Academies revenue funding allocations

Introduction

The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) funds academies (including free schools, university technical colleges and special academies) on the same basis as maintained schools. We base allocations and payments to academies on an academic year, compared with financial year for maintained schools.

Annual allocations

2025 to 2026 academic year

Due to the timing of the general election, the department was not in a position to publish indicative schools and high needs national funding formula (NFF) allocations for 2025 to 2026 to the usual timescale in July. . Across government, budgets for 2025 to 2026 are still to be agreed; this includes the 2025 to 2026 schools’ budget.

We will be working closely with local authorities to support them in their planning of the local schools formulae, and our aim is to deliver academy general annual grant (GAG) statements to the usual timetable as set out below.

General annual grant (GAG) allocation statement for 2025 to 2026 timetable

For those academies open prior to February 2025, we’ll begin issuing 2025 to 2026 general annual grant allocation statements towards the end of February 2025 and expect to finish by the end of March 2025.

Allocation statements for academies opening between February 2025 and March 2025 will be issued by the end of April 2025.

We’ll publish general annual grant allocations guidance in February 2025 before we start to issue the allocation statements.

2024 to 2025 academic year

Provisional 2024 to 2025 NFF allocation tables and technical notes have been published, along with the policy document detailing the changes.

It is important to note that, as in previous years, individual schools’ and academies’ actual funding may be different to the amounts shown in these tables. This is because local authorities continue to set a local formula, in consultation with local schools’ forums, and within the framework of the schools operational guide for 2024 to 2025, to determine individual schools’ budgets in their areas.

General annual grant (GAG) allocation statements for 2024 to 2025 timetable

We have now issued all general annual grant allocations for 2024 to 2025 for those academies open prior to February 2024. The allocation statements are available to view and download on Document exchange in the ‘Documents received from ESFA’ section.

Allocation statements for academies opening between February 2024 and March 2024 have been issued.

We’ve published the academy general allocation guide for the 2024 to 2025 academic year for mainstream academies, free schools, UTC’s and studio schools, special and alternative provision academies and special free schools.

We have published the digital guidance document to be used alongside the new digital general annual grant statements.

New digital format for the general annual grant (GAG) statement

We have been testing a new digital format for the GAG statement to inform our approach for 2025 to 2026.

We have uploaded digital general annual grant (GAG) statements to the Manage your education and skills funding (MYESF). These replicate the 2024 to 2025 GAG statements that we uploaded as PDF documents to Document exchange earlier in the year, but in a digital format. Please be reassured this has no impact on allocations or payments for 2024 to 2025.

To access your digital statement, you will need to have a DfE Sign-in account and add the MYESF service and the ‘View allocation statements’ sub-service to your account.

To request access to a service, or sub-services:

1.       Go to ‘services’.

2.       Select ‘request access to a service’.

3.       Select the service you’d like to access and click ‘continue’.

4.       Select the sub-services you’d like to access (if applicable).

5.       Review the request details before sending your request.

6.       Click ‘request service’.

Your request will be sent to an approver, who will either approve or reject your request.

If you are an approver in DfE Sign-in, you can add the service and sub-service yourself.

Academy funding in 2024 to 2025: an overview of funding for the current academic year

We calculate most of an academy’s revenue funding using the pupil numbers taken from either the autumn census return or an agreed estimate of pupil numbers, as outlined in the academy’s funding agreement.

Academies funded on estimates may be subject to the pupil number adjustment process; visit our academies funded on estimates page for more information. We used pupil numbers from either the autumn 2023 census or the agreed estimate of pupil numbers for the 2024 to 2025 academic year.

For 2024 to 2025, we’ll continue to use the national funding formula (NFF) for schools and for high needs, to allocate budgets to local authorities.

It is important to note that the NFF school-level allocations that we published in July 2023 were notional allocations only. In 2024 to 2025, local authorities have continued to set a local formula which has determined individual school and academy budgets in their authority. As in previous years, local authorities submitted this local formula to us so that we could produce and issue academies allocation statements.

The general annual grant (GAG)

Most funding for academies comes from the general annual grant (GAG). This is made up of:

school budget share – calculated on the same basis as for maintained schools in the same local authority. GAG guidance for 2024 to 2025 explains how we calculate the school budget share.

The minimum funding guarantee (MFG) is a protection against changes in per pupil school budget share (SBS) funding between the 2023 to 2024 and 2024 to 2025 academic years. The amount of protection will vary according to the impact of local changes in the funding formula and the effect of these on individual per pupil rates.

In 2024 to 2025, local authorities have the flexibility to set local MFG between +0.0% and +0.5% per pupil in order to offer higher levels of protection locally.

Where appropriate, the GAG may also include funding for high needs places and start-up funding for new institutions.

Guidance has been issued for schools opening as academies to estimate their revenue funding.

16 to 19 funding

Information about how colleges, schools and academies receive their 16 to 19 allocations is available on our 16 to 19 funding allocations guidance page.

High needs funding

Local authorities commission education provision for pupils that attract high needs funding. This means academies receive high needs funding from both ESFA and local authorities.

We have published information on high needs funding arrangements for 2024 to 2025.

Academies revenue payments

ESFA pays academies’ GAG in 12 equal instalments in accordance with the terms set out in the academy’s funding agreement. A monthly remittance note accompanies each payment. Revenue funding: payments to academies explains how academies are paid and how to change bank details.

Revenue funding outside the general annual grant

There are a number of other funding streams available to academies. These are described on the Revenue funding: payments to academies page where you will also find links to published allocations and information about payment timings for these grants.