Guidance

Academies budget forecast guidance for completing the online form

Updated 28 March 2025

Applies to England

1. Introduction to the online form

This guide explains how to complete and submit the budget forecast return (BFR) to the Department for Education (DfE).

For more information about the BFR you can check the academies budget forecast return. This also includes details for the weekly dial-ins where you can ask us any questions about your BFR.

This year’s BFR will open on 3 June 2025 and the deadline is 28 August 2025.

You can start completing the BFR when it opens.

1.1 BFR form structure

The BFR form collects data over 3 financial periods, including:

• prior year
• current year
• future years

The table shows the periods where the detailed actuals and forecasts are required.

Period	Prior year	Prior year	Current year	Current year	Forecast year	Forecast year
Type of entry	Actual	Actual	Actual	Forecast	Forecast	Forecast
Months	September 2023 to March 2024 (7 months)	April 2024 to August 2024 (5 months)	September 2024 to March 2025 (7 months)	April 2025 to August 2025 (5 months)	September 2025 to March 2026 (7 months)	April 2026 to August 2026 (5 months)
Academic year	2023 to 2024	2023 to 2024	2024 to 2025	2024 to 2025	2025 to 2026	2025 to 2026

You can read more about the details of what is included in the Three-year forecast section.

If your trust completed the BFR 2024 then the period ‘Sep 23 to Mar 24’ will be pre-populated with the data your trust returned.

The summary level forecasts for the financial years are:

• 2025 to 2026 which will be automatically summarised from the data already entered in the form
• 2026 to 2027
• 2027 to 2028

1.2 Who should complete this return?

You should complete this form if your academy trust will be active on 30 April 2025.

You will need to complete the BFR on an accruals and prepayments basis. The terms ‘academy trusts’ and ‘academy’ include:

• sponsored academies
• academy converters
• free schools
• university technical colleges
• special schools
• studio schools

New trusts or trusts with academies having joined or left should include:

• data for the period the trust has been open
• academies for the period that they have been part of that trust

You can find out what to do if any academies have transferred in or out of your trust during the academic year.

1.3 Roles and responsibilities

As the BFR is collected at a trust level, you should ensure you are signing in to your trust’s organisation in DfE sign in. If you sign in with the academy organisation you will not be able to access the BFR service.

You should ensure that your trust has a BFR approver assigned.

The action you need to take in the form depends on your role.

If you are a ‘preparer’, you can:

• add an external preparer
• prepare the form
• complete the preparer declaration

If the form has been completed by an approver, the preparer declaration is not available as it is not applicable.

If you are an ‘approver’, you can:

• prepare and amend the form
• add an external preparer
• submit the form to DfE

If you are an ‘external preparer’ and not an employee of the trust, you can:

• prepare the form

1.4 External preparer

External preparers need to request access to a particular trust’s BFR by submitting a query.

If you have an external preparer who will prepare but not submit your BFR form you should enter their details in the overview section.

They must have fully registered on the DfE Sign-in platform before you can enter their details in your form. Either the academy preparer or approver can add the details once registered.

If you do not have an external preparer to prepare your BFR form, you must mark the page ‘Mark as complete’ with no users added. This will enable the rest of the form to be completed.

1.5 Dashboard

The dashboard page shows the overall status of your form. From this page, you can access:

• each section of the form
• the activity history
• guidance

You can also download your reports.

Once you have completed the ‘Overview’ section of the main navigation page you will be able to access the rest of the form.

You need to mark all pages in section 2 as ‘Marked as complete’ to progress through to section 3 and submit your BFR  form.

The academies budget forecast return dashboard.

1.6 Finance questions

This section of the form is used to clarify if your trust needs to complete later sections of the form.

This will be in line with how your form has been pre-populated from the previous submission. For example, if you had an outstanding loan in your BFR2024 submission:

• the answer to FQ2 and loans will be ‘yes’
• you will not be able to change the page
• you can update the data and answer the validation in the ‘Other Items’ section of the form

1.7 Completing the form as a multi-academy trust (MAT)

MATs preparing aggregated financial statements made up of more than one academy must submit a consolidated return. This aggregates the budgets of each of its academies.

The introduction section of the form has:

• the name of the academy trust
• unique provider identification number (UPIN)
• a checked list of all academies that are in the DfE data set as being part of the trust

If you notice any errors or omissions contact DfE using the customer help portal. 

MATs will be asked to review the names of the academies included in the form. If any academies have left, you should:

• untick those academies that will not be included for the timescales covered by the form
• provide an explanation for why this has happened

1.8 Re-brokerage of academies

If an academy has left or joined your trust since May 2025 then you will need to enter balances in specific lines at the point of completing the BFR. Trusts should enter the balances (where applicable) in the period that corresponds to the date that the academy joined or left the trust. You should enter actuals, current and forecasts. The lines you should complete are:

• line 999 Pupil numbers – adjust upward to account for new pupils joining the trust or downwards to account for pupils leaving the trust
• lines 212 or 215 – Revenue surplus on conversion or transfer of an existing academy in or out of a trust – you should include revenue surplus received or receivable on conversion from local authorities or transfer in or out of a trust
• lines 350 and 351 – Revenue deficit on conversion or transfer of an existing academy in or out of a trust – include revenue deficit payable on conversion from local authorities or on transfer in or out of a trust
• lines 572 and 573 – Capital assets transferred on conversion or transfer of an existing academy in the trust – you should include the value of capital assets and liabilities received or receivable from local authorities on conversion or following the transfer of an existing academy from another trust
• line 639 – Capital assets transferred of an existing academy out of the trust – you should adjust the value of capital assets and liabilities payable following the transfer of an existing academy out of the trust

You can find out what to do if any academies have transferred in or out of your trust during the academic year.

1.9 Queries

You can use the virtual assistant for budget forecast return to find responses to some of the  questions that trusts have about completing the BFR. If you cannot find the answer from the chatbot or have a more specific question you should raise an enquiry via the customer help portal.

1.10 Downloads and reports

On the dashboard, there are 3 options on the right of the screen to download reports of your form. These are in PDF and Excel formats. The options allow you to download:

• your previous year’s BFR report
• your current BFR report
• your financial management system (FMS) mapping report for trusts who have automated their FMS data into the accounts return

The reports can be accessed at any time during the completion of the form.   

We recommend that you download a copy your previous year’s BFR before you start completing your form. This will help you to prepare if you do not already know the details of the last BFR form submitted to DfE.

2. Updates to the BFR form

To improve BFR 2025 form, we have:

• added more detail to help trusts understand what information is required
• updated the reserve balance details section for trusts whose revenue reserves are more than 20% of their total revenue income to better understand trusts’ plans for them – you can find more information in section 5.8 Academy trust reserves
• increased the input values limit for lines 310 and 3100 to enable large MATs with high staff costs to enter large values
• updated the 2024 to 2025 Chart of accounts (CoA) to include account codes for revenue information and communication technology (ICT) spend categories

3. Forecasting assumptions

DfE published written evidence to the School Teachers Review Body (STRB) in December 2024 to inform their recommendations for teachers’ pay in 2025 to 2026. The department has recommended a 2.8% pay award.

