means it is not necessary for local authorities to apply for a pupil number variation in these situations.

As the APT covers the financial year and year groups join at the start of an academic year, the department would generally expect the estimated numbers to reflect seven-twelfths of the financial year.

The department needs to understand details of the academic year numbers as well so that relevant academies can be funded on that basis (this also applies to variations in pupil numbers where there are changes in age range).

Local authorities should work with the schools concerned to provide the most accurate and realistic estimate based on the latest admissions and demographic data. The regulations are not prescriptive about how future numbers on roll (NOR) should be calculated however, methodologies could include:

[October 2024 NOR (from APT) × five-twelfths] + [October 2025 estimated NOR × seven-twelfths]

[October 2024 NOR (from APT)] + [seven-twelfths October 2025 estimated intake in new year group]

Where a school is filling many empty places in existing year groups, it may be more appropriate to consider the estimated NOR of the whole school rather than simply considering the size of the new cohort.

The 2025 to 2026 APT will automatically convert the financial year estimated pupil numbers to pupil numbers expected in the academic year and local authorities should assure themselves that these are correct.

For a school to be classed as a new and growing school, it must have opened in the last 7 years, and not have all year groups present yet. Academies with predecessor schools are not considered as new schools for this purpose.

If a school has opened in the last 7 years and is already taking in pupils in all year groups, there is no requirement to estimate numbers.

Existing schools, which are extending their age range or becoming all-through are unlikely to be classed as growing, unless they also opened in the last 7 years.

The regulations allow retrospective adjustments in the following financial year so that schools are appropriately funded if actual numbers are different from the estimates. This is a matter for local decision, but the department would generally expect such a mechanism.

Local authorities can choose whether to use a threshold. All mainstream free schools are now recoupable from the first year of opening. Local authorities should estimate pupil numbers and characteristics for these schools, as was the case already for those opened under the presumption arrangements.

To help local authorities estimate the recoupment amounts for these schools, the department will include a dataset of free schools predicted to open in the next year, with expected pupil numbers, in the final APT.

The department has asked local authorities, when submitting the APT, to combine the data provided with their own local knowledge to determine the most accurate estimate of the number of pupils for new free schools. The department will recoup for newly opening free schools based on the information local authorities have provided in their APT.

If the actual pupil numbers at newly opening free schools differed from the estimates provided in the 2024 to 2025 APT, local authorities should make a retrospective adjustment on the 2025 to 2026 APT, unless the local authority guaranteed the pupil numbers in the previous year.

If local authorities did not show a new free school in the 2024 to 2025 APT and it opens before March 2025, local authorities should show this as a retrospective adjustment in the 2025 to 2026 APT, and the department will recoup accordingly.

The department will check for required amendments by cross-referring to October 2024 school census data when validating the 2025 to 2026 APT. The department will adjust recoupment in 2025 to 2026 for any new free schools where a local authority fails to show, or incorrectly shows, a retrospective adjustment.

The ‘New ISB’ worksheet in the APT should reflect funding for the period in the year that the new free schools are open, and the department will therefore recoup the figure shown on the APT in full. The department will not pro-rate the calculation in respect of these academies.

45. Funding of academies

Most academies are funded on census in the same way that maintained schools are.

Academies that meet the definition of a new school will be funded on their estimates, rather than the census, because this is the provision in their funding agreements.

There is then a retrospective pupil number adjustment applied by the department in the following year.

Local authorities can choose how to estimate pupil numbers for the APT, and whether and how to use a retrospective adjustment. It is therefore possible that the numbers the academy is funded on, and the subsequent adjustment, may differ.

This is essentially no different to other variations which may occur between the amount recouped and the amount funded because of different baselines being used.

However, where the academy is taking on basic need growth, such as through a bulge class, the local authority must allocate funding to the academy in the same way as it would for a maintained school, and according to the same criteria.

The department will adjust recoupment in 2025 to 2026 for any academy where a local authority fails to show, or incorrectly shows, basic need growth.

Where the local authority has agreed a guaranteed number of pupils to a new academy to ensure viability, this should be indicated in the APT. In this case, the department may use the APT estimate to fund the new academy, instead of the normal estimate process; the local authority should provide commentary on the APT to explain their rationale.

