College accounts direction
GuidanceHow onto preparingprepare and submittingsubmit annual report and financial statements (accounts) to the Department for Education (DfE).Education.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
The guidance and requirements in the college accounts direction do not apply to specialist further education (FE) colleges funded by the Department for Education (DfE) as ‘Special post 16 institutions’ (SPIs)), which are often described as FE colleges.
College accounts direction for the year 2024 to 2025
The college accounts direction for the year 2024 to 2025 sets out DfE’s financial reporting requirements for:
- further education colleges
- sixth form colleges
- institutions established or designated under the provisions of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 (designated institutions)
The updates made to the college accounts direction since last year are captured at the beginning of this new edition.
The accounts direction outlines the requirements for each college to:
- prepare audited accounts to 31 July 2025
- submit accounts and associated documents to DfE by 31 December 2025
- publish accounts on the college’s website as soon as possible after signing but no later than 31 January 2026
You must refer to the college accounts direction 2024 to 2025 when preparing your accounts.
If you have concerns about meeting the 31 December submission deadlinedeadline, you should contact your DfE Placeplace-based Basedteam Team contact as soon as possible and prior to the submission deadline.
You, rather than your auditors, will need to submit all required documents by following the submission process below.
Finance Record for the2024 year
2023 to 2024
2025
ESFAComplete hasthe issuedFinance anRecord updated finance record for you2024 to 2025 and submit it with your audited annual report and accounts for the college financial year 20232024 to 2024.2025.
The ‘Finance record for 2024 to 2025
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Submitting your documents
The ‘Finance record for 2024 to 2025
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Your financial statements for 2024 to 2025 and associated documents must be submitted through the College financial data (CFD) service. This requires a DfE Sign-in account.
Once you have logged in you will be able to upload your documents by clicking on ‘start’ and then choosing:
- ‘Annual financial statements return’
- the year the submission is being made for
The mandatory elements must initially be uploaded at the same time, but can be resubmitted separately, if required. These are:
- audited annual report and financial statements
- external auditor’s audit findings report
- finance record
- audit committee annual report
- non-dormant subsidiary financial statements (if required)
There is also an option to upload additional supporting documentation if applicable. You will receive email confirmation that your upload has been successful.
Further details are available within the submission portal. If the person responsible for submitting these documents does not have access to DfE Sign-in they should follow the instructions to Create a DfE Sign-in account.
ContactIf us using the Customer Help Portal if you have any questions about your submission.submission, contact us using the Customer Help Portal.
Regularity self-assessment questionnaire
The regularity self-assessment questionnaire must be completed by:
- further education colleges
- sixth-form colleges
- designated institutions
It must be signed by the:
- accounting officer
- chair of governors
ItThe questionnaire must be shared with the college’s external auditor to help inform the regularity assurance engagement.
The version for 2024 to 2025 includes updates to aid colleges in meeting Managing Public Money (MPM) compliance and other responsibilities resulting from the reclassification of the sector.
Further guidance or requirements may be issued as required by DfE.
Updates to this page
-
Added 'College accounts direction 2023 to 2024' and 'Regularity self- assessment questionnaire 2023 to 2024'. Updated 'Proposed timeline for upcoming college financial returns'.
Update history
2026-03-25 11:00
Added ‘College accounts direction 2025 to 2026’.
2025-11-05 10:00
Added ‘Finance record for 2024 to 2025’.
2025-03-26 10:00
Added ‘College accounts direction 2023 to 2024’ and ‘Regularity self- assessment questionnaire 2023 to 2024’. Updated ‘Proposed timeline for upcoming college financial returns’.
2024-11-06 10:00
Added ‘Finance record for 2023 to 2024’.
2024-08-06 14:04
Updated ‘College account direction 2023 to 2024’ to clarify how documents should be submitted.
2024-03-27 11:55
Added ‘College accounts direction 2023 to 2024’, updated ‘Proposed timeline for upcoming college financial returns’ and updated the DfE sign-in link for submissions.
2023-11-08 09:30
We’ve published the finance record for 2022 to 2023 and have updated the proposed timeline for upcoming college financial returns.
2023-04-26 09:23
We have published the college accounts direction for 2022 to 2023. We have also updated the proposed timeline for upcoming financial returns.
2022-11-08 15:57
Added Finance record for 2021 to 2022
2022-03-30 09:30
We have published the college accounts direction for 2021 to 2022. A full list of changes is provided in the summary.