The department will publish its usual estimate of what is affordable for the average school in the department’s annual school costs technical note (SCTN).

The SCTN will set out what the increases from the Autumn Budget mean on average for schools. The 2.8% pay increase proposed the in written evidence is the figure schools should consider when planning their budgets for next academic year. 

Trusts can see the notional schools national funding formula (NFF) allocations that their academies attract in 2025 to 2026 on the impact of the schools NFF table.

The actual general annual grant (GAG) funding that academies are allocated in 2025 to 2026 may vary from these notional NFF allocations. GAG allocations are determined by local authority funding formulae and use more recent pupil data.

The NFF policy document sets out the key changes in the NFF for 2025 to 2026, including:

• an increase to core factor values
• minimum per pupil funding levels compared to 2024 to 2025

This is to increase the amount of funding available for schools.

The following have been rolled into the schools NFF for 2025 to 2026:

• 2024 to 2025 teachers’ pay additional grant (TPAG)
• teachers’ pension employer contribution grant (TPECG)
• core schools budget grant (CSBG)

This is to ensure that the additional funding is part of schools’ core budgets.

The policy document explains how this funding has been rolled in. Uplifts have been applied to the NFF factor values, on top of this ‘rolled in’ grant funding, to give the NFF factor values listed at page 10 of the policy document.

Academies will continue to receive payments of TPAG, TPECG and CSBG for the April to August 2025 period before the NFF uplifts apply to their 2025-26 funding. Importantly, only the CSBG will be on an uplifted full-year equivalent basis.

Schools and academies will be allocated additional funding to support with the rise in employers’ National Insurance contributions (NICs). This will not be included in the NFF. The funding rates and methodology for the NICs grant will be published shortly.

For the April 2025 to March 2026 period, both maintained schools and academies will receive the NICs grant funding over and above their NFF allocations. Academies will continue to receive NICs grant funding for the April to August 2026 period before their 2026 to 2027 funding cycle begins in September.  This funding will then be rolled in to the NFF for the 2026 to 2027 funding year, so that academies will have this funding incorporated into their GAG allocations from September 2026.

There are some factors you can consider as part of your planning that may help you construct your forecast.

You could consider factors affecting potential income, for example:

• the forecast of pupil numbers and local trends
• the estimated NFF funding per pupil with a baseline including minimum funding guarantees
• academies revenue funding allocations
• changes in pupil premium funding and the mix of pupils with special needs (and any associated funding for their support)
• the mix of weighting factors including the area cost adjustment
• other income assumptions, such as commercial income and investment income

You could also consider factors affecting potential expenditure, for example:

• pay awards for all staff (national rates or locally determined rates)
• any upcoming structural or curriculum changes
• staff turnover estimates and future staff grade ratios
• TPS contribution rates, including indications of national rates
• LGPS contribution rates, which varies according to region
• non-staff cost inflation, which could apply a flat rate or a variable one depending on specific costs.

4. Pupil numbers

You must input the number of pupils in line 999. The number must be the total number of:

• pre and post 16 students
• students in your trust as of the October census date in the year of input
• students you receive GAG funding for

The number must be the actual or estimated total number of pupils and not rounded.

In section 2 (prepare BFR form) if you input the pupil numbers first, this will prevent other validations being triggered on line 102 General Annual Grant (GAG) (excluding the student service grant).

5. Revenue

You should include all DfE revenue grants funding receivable in the period. This should be broken down into the various DfE funding streams, including new funding streams.

For the September 2023 to August 2024 academic year (previous year):

• September 2023 to March 2024 actuals will be pre-populated with last academic year’s figures
• you should update the total 2023 to 2024 with the year-end total outturn as at 31 August 2024
• April 2024 to August 2024 will automatically be calculated and no input is required

For the September 2024 to August 2025 academic year (current academic year):

• you should input the September 2024 to March 2025 actuals
• you should input the year-end totals forecast as at 31 August 2025
• the April 2025 to August 2025 forecast will automatically be calculated and no input is required

For the September 2025 to August 2026 academic year (future year):

• you should input the September 2025 to March 2026 actuals
• you should input the year-end totals forecast as at 31 August 2026
• the April 2026 to August 2026 forecast will automatically be calculated and no input is required

5.1 DfE income

For lines 101 to 199, you should:

• include DfE revenue grants received or receivable for the applicable periods, including any post-16 allocations
• gross up the GAG line to reflect the grant expected before any deduction for RPA (risk protection arrangement) is made

For line 101 – Rates reclaim, you should:

• include the grossed up rates reclaim and show the equal expenditure offset in line 378
• enter the total amount for the year you are claiming

Line 102 – General Annual Grant (GAG) (excluding Student Service Grant)is the gross GAG figure as shown on the trust’s GAG funding statement and the post 16 allocation statement. Do not include:

• any deductions for the RPA Scheme (insurance scheme)
• loan repayments
• start-up grants
• the academy post 16 to 19 bursary funding

You should include the  core school budget grant.

For line 103 – Student services grant (academy post 16 bursary funding), you should only include the academy post 16 to 19 bursary fund.

For line 105 – Start-up grants, you should include both elements of the post opening grant (start-up grants and post opening grants) included in the GAG funding statement.

For line 108 – Pupil premium and service pupil premium, you should not include any looked- after children pupil premium allocations as this is funding provided by local authorities and should be included within line 200.

For line 132 – Pupil number adjustment, you should include any additional funding you have received due to pupil number adjustment (PNA). This applies to academies who receive their funding based on pupil numbers. It is necessary so that academies funded in this way receive grant income which more accurately reflects the actual pupil numbers present during the year.

For line 135 – Other DfE grants, you should include any remaining non-GAG grants receivable for the periods not included in lines 101 to 138. This includes the ‘catch up’ funding for tutoring and any other grants from DfE grants

For line 136 – Universal infant free school meals, you should include any additional funding you receive from universal infant free school meals (UIFSM). This provides funding for all government funded schools to offer free school meals to pupils in reception, year 1 and year 2.

For line 137 – Insurance, you should only contain any insurance top-up grant received from DfE. It should not include the value of insurance claims.

For line 138 – Sponsor capacity grant, you should include any additional funding from the sponsor capacity grant, as per the grant determination. This grant is from DfE to facilitate an increase in the number of academies within a trust and encourage trusts to take on struggling schools. Schools can bid for between £50,000 to £100,000.