The APT guidance has been updated to cover the situation where there is a need to adjust pupil numbers more than once in the year. If this is the case, the academic year calculation will be incorrect, as the APT cannot manage adjustments for more than once in the year.

In these circumstances, local authorities should add an additional spreadsheet to the commentary sheet providing a full breakdown of the calculation.

Several older academies will also be funded on estimates because of a clause in their funding agreement. Most of these academies will have all year groups present now (or may always have had them) so there would normally be no need for local authorities to vary pupil numbers on the APT, unless there was a change of age range, major restructuring, or the addition of extra classes to meet basic need.

In this case, the local authority must allocate funding to the academy according to its growth criteria in the same way as it would for a maintained school; this could be through amendments to the pupil numbers on the APT, or through specific funding from the growth fund.

The department will ensure through the pupil number adjustments process that the academy is only funded for the growth once. The department will adjust recoupment in 2025 to 2026 for any academy where a local authority fails to show, or incorrectly shows, basic need growth.

Where academies are funded based on the census, the department will use any approved variations to pupil numbers submitted by the local authority, as with age range changes for established schools. It is imperative that local authorities make all maintained schools and academies aware of the consequences for their budget of any variations to pupil numbers. Details of the effect on individual schools should be sent out with a clear explanation.

Where academies are funded on estimates, and there is a variation to pupil numbers on the APT, local authorities need to be clear in their communications to them that their APT modelling is for their own budgeting purposes only and may not have the same effect on the academies’ budgets.

Where a local authority makes additional funding available to schools during the year from central funds outside the formula, for example, to settle equal pay liabilities, it must treat academies in the same way as maintained schools.

46. School and academy closures and infrastructural changes

When a school or academy has closed and the displaced pupils have been admitted to other establishments, it is the local authority’s responsibility to fund these pupils using the growth fund.

If a maintained school closes, the local authority should transfer the remaining budget to their growth fund and support the schools admitting the displaced pupils.

If an academy closes, the department will usually stop recoupment at the point of closure and pro-rate for the number of days remaining in the financial year. If a local authority has already accounted for the closure in the APT, the department will continue to recoup until the end of the financial year, using the pro-rated value.

The department will return the pro-rated closing recoupment value via an in-year adjustment to the recoupment value for that academy. Local authorities should then transfer this to their growth fund to support the schools admitting the displaced pupils. A closed academy will not feature in the local authority’s recoupment reports in the financial year following the closure.

If displaced pupils move to an out of local authority school following the closure, then a local agreement to transfer funding is encouraged.

If year groups are moved in a phased approach over 2 or more financial years, the local authority may wish to apply to reduce funded pupil numbers away from the lagged census to reflect a more appropriate level of funding. The department would require evidence as part of the disapplication request that the affected school(s) were aware and in agreement, prior to the disapplication.

Where there are mergers or de-mergers that affect academies within a local authority, the department will not change recoupment for the remainder of the financial year. The changes will take effect from the following financial year, for example, academy name changes, local authority codes, and any split recoupment values following a de-merger, or joined up recoupment values following a merger.

47. Timetable

The provisional timetable for the data checking and calculation of the blocks is shown below:

47.1 Local authority activity

3 October 2024

• school census day

18 November 2024

Deadline for submitting disapplication requests (for response by the APT deadline) for:

• MFG exclusions
• exceptional circumstances
• sparsity factors
• growth funding
• lump sum variations for amalgamating schools
• pupil number reductions
• where the local authority wishes to transfer more than 0.5% of the schools block
• where the schools forum has turned down a proposal from the local authority to transfer funding out of the schools block, but the local authority wishes to proceed with the transfer—the department aims to issue decisions before the APT deadline
• providing details of any changes to the published list of split sites
• safety valve local authorities - the process for safety valve local authorities is separate and all safety valve local authorities have been sent a letter outlining the process

November 2024

• school census database closed
• check and validate school census
• closing date for submission of the 2025 to 2026 high needs place change workbooks

16 December 2024

• deadline for notification of any changes to split sites

9 January 2025

• schools block disapplication submission amendment date

22 January 2025

• schools forum consultation and political approval from local authorities required in line with APT submission deadline for final 2025 to 2026 funding formulae

• deadline for submission of final 2025 to 2026 APT to the department

31 January 2025

• deadline for local authorities to provide evidence of the total value of their ongoing prudential borrowing and termination of employment costs, for this funding to be protected in 2025 to 2026 (this will be reflected in the March DSG allocations)

28 February 2025

• confirmation of schools budget shares to mainstream maintained schools

March 2025

• final allocations to mainstream maintained schools (includes de-delegation)

47.2 Department activities

October to November 2024

• publish 2025 to 2026 high needs place change process guidance
• check and validate school census
• NFF allocations and policy document for schools, high needs and central services published

December 2024

• final APT issued to local authorities, containing October 2024 census-based pupil data and factors
• publication of 2025 to 2026 DSG schools block (prior to academies recoupment), CSSB, initial early years block allocations and updated high needs block allocations for 2025 to 2026

January 2025

• laying the annual Schools and Early Years Finance (England) Regulations

By 31 March 2025

• confirmation of 2025 to 2026 general annual grant for academies open by 9 January 2025
• 2025 to 2026 allocation statements issued to post-16 institutions, academies, and non-maintained special schools
• publication of 2025 to 2026 high needs place numbers at school level

April 2025

• first DSG payments to local authorities based on 2025 to 2026 allocations, including academies recoupment (DSG allocations updated termly for in-year academy conversions), further education (FE) high needs place funding deductions, and other adjustments

Summer 2025

• early years block updated for January 2025 early years pupil numbers (pro rata seven-twelfths, as this relates only to the period September 2024 to March 2025)

48. Additional support

The department will continue to offer support to local authorities, where possible, as they continue to implement the funding reforms. The department is interested in seeing local authority proposals as they are developed and is happy to offer advice through the process.

In most cases, local authorities should submit any questions about the detail and practical implications of implementation via the Customer Help Portal.

The department values the regional meetings of local authority finance officers, which provide the opportunity to discuss practical issues and share best practice. Please make every effort to attend, and the department will ensure that officials continue to attend these meetings.

49. Annex 1: examples of how sparsity funding can be allocated

49.1 NFF sparsity rates and thresholds

The maximum sparsity funding a primary school can attract is £57,400, and the maximum a secondary school can attract is £83,400, plus an area cost adjustment if applicable.

Table 8 below sets out the thresholds used in the NFF sparsity funding calculations. These are replicated here to aid the understanding of examples described below.

Schools with a sparsity distance (the average distance to the second nearest school) equal to or greater than the main distance threshold (2 or 3 miles) and an average year group size of less than or equal to half the year group threshold receive 100% of the sparsity funding for their phase.

The year group size taper applies to schools with an average year group size of more than half of the maximum size threshold. The distance taper applies to schools with a sparsity distance between the main distance threshold and the distance taper threshold. Table 8 shows the requirements for sparsity funding and the tapers.

Table 8: sparsity funding requirements and tapers

School phase	Size threshold: maximum average number of pupils per year group	Main distance threshold: minimum average distance to second nearest compatible school	Distance taper threshold: minimum average distance to second nearest compatible school
Primary	21.4	2 miles	1.6 miles
Secondary	120.0	3 miles	2.4 miles
Middle	69.2	2 miles	1.6 miles
All-through	62.5	2 miles	1.6 miles

49.2 The year group size taper

Schools’ allocations are tapered according to average year group size, so that the smaller the school the greater the allocation. Table 9 below shows an example of school A’s sparsity allocation through the NFF.

Table 9: school A’s sparsity allocation

School phase	Average number of pupils per year group	Average distance to second nearest compatible school	Eligible for sparsity funding?
Primary	16.05	2.2 miles	Yes

School A is small and remote enough to be eligible for sparsity funding. However, it will attract less than 100% of the maximum sparsity funding of £57,400 for its phase, since it has an average year group size which is larger than half the year group size threshold. This school will attract £28,700, which is half the maximum. This is calculated as (1 – ((16.05 – 10.7) divided by 10.7)) × £57,400 through the NFF, where 16.05 is the school’s average year group size, and 10.7 is half the year group size threshold.

Table 10 below shows an example of school B’s sparsity allocation through the NFF.