For line 150 – Other DfE family revenue grants should only be used for grants from the DfE family, including:

• National College of Teaching and Leadership (NCTL)
• Standards Testing Agency (STA)
• Office of the Children’s Commissioner

5.2 Other revenue

For line 200 – Local authority revenue income, you should:

• include all revenue income received or receivable from local authorities
• exclude revenue surplus transfers from predecessor local authority-maintained schools on conversion

For line 205 – Other government grants, you should include:

• all revenue grants receivable from other government sources (excluding other bodies within the DfE family and local authorities) that are not included in the previous lines
• grants receivable from any government funding (excluding DfE and local authorities) intended to promote access and opportunities for minority ethnic pupils in support of English as an additional language or as part of a wider focus on raising attainment

For line 210 – Non-government grants, you should include all revenue grants received from non-government sources.

For line 211 – Income from trading activities, you should include all revenue received from trading activities such as:

• hall hire
• catering
• rental income
• breakfast and after school clubs (excluding non-DfE funded)
• parental contributions
• staff secondments outside of the trust
• insurance claims.

For line 220 – Other income, including endowment revaluations and investment income, you should include any other revenue income not covered by the categories in line 211, for example:

• reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC)
• donations
• business sponsorship
• investment income
• gains or losses on endowments
• any transfer of revenue reserves

5.3 Surplus transfers

For line 212 – Revenue surplus transfer of an existing academy in or out of the trust, you should:

• include all revenue surplus received following the transfer of an existing academy, excluding pensions and fixed assets
• enter the figure as a positive where there is a transfer of a surplus into the trust, which will increase your income
• Where there is a transfer of a surplus out of the trust, enter the figure as a negative where there is a transfer of a surplus out of the trust, which will decrease your income

For line 215 – Revenue surplus transfer to academy on conversion, you should:

• include all revenue surplus received or receivable on conversion from local authorities, for example, surpluses received from local authorities on conversion excluding pensions and fixed assets
• enter this as a positive figure

For line 255 – Transfers between revenue and capital is the net transfer between revenue and capital. This should be either:

• the planned transfer from revenue reserves
• revenue income to the capital budget to spend on capital items

This should normally be a negative figure. Occasionally a capital grant is spent as per the grant conditions, but the expense has been classified as revenue (for example, roof repairs). In this case you may need to make a transfer from capital to revenue, creating a positive transfer to revenue from capital by entering a negative value in line 585.

For line 298 – Total revenue income is the sum of:

• total DfE revenue income (line 199)
• other revenue
• any revenue transfers in or out of the trust (lines 212 and 215)
• any revenue transfers between revenue and capital income (line 585)

Line 298 is used to calculate your trust’s total revenue reserves. If it is triggered, the reserve balance details page calculates a ratio between line 430 ‘carried forward 31 Aug 2024’ and the 2023 to 2024 total balance in line 298. You can calculate this by dividing line 430 by line 298.

5.4 Staff costs (excluding pension movements)

For line 310 – Wages and salaries, you should:

• include the full costs of employment for staff employed directly or indirectly by the trust, including gross pay, bonuses, overtime, allowances, maternity, sick pay and bought in supply costs
• include any redundancy costs for staff costs
• exclude third-party IT support and instead include these in line 342 – ICT costs

For line 311 – Social security costs, you should include the employer’s national insurance and any costs of the apprenticeship levy.

For line 320 – Pension cost: teaching staff, you should include the superannuation contributions relating to teaching staff. For example, staff members in the teachers’ pension scheme, including those on the leadership pay scale. It should include actual pension contribution.

For line 325 – Pension cost: non-teaching staff, you should:

• include the superannuation contributions relating to non-teaching staff
• include actual pension contributions and any payments to address the deficit on the LGPS fund

You should not include any change in the value of the deficit calculated under FRS102.

5.5 Non-staff costs

You should not include ICT revenue and capital expenditure within line 378 – Non-staff costs. Instead, include them within the ICT lines depending on whether they are revenue or capital expenditure.

For line 336 – ICT costs: connectivity, you should include:

• main and backup broadband lines
• wireless networks
• network switches
• network cables
• telephony
• Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)
• asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) or other dedicated phone lines
• safety and security features, such as cyber security and filtering and monitoring if they are bundled with connectivity services
• any leasing costs associated with connectivity

You should exclude:

• connectivity expenditure where costs are capitalised, such as installation costs or where phones are not leased
• mobile phones, including hardware and contracts – you should include these in line 621 - ICT costs: connectivity, within the capital expenditure section

For line 337 – ICT costs: onsite servers, you should include:

• purchased or leased physical onsite servers present in the school or trust where they are not capitalised
• onsite servers that support cloud-based storage across a trust

You should exclude:

• cloud storage where the school or trust does not have a physical onsite server – you should include these in line 339 – ICT costs: administration software and systems
• energy costs associated with onsite servers – you should include these in line 378 – non-staff costs
• expenditure on onsite servers where costs are capitalised – you should include these in line 622 – ICT Costs: onsite servers, within the capital expenditure section
• any repair and maintenance costs – you should include these in line 342 – ICT costs: IT support

For line 338 – ICT costs: IT learning resources, you should include:

• curriculum software to support teaching and learning, such as apps and lesson planning tools
• subscriptions and licenses associated with educational software and websites
• digital learning platforms
• e-books

You should exclude:

• resources that are used specifically for administration purposes, such as management information systems, safeguarding systems, and data storage – you should include these in line 339 – ICT costs: administration software and systems
• any laptops, desktops, and tablets, including associated licenses– you should include these in line 340 ICT costs: laptops, desktops, and tablets if they have not been capitalised
• any other hardware that has not been capitalised, such as audio-visual screens, printers and keyboards – these should be included in line 341 – ICT costs: other hardware

Where a resource is used for curriculum and non-curriculum (administration) purposes, and where costs are material, costs or estimates of the split should be coded separately at the time of purchase.

For line 339 – ICT costs: administration software and systems, you should include:

• administration and management software, such as management information systems (MIS)
• safeguarding
• finance
• cashless catering
• building management
• payment portals
• operating systems and device licences, unless they are bundled into the cost of laptops, desktops and tablets
• IT hosting, including cloud and data storage
• cybersecurity and filtering or monitoring systems if they are not part of any previously stated connectivity services

You should exclude:

• connectivity, such as broadband and telephony – you should include these in line 336 – ICT costs: connectivity
• IT learning resources
• hardware
• inhouse or third-party IT support – you should include these in line 338 – ICT costs: IT learning resources

Where a resource is used for curriculum and non-curriculum (administration) purposes, and where costs are material, costs or estimates of the split should be coded separately at the time of purchase.

For line 340 – ICT costs: laptops, desktops and tablets, you should include:

• laptops
• desktops
• tablets purchased or leased by the school that are used for teaching, learning and administration
• peripherals, such as keyboards
• computer mice
• display screens if they are bundled into the cost of the devices
• operating systems and licences if they are bundled into the cost of devices
• device management tools

You should only include costs within this line if they have not been capitalised. If they are capitalised, you should include them in line 624 – ICT costs: laptops, desktops and tablets within the capital expenditure section of the form.