Table 10: school B’s sparsity allocation

School phase	Average number of pupils per year group	Average distance to second nearest compatible school	Eligible for sparsity funding?
Primary	10.70	2.2 miles	Yes

School B is small and remote enough to be eligible for sparsity funding. This school will attract the maximum sparsity allocation for primary schools of £57,400 through the NFF. This is calculated as: (1 – ((10.7 – 10.7) divided by 10.7)) × £57,400.

49.3 Distance taper threshold

Table 11 below shows an example of school C’s sparsity allocation through the NFF.

Table 11: school C’s sparsity allocation

School phase	Average number of pupils per year group	Average distance to second nearest compatible school	Eligible for sparsity funding?
Primary	16.05	1.9 miles	Yes

As set out in table 9, a primary school with average year group size of 16.05 attracts £28,700 through the average year group size taper. In table 11, for school C, the distance taper methodology needs to be applied on top of the average year group size taper calculation.

The amount this school will attract through the sparsity factor is calculated as: (1 – ((2 – 1.9) divided by (2 – 1.6))) × £28.700; where 2 is the main distance threshold, and 1.9 is the sparsity distance for this school. In this example, the school will therefore attract £21,525 through the sparsity factor. This school is attracting 75% of the amount the school would have received had its sparsity distance been equal to or greater than the main distance threshold.

Table 12 below shows an example of school D’s sparsity allocation through the NFF.

Table 12: school D’s sparsity allocation

School phase	Average number of pupils per year group	Average distance to second nearest compatible school	Eligible for sparsity funding?
Primary	16.05	1.7 miles	Yes

School D has the same average number of pupils per year group as schools A and C. It will therefore attract £28,700 through the year group size taper. For school D, the distance taper methodology also needs to be applied on top of the year group size taper.

The amount this school will attract is calculated as: (1 – ((2 – 1.7) divided by (2 – 1.6))) × £28,700, where 2 is the main distance threshold and 1.7 is the sparsity distance for this school. In this example, the school will therefore receive £7,175. This is 25% of the amount the school would have received had its sparsity distance been equal to or greater than the main distance threshold. School D will attract less than school C since the distance to the second nearest compatible school is shorter for school D than school C.

49.4 Variations in local authority formulae

For local authorities using the same factor value, group size threshold, distance threshold and tapers as the NFF, the allocation through their local formula will be exactly the same as in the examples described above. For local authorities which use the tapers but with different factor values and different thresholds, the amount allocated to each school will vary accordingly.

50. Annex 2: funding for growing schools

Figure 1: illustrates a flow chart of funding for growing schools

51. Annex 2a: funding for growing schools (text version)

51.1 Where the growing school is a new school

If the growing school is a new school (so does not have all year groups) and is a non section 6A of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 free school, the local authority should estimate pupil numbers on the APT. The department pays free schools using the local formula, based on estimated pupil numbers. The department will also pay any agreed start up and diseconomy costs until the free school is deemed viable.

If the growing school is a new school (so does not have all year groups), and is not a non- section 6A free school, the local authority should estimate pupil numbers on the APT. Estimates should take account of actual intake in the previous funding period. The local authority may provide additional support from the growth fund.

51.2 Where the growing school is not a new school

If the growing school is not a new school but the age range is changing, the local authority should estimate pupil numbers on the APT. The department recoups formulae funding for academies from the local authority and pays academies direct. The local authority may provide additional support from the growth fund.

If the growing school is not a new school and the age range is not changing but the increase is required to meet basic need, the local authority funds from the growth fund (if in place) for September to August. The department adjusts recoupment for academies for April to August to avoid double-counting. Local authorities must comply with the minimum criteria requirements for growth funding, whereby additional classes (driven by basic need) must be funded by at least the minimum funding level set out in the funding calculation (as set out in section 30: growth funding below).

If the growing school is not a new school, the age range is not changing and increase is not required to meet basic need, then:

• local authority maintained schools are paid through their local authority’s formula, based on lagged pupil numbers. Exceptional funding may be available if the schools forum has agreed a de-delegated contingency

• non-local authority maintained schools are paid by the department through their formula, based on lagged pupil numbers

51.3 Where the school is not a growing school

If the school is local authority maintained and not a growing school, then the local authority pays formula funding based on lagged pupil numbers. Exceptional funding may be available in certain circumstances if the schools forum has agreed a de-delegated contingency.