You should exclude:

• bring your own device schemes, where pupils and staff are required to bring their own devices, such as laptops or tablets
• peripherals that are not bundled into the cost of the devices
• any other hardware or expenditure where device costs are capitalised– you should include these in line 341 – ICT costs: other hardware
• IT support unless this is bundled into the purchase or hire of the devices – you should include these in line 342 – ICT costs: IT support

For line 341 – ICT costs: other hardware, you should include:

• hardware, such as printers and consumables
• audio-visual display screens
• projectors
• CCTV
• peripherals, such as keyboards and computer mice where they are not bundled into laptop, desktop and tablet costs
• purchase or hire of any hardware where this has not been capitalised

You should only include costs within this line if they have not been capitalised. If they are capitalised, you should include them in line 625 – ICT costs: other hardware.

You should exclude:

• laptops, desktops and tablets – you should include this in line 340 – ICT costs: laptops, desktops and tablets
• onsite servers – you should include these in line 337 – ICT costs: onsite servers
• software unless it is bundled as part of the cost of the hardware – you should include it in 339 – ICT costs: administration software and systems

For line 342 – ICT costs: IT support, you should include:

• third-party IT support contracts
• maintenance and repair of technology
• IT related consultancy when it is not bundled into any other services
• the estimated costs of IT support if these are bundled into other services

You should exclude inhouse IT support, such as a network or IT manager. You should include this in staff costs.

For line 330 – Other staff support costs, you should include any indirect staffing costs, such as:

• training and development
• staff travel
• childcare vouchers
• DBS checks

For line 378 – Non-staff costs (cash), you should include any other revenue expenditure not already covered, for example:

• costs of all educational and non-educational supplies and services, including HR or Payroll services from the local authority
• RPA contributions
• building repairs and maintenance costs, including any service level of agreements that relate to the upkeep and maintenance of the school estate
• legal and governance costs
• land and buildings valuations
• bank charges and interest
• any RAAC related expenditure that has not been capitalised

You should include all ICT related costs in lines 336 to 342.

You should exclude:

• revenue deficits on conversion or transfer
• any non-cash costs, such as unwinding of the discount, impairment or depreciation

For line 379 – Building repair and maintenance or building improvements (disclosure only), you should include any expenditure that relates to:

• building repair and maintenance -building improvements that have not been capitalised

This can include:

• roof repairs
• heating or boiler replacements
• general maintenance
• repairs to the building

You should only include costs that have not been capitalised and added to the trust’s balance sheet as a fixed asset. You do not need to alter line 378, as line 379 is a disclosure only and any repair and maintenance costs within 378 will not be double counted.

If your trust is entirely church owned or has some church academies, you should include all spend on building repairs and maintenance or building improvements that your trust has paid for. You should not include it in line 378 if your diocese has paid for this work.

Line 379 is a disclosure only line and will not impact the overall total as all of the spend is included line 378.

If you have entered a value in line 379, we will ask if you can tell us the typical percentage of this spend that is funded through capital grants and that you have not capitalised.

You should include any spend that has not been capitalised and has been funded through:

• condition improvement funding (CIF)
• devolved formula capital (DFC)
• school condition allocation (SCA) that your trust has spent but not capitalised

The percentage estimate is a guide based on typical capitalisation.

If you are not sure, you should review last year and calculate how much of the capital funding your trust has received was reported in the revenue section as compared to the capital section.

5.6 Deficit on conversion

For line 350 – Revenue deficit transfer of an existing academy in or out of the trust, you should include all revenue deficit payable following the transfer of an existing academy, excluding pensions and fixed assets.

Where there is a transfer of a deficit into the trust, you should enter the figure as a positive, which will increase your expenditure.

Where there is a transfer of a deficit out of the trust, you should enter the figure as a negative, which will decrease your expenditure.

For line 351 – Revenue deficit transfer to an academy on conversion, you should include revenue deficit payable on conversion from local authorities, for example deficits received from local authorities on conversion excluding pensions and fixed assets. You should enter this as a positive figure.

For line 395 – Other non-cash items, you should only include any non-cash costs that flow into revenue reserves.

You should exclude non-cash costs that feed the pensions reserve or the capital fund. For example, you should exclude where depreciation flows into the capital fund. You should disclose this in the other items section below. If you include impairment charges in revenue reserves then you should provide an explanation following the validation query. You should include other non-cash items, such as:

• provisions (but not pension liabilities)
• unwinding of the discount

For line 400 – Net revenue income or (expenditure) for the period, you do not need to input anything because it will automatically calculate.

If you forecast your year expenditure to increase by more than 10% compared to the current year without a corresponding increase in income, you should provide an explanation.

For line 410 – Balance brought forward from previous period, you should input the closing balance of revenue funds from the previous financial year. The figures for this can be found in your statutory accounts. 

If there are no structural changes to the trust, the amount should agree to the sum of the following in the balance sheet summary of the prior year AAR:

• endowment fund
• restricted income fund
• unrestricted fund

You should not include:

• capital funds
• pension reserves
• revaluation reserves

We have pre-populated your balance brought forward for 1 September 2023 with the figures from your prior year accounts return.

The 1 September 2023 pre-populated opening balance figures have been taken from your previous AAR.

Line 430 – Balance carried forward to next period is an automatic sum of lines 400 and 410 and is used to calculate your trust’s total reserves. If it is triggered, the reserve balance details page calculates a ratio between line 430 divided by line 298. You should provide an explanation where there are any deficits.

5.7 Revenue totals

Revenue totals are pre-populated. They are calculated using:

• the balance in line 410 brought forward from the previous period for 1 September 2023
• the closing balance taken from the 2022 to 2023 AAR

You can find examples of how to calculate this number using your AAR, statutory accounts, or from the academies model accounts.

5.8 Academy trust revenue reserves

If your trust holds high levels of revenue reserves you will be asked to disclose your plans for the reserves you hold to ensure compliance with the academies trust handbook. This is for trusts holding reserves equivalent to more than 20% of their total revenue income. The calculation is a ratio of line 430 ‘carried forward 31 August 2024’ and line 298 ‘total revenue income’.

You will be asked:

• the value of actual reserves your trust is holding for contingency and
• for a narrative to explain the reasons for holding that value of reserves which should be in line with your trust’s reserve policy
• for specific details about the trust’s plans for their remaining reserves

The value of actual reserves held for contingency should be separate to other planned spend highlighted in the following options. This should be the monetary figure and not a percentage. For example, actual reserves held for contingency is £250,000 which is 4% of GAG. The value to input is ‘250’.

Details should relate to plans for reserves you currently hold however if you allocate more funds to plans than you currently hold, you should provide the details of this as narrative.

You must select at least one from the following list of options. You can include plans for reserves across all the options.