If the school is not local authority maintained, and not a growing school, then the department pays formula funding based on lagged pupil numbers.

52. Annex 3: central services that may be funded with agreement of schools forum

The split of services between responsibilities that local authorities hold for all schools, and those that relate to maintained schools only are shown below. Responsibilities held by local authorities for all schools are funded from CSSB, with the agreement of schools forums or the Secretary of State.

Responsibilities held by local authorities for maintained schools only are funded from maintained schools’ budgets, only with agreement of the maintained schools members of schools forums.

The department has included references to the relevant schedules in the annually updated school finance regulations. These provisions will be replicated in the regulations we make for the 2025 to 2026 funding year.

Local authorities are reminded that they should draw on the CSSB to fund their local school attendance services, alongside aligning the activity with whole family support funded through the supporting families grant.

52.1 Responsibilities held for all schools

Statutory and regulatory duties

• director of children’s services and personal staff for director (Schedule 2, paragraph 15a)

• planning for the education service as a whole (Schedule 2, paragraph 15b)

• authorisation and monitoring of expenditure not met from schools’ budget shares (Schedule 2, paragraph 15c)

• formulation and review of local authority schools funding formula (Schedule 2, paragraph 15d)

• internal audit and other tasks related to the local authority’s chief finance officer’s responsibilities under section 151 of the ‘Local Government Act 1972’ except duties specifically related to maintained schools (Schedule 2, paragraph 15e)

• consultation costs relating to non-staffing issues (Schedule 2, paragraph 19)

• plans involving collaboration with other local authority services or public or voluntary bodies (Schedule 2, paragraph 15f)

• standing ‘Advisory Committees for Religious Education’ (SACREs) (Schedule 2, paragraph 17)

• provision of information to, or, at the request of The Crown other than relating specifically to maintained schools (Schedule 2, paragraph 21)

• revenue budget preparation, preparation of information on income and expenditure relating to education, and external audit relating to education (Schedule 2, paragraph 22)

Education welfare

• functions in relation to school attendance (Schedule 2, paragraph 16)

• responsibilities regarding restrictions on the employment of children (Schedule 2, paragraph 18)

• functions in relation to the exclusion of pupils from schools, excluding any provision of education to excluded pupils (Schedule 2, paragraph 20)

Asset management

• management of the local authority’s capital programme including preparation and review of an asset management plan, and negotiation and management of private finance transactions (Schedule 2, paragraph 14a)

• landlord responsibilities, including those in relation to land leased to academies for schools (Schedule 2, paragraph 14b)

Other ongoing duties

• licences negotiated centrally by the Secretary of State for all publicly funded schools (Schedule 2, paragraph 8); this does not require schools forum approval

• operation of the system of admissions and appeals (Schedule 2, paragraph 9)

• fees or expenses payable in connection with the attendance of non-SEN pupils at schools not maintained by any local authority (Schedule 2, paragraph 10)

• remission of boarding fees at maintained schools and academies (Schedule 2, paragraph 11)

• servicing of schools forums (Schedule 2, paragraph 12)

• back-pay for equal pay claims (Schedule 2, paragraph 13)

• writing to parents of year 9 pupils about schools with an atypical age of admission, such as university technical colleges (UTCs) and studio schools, within a reasonable travelling distance (Schedule 2, paragraph 23)

Historic commitments

• capital expenditure funded from revenue (Schedule 2, paragraph 1)

• prudential borrowing costs (Schedule 2, paragraph 2(a))

• termination of employment costs (Schedule 2, paragraph 2(b))

• contribution to combined budgets (Schedule 2, paragraph 2(c))

• SEN transport costs (Schedule 2, paragraph 2(d))

52.2 Responsibilities held for maintained schools only

School improvement

• expenditure related to core school improvement activities of local authorities with respect to maintained schools (Schedule 2, paragraph 53)

Statutory and regulatory duties

• functions of local authority related to best value and provision of advice to governing bodies in procuring goods and services (Schedule 2, paragraph 58)

• authorisation and monitoring of expenditure in respect of schools which do not have delegated budgets, and related financial administration (Schedule 2, paragraph 59)

• monitoring of compliance with requirements in relation to the scheme for financing schools and the provision of community facilities by governing bodies (Schedule 2, paragraph 60)