IT and systems

This could include:

• plans to spend reserves on IT upgrades and installations
• purchasing or maintenance of digital equipment
• alarm systems or network costs

Pupil provision

This could:

• include plans to spend reserves on things specific to pupils, such as curriculum or SEND, and
• capture the need for reserves to be held due to falling or raising pupil numbers

Staff provision

This could include:

• plans to spend reserves on covering costs relating to the recruitment, management and development of staff within the trust, for example planned training commitments
• funding set aside for teacher pay awards and pension contributions

Finance and strategy

This could include:

• plans to spend reserves on the cost to develop school improvement strategies
• growth of the trust
• investments into central services to improve delivery
• funds to offset deficits in future years
• paying back loans
• the impact of inflation

New buildings and estates projects

This could include plans to spend reserves on expanding the academy trusts premises, for example:

• building a new classroom or sports hall
• purchasing new properties

Maintenance and improvements to existing buildings and estates projects

This could include plans to spend reserves on the current buildings and estates within the academy trust, for example:

• refurbishments to classrooms
• buying furniture
• replacing windows
• investments into solar panels

Other spend

This should only include any plans that cannot be captured in the other spend categories.

You should:

• input as an approximate cost
• rounded to the nearest thousand (£000s)
• provide an estimate of when the activity may end
• provide details if you allocate more funds to plans than you currently hold – this will show us your planned use of these reserves and the rationale for holding substantial reserves

6. Capital

6.1 DfE income – capital

You should include all DfE capital grants funding receivable in the period.

For line 510 – DfE devolved formula capital, you should input the total amount of capital funding grant receivable from DfE.

For line 520 – Value of any capital donation of an asset from DfE for the schools rebuilding programme (SRP), the Priority Schools Building Programme (PSBP) or the free schools programme, you should input the total amount of capital funding grant receivable from DfE.

For line 530 – Other DfE income– capital, you should include:

• the amount of any capital grants received from DfE that is not included in lines 510 or 520, for example CIF or SCA funding
• any RAAC funding you have that relates to capital

For line 540 – Other DfE family capital grants, you should enter the value of any capital grants from DfE family bodies, such as:

• the national college
• Office of the Children’s Commissioner
• Standards and Testing Agency (STA)

Line 560 – Local authority capital income (cash) is the cash reserves balances on conversion only. You should include information about cash payments only. This should include:

• any local authority capital funding receivable
• unspent grants (cash), including any capital balances on conversion

6.2 Other income – capital

For line 560 – Local authority capital income, you should include any local authority capital funding receivable. This should be for cash payments only.

For lines 570 to 575 – Other capital income, you should include all other capital income broken down into these categories.

For line 570 – Non-governmental capital income you should include:

• voluntary and private capital
• donations for use as capital
• endowment funds or any other non-government capital income

You should specify what each is in the comments section.

For line 571 – Other government grant capital income, you should:

• include any other government capital grants received, which you have not already included
• specify which government body the grants are from in the comments section

For line 574 – Endowment releases to fund capital expenditure, you should include where there have been any releases from endowments reserves to fund capital expenditure.

For line 575 – Local authority donated assets, you should include any donated assets from local authorities. This will equal line 606 – Local authority donated assets expense.

6.3 Disposals

Lines 581 to 583 include the value of all disposals which are carried in the financial statements. This means that the carrying value of the asset is the costs of the asset minus any depreciation.

For line 581 – Land and buildings disposals, you should include disposal proceeds only.

For line 582 – Other fixed assets disposals, you should include disposal proceeds only.

6.4 Capital income totals

Line 585 transfer between revenue and capital (contra line 255) should balance to line 255. Normally there are revenue transfers to capital and this line should be a positive figure. Transfers from capital funding to revenue reserves is usually not allowed. A reverse transfer may be necessary as described in line 255, in which case:

• funds may flow from capital to revenue
• the balance in this line would become negative

In this circumstance, you will need to add an explanation to provide the context of this.

6.5 Capital expenditure

We collect data around ICT costs to comply with the digital standard to understand what the education sector spends on ICT. This helps schools and trusts monitor and plan spend in key areas of technology that can lead to cost and time savings longer term.

Land and buildings additions are shown in lines 601 to 620. This will include the cost of land acquisition and all fees and charges associated, for example:

• new construction – for example fees, cost of conversions and renovations
• extension to the existing premises

For line 601 – Land and buildings additions funded by DfE grants, you should include any expenditure of grants received from DfE for freehold and leasehold land and buildings additions. In here, you should include:

• any RAAC related expenditure that has been capitalised
• any completed major maintenance work that has been capitalised

You should carry forward any unspent grant income into the next financial year, usually in the capital funds balance.

You should carry forward any unspent grant income into the next financial year, usually in the capital funds balance.

For line 605 – Land and buildings donated to the trust by DfE (SRP, PSBP or free schools programme), you should include the value of any asset that has been transferred, or is due to be transferred from DfE to the trust where DfE has procured the capital works centrally under the PSBP or free schools programme.

This line is contra to row 520.

For line 615 – Land and buildings additions funded by other capital grants, you should include any expenditure that is funded by other capital grants, for example:

• lottery funding
• Sport England
• local authorities
• The Football Association

For line 620 – Land and buildings additions funded by reserves, you should include other revenue sources as well as endowment releases.

You should include your ICT additions in lines 621 to 625. This will include the cost of ICT where they have been capitalised for:

• network connection and installation
• onsite servers
• software
• hardware

This needs to be broken down into the following category lines.

For line 621 – ICT costs: connectivity, you should include (where capitalised):

• broadband
• wireless networks
• network switches
• network cables
• installation costs
• telephony
• ISDN
• ASDL or other dedicated phone lines where they are not leased
• installation costs

You should exclude:

• leasing (see line 336 – ICT costs: connectivity, within the revenue expenditure section)
• IT support
• repair
• maintenance costs (see line 342 – ICT costs: IT support, within the revenue expenditure section)

For line 622 – ICT costs: onsite servers, you should include physical onsite servers where costs are capitalised.

You should exclude:

• lease costs (see line 337 – ICT costs: onsite servers)
• any repair and maintenance costs associated with onsite servers, cloud storage costs, IT support (see line 342 – ICT costs: IT support)

For line 623 – ICT costs: administration software and systems, you should include (where capitalised):

• administration and management software, such as management information systems (MIS)
• safeguarding
• finance
• cashless catering
• building management and payment portals
• operating systems and device licences (unless bundled into the cost of laptops, desktops and tablets)
• cloud and data storage
• cybersecurity
• filtering and monitoring if they are not part of any connectivity services

You should exclude:

• connectivity, such as broadband and telephony (see line 621 – ICT costs: connectivity)
• IT learning resources (see line 338 – ICT costs: IT learning resources within the revenue expenditure section)
• IT support
• repair and maintenance costs (see line 342 – ICT costs: IT support, within the revenue expenditure section)

Where a resource is used for curriculum and non-curriculum (administration) purposes, and where costs are material, costs or estimates of the split should be coded separately at the time of purchase.

For line 624 – ICT costs: laptops, desktops and tablets, you should include (where capitalised):

• laptops
• desktops and tablets purchased by the school (used for teaching, learning and administration)
• operating systems and licences (if bundled into the cost of devices)
• device management tools.

You should exclude:

• bring your own device schemes where pupils and staff are required to bring their own devices, such as laptops or tablets
• any other hardware (see line 625 – ICT costs: other hardware, within the capital expenditure section)
• IT support
• repair and maintenance costs (see line 342 – ICT costs: IT support, within the revenue expenditure section)

Where a resource is used for curriculum and non-curriculum (administration) purposes, and where costs are material, costs or estimates of the split should be coded separately at the time of purchase.

For line 625 – ICT costs: other hardware, you should include (where capitalised):

• hardware, such as printers and consumables
• audio-visual display screens
• projectors and CCTV
• peripherals, such as keyboards and computer mice (where they are not bundled into laptop, desktop and tablet costs)

You should exclude:

• laptops
• desktops and tablets (see line 624 – ICT costs: laptops, desktops and tablets)
• onsite servers (see line 622 – ICT costs: onsite servers)
• IT support
• repair and maintenance costs (see line 342 – ICT costs: IT support)

You should include other fixed assets additions in lines 636 to 638. You should include the cost of other fixed assets acquisition, such as:

• furniture and equipment
• computer equipment
• motor vehicles
• assets under construction
• intangible assets

This needs to be broken down into the next lines.

For lines 601 to 602 land building additions, which will include the cost of land acquisition, including all fees and charges associated, you should include:

• new construction, including fees
• conversions and renovations
• extension to existing premises

For lines 621 to 625 ICT additions, you should include the cost of:

• ICT where they have been capitalised for network connection and installation
• onsite servers
• software
• hardware

For lines 636 to 638 other fixed assets additions, which will include the cost of other fixed assets acquisition, you should include:

• furniture and equipment
• computer equipment
• motor vehicles,
• assets under construction
• intangible assets

For line 636 – Other fixed assets additions funded by DfE grants, you should include:

• any expenditure of DfE grants received in a previous period – the unspent grant income should be carried forward from a prior year
• any RAAC related expenditure that has been capitalised in this line
• any completed major maintenance work that has been capitalised

For line 637 – Other fixed assets additions funded by other capital grants, you should include any expenditure that is funded by other capital grants, including:

• lottery funding
• Sport England
• local authorities
• The Football Association

You should also include any completed major maintenance work completed that has been capitalised.

For line 638 – Other fixed assets additions funded by reserves, you should include any expenditure that is funded by reserves, including other revenue sources as well as endowment releases.

Line 606 – Other fixed assets additions funded by reserves should be the contra of row 575 recognising the asset expense following receipt of the donated asset (as income).

Any additions shown in lines 601 to 606 should be new assets created by the existing trust and not assets transferred in from another local authority or academy.

6.6 Capital totals

For line 670 – Balance brought forward from previous period, you should input the closing balance of capital funds from previous financial year. Assuming there are no structural changes to the trust, then the amount entered in this cell should agree to the ‘Fixed Asset Fund’ less ‘Tangible assets’ and ‘Intangible assets’ in the balance sheet summary of the prior year AAR. Column 1 opening balance figures have been pre-populated from your previous AAR.

For line 680 – Balance carried forward to next period you do not need to input anything.

For line 572 – Capital assets transferred to an academy on conversion, you should include the value of capital assets and liabilities received or receivable on conversion from local authorities on conversion. These balances will have a contra adjustment. For example, when you record a conversion from a local authority the entry is conversion income recorded below and the opposite adjustment which is expenditure. The former recognises the transfer income and the latter the expenditure to recognise the asset. The budgeting impact is neutral.

For line 573 – Capital assets transferred of an existing academy into the trust, you should include the value of capital assets and liabilities received or receivable following the transfer of an existing academy from another academy trust.

For line 639 – Capital assets transferred of an existing academy into the trust, you should include the value of capital assets and liabilities paid or payable following the transfer of an existing academy to another academy trust. The value of any amount paid or payable should be entered as a negative value.

6.7 Capital transfers and conversions (disclosure)

You should include any transfer of capital assets and liabilities from local authorities (line 572) or an academy (line 573) into your trust. Use these lines to add in capital assets that have already been established within the incoming academy or local authority, and not new assets created by your current trust. New assets created by your current trust should be included within lines 601 to 606.

7. Other items

You should follow normal asset and liability sign convention where net assets as positive numbers and net liabilities as negative numbers.

7.1 Cash

For line 700 – Cash at bank and in hand, you should include:

• balances held in all academy trust bank accounts
• any miscellaneous cash holdings, for example petty cash balances
• cash equivalents, being short-term highly liquid investments with a short maturity, for example short-term money market deposits

August balances should be as per your audited financial statements.

For line 701 – Overdrafts, you should include any bank or other overdrafts still in use at period end date.

7.2 Impairment or gains and losses

For line 710 – Gain or loss on disposal of fixed assets, you should:

• deduct the carrying amount of the asset and related selling expenses from the proceeds of the disposal.
• enter losses as positive and gains as negative

For line 712 – Impairments, the impairment charge is the reduction in carrying value of an asset.

7.3 Investments

For line 725 – Investments, you should include the total value of your investments as at the specified dates. Increases to the total value could be as a result of the purchase of new fixed income or equity investments.

For line 730 – Investment liquidations, you should include cash or cash equivalents received as a result of investment liquidations. This is a disclosure only line and will not result in double-counting in line 700.

7.4 Loans

For line 780 – Opening outstanding loans, you should include any closing loans (including Salix loans) outstanding from the previous financial year. You should also specify in the comments section:

• who the lender is
• the amounts specific to each loan
• whether the loans were transferred on conversion
• the reason for the loan
• the loan duration

For line 785 – Increase or decrease in outstanding loans (including Salix loans), you should include the value of any increase or decrease in outstanding loans. You should also specify in the comments box:

• who the lender is
• the amounts specific to each loan
• whether the loan was transferred on conversion
• the reason for the loan
• the duration of the loan

7.5 Provisions

For line 736 – Provisions increase, you should include any new provision:

• which is a known liability
• where the timing and amount of payment are uncertain
• that have been created or increased in the year

An example of this would be an announcement of a future severance scheme. This should be entered as a positive figure.

For line 737 – Provisions release (enter as a negative value), you should include any reductions to the value of the provisions in the year. This must be a negative value.

For line 738 – Provision utilisation, you should include any payments made out against the provisions in the year. This must be a negative value. This is a cash payment and not a cost.