• internal audit and other tasks related to the local authority’s chief finance officer’s responsibilities under section 151 of the ‘Local Government Act 1972’ for maintained schools (Schedule 2, paragraph 61)

• functions under regulations made under section 44 of the ‘Education Act 2002’ (Consistent Financial Reporting) in so far as the functions related to maintained schools (Schedule 2,paragraph 62)

• investigations of employees or potential employees, with or without remuneration to work at or for schools under the direct management of the headteacher or governing body (Schedule 2, paragraph 63)

• functions related to local government pensions and administration of teachers’ pensions in relation to staff working at maintained schools under the direct management of the headteacher or governing body (Schedule 2, paragraph 64)

• HR duties, including advice to schools on the management of staff, pay alterations, conditions of service and composition or organisation of staff (Schedule 2, paragraph 65)

• determination of conditions of service for non-teaching staff (Schedule 2 , paragraph 66)

• appointment or dismissal of employee functions (Schedule 2, paragraph 67)

• consultation costs relating to staffing (Schedule 2, paragraph 68)

• compliance with duties under the ‘Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974’ (Schedule 2, paragraph 69)

• provision of information to, or, at the request of The Crown relating to maintained schools (Schedule 2, paragraph 70)

• school companies (Schedule 2, paragraph 71)

• functions under the ‘Equality Act 2010’ (Schedule 2, paragraph 72)

• establish and maintaining computer systems, including data storage (Schedule 2, paragraph 73)

• appointment of governors and payment of governor expenses (Schedule 2, paragraph 74)

• budgeting and accounting functions relating to maintained schools (Schedule 2, paragraph 75)

• retrospective membership of pension schemes where it would not be appropriate to expect a school to meet the cost (Schedule 2, paragraph 77)

Education welfare

• inspection of attendance registers (Schedule 2, paragraph 80)

Asset management

• general landlord duties for all maintained schools (Schedule 2, paragraphs 78a & b (section 542(2)) ‘Education Act 1996’; ‘School Premises (England) Regulations 2012’) to ensure that school buildings have:

  • appropriate facilities for pupils and staff (including medical and accommodation)

  • the ability to sustain appropriate loads

  • reasonable weather resistance

  • safe escape routes

  • appropriate acoustic levels

  • lighting, heating, and ventilation which meets the required standards

  • adequate water supplies and drainage

  • playing fields of the appropriate standards

  • general health and safety duty as an employer for employees and others who may be affected (‘Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974’)

  • management of the risk from asbestos in community school buildings

  • ‘Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012’

Central support services

• clothing grants (Schedule 2, paragraph 54)

• provision of tuition in music, or on other music-related activities (Schedule 2, paragraph 55)

• visual, creative, and performing arts other than music (Schedule 2, paragraph 56)

• outdoor education centres (but not centres mainly for the provision of organised games, swimming, or athletics) (Schedule 2, paragraph 57)

Premature retirement and redundancy

• dismissal or premature retirement when costs cannot be charged to maintained schools (Schedule 2, paragraph 79)

Monitoring national curriculum assessment

• monitoring of national curriculum assessments (Schedule 2, paragraph 76)

Therapies

• this is now covered in the high needs section of the regulations and does not require schools forum approval

Additional note on central services

Services set out above will also include administrative costs and overheads relating to these services (regulation 1(4)) for:

• expenditure related to functions imposed by or under chapter 4 of part 2 of the ‘School Standards and Framework Act 1998’ (financing of maintained schools), the administration of grants to the local authority (including preparation of applications) and, where it is the local authority’s duty to do so, ensuring payments are made in respect of taxation, national insurance, and superannuation contributions

• expenditure on recruitment, training, continuing professional development, performance management and personnel management of staff who are funded by expenditure not met from schools’ budget shares and who are paid for services

• expenditure in relation to the investigation and resolution of complaints

• expenditure on legal services

53. Annex 4: schools forum approvals for centrally held funding

A number of the services that are covered by funding that is held centrally are subject to a limitation of no new commitments or increases in expenditure from 2024 to 2025.

This limit does not apply to admissions or the servicing of schools forums.

Schools forum approval is required each year to confirm the amounts on each line.