7.6 Depreciation or amortisation for the period

For line 715 – Buildings depreciation, you should include depreciation charges for DfE buildings only. You should exclude depreciation relating to:

• owned assets
• donated assets
• other non DfE buildings during the year

For line 716 – Other assets donated depreciation, you should include depreciation charges for non-DfE donated assets.

For line 717 – Other assets owned depreciation, you should include depreciation charges for other owned assets, excluding DfE buildings or non-DfE donated assets.

8. Reserves

In the Trust reserves section, lines 1000 to 1002 exclude pensions and capital reserves. Trusts will be required to provide:

• an explanation if any of its academies are carrying a negative reserve balance
• the plan of action to bring the deficit fund to surplus

You can collect this information in the comments section of the worksheet and copy it across onto the online form.

If your trust GAG is fully pooled and reserves are totally held centrally click ‘Yes’. You will then not be required to input the balance for each academy separately.

If you do not fully pool your GAG funding, select ‘No’ and the list of your academies will appear for you to input the individual balances per academy in lines 800 to 899.

Line 1001 – Total trust reserves should equal line 430, however it may not match due to any changes in the structure of your trust.

For SATs this is a calculated field from lines 1000 and 1002 only.

For MATs this is a calculated field from lines 1000, 1002 and 800.

For this line to populate, you should enter your figures into line 1000, 1002, and lines 800 depending on whether your reserves are held centrally or at academy level.

For line 1002 Adjustments to reserve balances, you should use this line if you need to adjust the reserve balances. For example, if you have new academies that are not included on the form and you have included financial data for them.

For line 1000 Centrally held reserves (pooled funding), you should input the value of reserves held centrally. When GAG funding is fully pooled, this will be the trusts total reserves. This applies to all SATs and should equal line 430.

For non-pooled funding MATs only, if your GAG funding is not fully pooled, and you hold reserves centrally and at academy level, you should:

• adjust the centrally held reserves in line 1000 to show the value of reserves held centrally
• adjust the reserve balances for each academy within the 800 lines

If you only hold reserve balances centrally, and not at academy level, this should equal line 430. Once lines 1000 or 800 are populated, then line 1001 will populate automatically.

For lines 800 to 899 – Individual academy revenue reserves, the number of academies in the form should match the number of lines of academy revenue reserves. If there is no GAG pooling, MATs should separately report revenue reserves information for each academy included in the form. You should enter deficits as a negative value. All trusts must provide an explanation along with the plan of action to bring the deficit fund to surplus, if any of its academies are carrying a negative reserve balance at the close of each academic year.

If your trust GAG is fully pooled and reserves are totally held centrally, you should click ‘Yes’. You will not be required to input the balance for each academy separately. If you do not fully pool your GAG funding select ‘No’ and the list of your academies will appear for you to input the individual balances per academy in lines 800 to 899.

9. Three-year forecast

This section of the form is completed at a summary level as compared to the rest of the form. The first column is calculated from information previously input into the form. You should input this for the following years:

• 2026 to 2027
• 2027 to 2028

This is input in the following 4 sections:

• revenue
• capital
• other items
• reserves

9.1 Revenue

Line 1990 – DfE grant income maps to line 199. This includes all DfE income.

Line 2500 – Other income maps to line 250 Total other revenue income.

Line 2530 – Surplus or deficit transfer into trust on conversion or transfer maps to line 212 and 215. The surplus transfers into the trust on conversion or transfer.

Line 2550 – Transfer revenue to capital maps to line 255 Transfers between revenue and capital. Transfers from the current year revenue into capital reserves. This usually reduces income but on occasion there is a transfer from capital to revenue.

For line 2980 – Subtotal income there is no action as it is an auto calculation.

Line 3100 – Staff costs maps to line 310 to 325 and includes all appropriate staff costs.

Line 3300 – Other costs maps to the ICT revenue cost lines 336 to342, line 330, line 378 and 395. It includes all non-staff costs but excludes non-cash depreciation, pension provision movements.

For line 3900 – Assumed pay awards for teaching staff (% rate), you should enter the percentage (%) rate used to forecast assumed pay awards for teaching staff. This figure should be between 0% and 100%. You should enter these figures as actual figures, for example for 1% enter ‘1’ or for no increase enter ‘0’.

For line 3950 – Assumed pay awards for support staff (% rate), you should enter the percentage (%) rate used to forecast assumed pay awards for support staff. This figure should be between 0% and 100%. You should enter these figures as actual figures, for example for 1% enter ‘1’ or for no increase enter ‘0’.

9.2 Capital

Line 5850 – Transfer revenue to capital expenditure maps to line 585. It is contra of 255. This is the current year revenue transferred to capital or is sometimes a reverse transfer.

Line 5500 – Capital income maps to lines 550 and 580. This should be all grant funding and should only include genuine income. You should exclude:

• donated assets
• DfE assets under construction
• transfers
• conversions

Line 6500 – Actual spend on capital expenditure maps to line 650. You only include actual trust spend. You should exclude:

• donated assets,
• DfE assets under construction
• transfers
• conversions

Line 5840 – Asset disposals maps to line 584 Total disposal proceeds.

For line 6600 – Capital net there is no action as it is an auto calculation.

9.3 Other items

We collect forecasted depreciation to enable us to report the capital department expenditure limit figure. This forms part of the department’s treasury control line which is reported to HM Treasury. 

To calculate your forecasted depreciation, you should:

• take your current years’ depreciation charge for the year and roll this forward for the next year
• add in the depreciation charge for any planned asset acquisitions when the asset is forecast to be capitalised
• reduce the depreciation charge when the asset is due to be disposed

Line 7200 – Depreciation maps to line 720. All depreciation categories are combined. You should provide a brief explanation of the different strands of depreciation, for example:  

• buildings
• donated assets
• other

Line 7100 – Any other non-cash costs maps to lines 736, 737,712, and 710. You should only include this if it is known and planned. Do not include pension.

You should include:

• provision movements
• impairments
• gain or loss on disposal
• a brief summary of the costs included

Line 7000 – Cash maps to line 700 to701. You should include bank balances and overdrafts combined.

For line 9000 – Pupil numbers (estimated), you should enter estimated pupil numbers for every year and without rounding.

9.4 Reserves

Line 4100 – Revenue Reserve opening balance brought forward 1 September 2025, 2026, and 2027 maps to line 410 Revenue reserves balance brought forward from previous period.

Line 4300 – Revenue Reserve balance carried forward 31 August 2026, 2027 and 2028 maps to line 430. You should explain the circumstances where you have forecast any closing deficits.

Line 8000 – Trust reserves balances at 31 August 2026, 2027 and 2028 maps to 1001, which is the total of lines 800 to899 and 1000. Only a single line entry is required for the entire trust. You should provide further details where you have forecast a deficit in any one year.

10. Completing your return

This is the final section of the return that requires input from the preparer and approver of the return.