When using centrally held funding, local authorities must treat maintained schools and academies on an equivalent basis.

The following sections set out the level of approval required for each centrally retained service.

Where schools forum approval is not provided, the local authority can apply to the Secretary of State to decide.

53.1 Schools forum approval is not required (although they should be consulted)

• high needs block provision

• central licences negotiated by the Secretary of State

• funding of brought forward deficits

53.2 Schools forum approval is required on a line-by-line basis

• funding to enable all schools to meet the infant class size requirement

• back pay for equal pay claims

• remission of boarding fees at maintained schools and academies

• places in independent schools for non-SEN pupils

• admissions

• servicing of schools forum

• contribution to responsibilities that local authorities hold for all schools

• contribution to responsibilities that local authorities hold for maintained schools (voted on by relevant maintained school members of the forum only)

• de-delegated services from the schools block (voted on by relevant maintained school members of the schools forum only)

53.3 Schools forum approval is required

• central early years block provision

• any transfer of funding out of the schools block

53.4 Schools forum approval is required on a line-by-line basis – the budget cannot exceed the value agreed in the previous funding period, and no new commitments can be entered into

• capital expenditure funded from revenue:
  • projects must have been planned and decided on prior to April 2013; no new projects can be charged
  • details of the remaining costs should be presented
• contribution to combined budgets:
  • where the schools forum agreed prior to April 2013 a contribution from the schools budget to services which would otherwise be funded from other sources
• existing termination of employment costs:
  • costs for specific individuals must have been approved prior to April 2013; no new redundancy costs can be charged
• prudential borrowing costs:
  • the commitment must have been approved prior to April 2013
  • details of the remaining costs should be presented
• SEN transport where the schools forum agreed prior to April 2013 a contribution from the schools budget (this is now treated as part of the high needs block but still requires schools forum approval as a historic commitment)

53.5 Schools forum approval is required on a line-by-line basis, including approval of the criteria for allocating funds to schools

• funding for significant pre-16 pupil growth, including new schools set up to meet basic need, whether maintained or academy

• funding where SCAP shows that school places will be required in the subsequent 3 to 5 years

54. Annex 5: split site eligibility criteria

An additional site attracts split sites funding if it meets the following conditions (up to a maximum of 3 additional sites per school):

1. It is separated from the school’s main site by a road or a railway. If separated by a road, it must be a road with 24-hour access to public traffic. This includes where; in order to access the school’s additional site, you have to leave the school site and walk alongside a road. If a school’s sites are separated by a feature not covered in the eligibility criteria, but you believe they should be eligible for split sites funding, please contact the department with details of the school’s circumstances at [email protected]

2. It has a building on it which is maintained by the school. The department is following the definition of a building used by the DfE condition data collection (CDC) programme ^{[footnote 2]}, a block located on a school site which is owned, controlled and/or maintained by the school and which is primarily used for educational purposes. This excludes any ancillary buildings ^{[footnote 3]}, swimming pools or playing fields.

3. If a building is rented by the school from another entity, but the school has maintenance responsibilities for the building, it is eligible for split sites funding if it meets the other criteria. Conversely, if the school is leasing out a building to another entity full time, the school would not be eligible to receive split sites funding.

4. The site is used for the education of 5 to 16-year-old pupils in mainstream education more than 50% of the time. This excludes playing fields, ancillary buildings and buildings leased full time by the school. This excludes any sites used solely for special schools (for example, within the same multi-academy trust), nurseries, or school sixth forms. However, it does include sites used to support 5 to 16-year-old mainstream pupils on the school roll who have SEND, including a site used exclusively for a special unit or resourced provision.

Local authorities can use the following flow chart to assess a school’s eligibility for split sites funding:

Figure 2: split site funding flow chart

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1. As amended by ‘The Education (Amount to Follow Permanently Excluded Pupils)(Amendment)(England) Regulations 2001 S.I 2001/870)’. ↩

2. More information can be found on the Condition Data Collection 2 (CDC) programme. You can check whether a building meets CDC criteria by checking the school’s latest CDC Site Plan. ↩

3. Buildings whose use is ancillary to education, including privately owned or occupied domestic properties on the school site, for example, caretaker’s bungalows, observatories, storage sheds, externally funded leisure centres, and secure children’s homes. ↩