If this is not the accounting officer, then it will ask for the accounting officer details.

The declaration asks for confirmation that the accounting officer (or delegate) verifies that the information is supported by appropriate working papers and is accurate and complete.

All validations must have been cleared before the BFR can be submitted.

10.1 Summary declaration

This page allows for a final check on the total figures calculated based on the information entered into the form. 

It will also show those figures as they will be reported to DfE without rounding to the nearest thousand pounds. This is to ensure that all trusts are rounding the figures input into the form. 

Tick the ‘Mark as complete’ statement to access the preparer and approver declarations.

10.2 Preparer declaration

If the approver is completing the return they will be able to skip this step and just submit to DfE.

You must complete the contact details.

This will help us if we need to contact the trust regarding the return.

There is a comments box for any notes that you wish to pass on to DfE.

You should:

• tick the declaration box to confirm you are content the return has been completed correctly
• press the ‘Mark as complete’ button

The return will then be made available to the approver. Once the return has been sent to the approver the form will become read-only for all the preparers or the external preparer.

10.3 Approver declaration

The user with an approver role should complete this page. You should provide contact details.

If you are the accounting officer, select ‘Yes’. If you are not the accounting officer, provide the details of the person who holds this role for the trust. 

The approver must now confirm they are content to approve the return and submit to DfE. The approver can make amendments to the form if they need to, or you can reject it back to the preparer for further amendments. 

If you want to provide any further comments with your return submission, enter them in the comments section. 

Once you are ready to submit press the Submit to DfE button at the bottom right-hand corner. Your return is now submitted and cannot be amended. You will receive an email to the address your DfE Sign in account is set up with. This email will confirm the time and date of your submission. If you have not received your email after a few hours, you should contact the customer help portal to confirm that your return has been received.

10.4 Submission page

This is a confirmation page to show that your return has been submitted and received by DfE.

Once you have submitted your return you will not be able to edit any of the figures.

You are still able to download or print a copy of the form.

This can be done from the link on the right-hand side of the dashboard screen. Should you discover any errors or omissions, contact the customer help portal.

11. Scenarios

11.1 General Annual Grant (GAG) funding statements

You can find out more about your funding statements.

11.2 GAG pooling

The image shows what will happen if 'yes' or 'no' is selected for pooling your GAG funding

GAG funding pooling is only applicable for MATs. Within the trust revenue reserves section the online form asks if the trust pools its GAG funding. As a trust, you must indicate if they pool their GAG, meaning that they hold it in one central pot used by the whole trust.  If you answer ‘Yes’, then the form will remain static. All revenue reserves should be entered in line 1000 as centrally held reserves.

If your trust does not pool the GAG funding, and the answer is ‘No’, the 800 lines will appear. You must then allocate your revenue reserves total between centrally held reserves in line 1000 and the individual academy reserves in the relevant 800 line.

11.3 Revenue totals

We have pre-populated your balance brought forward for line 410 column one with the figures from your prior year AAR.
The following are examples of where these figures can be found. 

Example 1: Finding the figures in the previous year’s AAR

For example, the figures in the previous year’s AAR can be found in the balance sheet summary by logging into your trust’s accounts return and going to: Academies accounts return index > Summary > Balance sheet summary.

The lines you need to take from the annual accounts return to populate BFR line 410 (revenue total brought forward from the previous period).

The following lines from the previous year’s AAR can be found in the balance sheet:

BSM200 – Restricted income fund

BSM220 – Endowment fund

BSM230 – Unrestricted fund

Example 2: Finding the figures in the academy trust’s statutory accounts

The figures can be found in your academy trust’s statutory accounts.

This image shows which figures to take from your trusts statutory accounts to populate BFR line 410 (revenue totals brought forward from previous period).

The figures that are taken from your trust’s statutory accounts to populate BFR line 410 (revenue totals brought forward from previous period) are:

• endowment funds
• general funds (from within the Restricted funds)
• total unrestricted funds

Example 3: Model set of accounts from the AAD.

This is an example using the AAD model accounts (Coketown) for revenue totals.

This image shows which figures to take as an example, from the academy accounts direction (AAD) model set of accounts, to populate line 410 (revenue totals brought forward from previous period).

The figures that are taken from the AAD model set of accounts, to populate line 410 (revenue totals brought forward from previous period) are:

• Restricted income fund (from within the Restricted income section) and
• Unrestricted income funds

11.4 Capital totals

We have pre-populated the opening balance for capital totals brought forward from September 2023 on line 670 with the closing balance from the 2023 AAR return.
This is an example of where these figures can be found in the prior years’ AAR.

Example 1: AAR

The figures can be found in the balance sheet summary in your AAR by logging into your trust’s accounts return and going to: Academies accounts return index > Summary > Balance sheet summary > Restricted funds (for the fixed asset fund) and Fixed assets (for the intangible assets and tangible assets).

This image shows which lines you need to take from the annual accounts return to populate your BFR line 670 (capital totals brought forward from the previous period).

The lines we have taken from the AAR to populate your BFR line 670 (capital totals brought forward from previous period) are:

BSM190 – Fixed asset fund minus both

BSM010 - Intangible assets and

BSM020 – Tangible assets

Example 2: Mock statutory accounts.

This example shows how we have calculated figures for line 670 using your academy trust’s statutory accounts.

This image shows which figures to take from your trusts statutory accounts to populate your BFR line 670 (capital totals brought forward from the previous period).

The following lines are taken from your trust’s statutory accounts to populate line 670:

• Fixed asset fund (from within Restricted funds) minus both
• Tangible assets (from within Fixed assets)
• Intangible assets (from within Fixed assets)

Example 3: Model set of accounts from the AAD.

This is an example using the AAD model accounts (Coketown) for capital totals.

This image shows which figures to take as an example, from the academy accounts direction (AAD) model set of accounts to populate line 670 (capital totals brought forward from previous period).

The lines from the AAD model set of accounts thatare used to populate line 670 (capital totals brought forward from previous period) are:

• Fixed asset fund (from within Restricted funds) minus both
• Intangible assets (from within Fixed assets)
• Tangible assets (from within Fixed assets)

11.5 Gains and losses on endowments

You can use mock statutory accounts for any endowment movements to input into line 220 from the statement of financial activities (SoFA).

This image shows which figure to take as an example, from a trusts statement of financial activities (SoFA) to populate line 220 (other income, including endowment revaluations and investment income).

You should take the figure from other income, including endowment revaluations and investment income from a SoFA to populate line 220. The figures used should be the total of those reported on the lines gain or losses on investment assets.

12. Glossary of terms

Academy trust handbook (ATH)

Academy trusts must comply with this handbook as a condition of their funding agreement. It provides an overarching framework for implementation of effective financial management and control.

Academy level

To do with an individual school(s).

Accounting officer (AO)

A senior employee whose responsibility is managing the financial resources of an organisation to ensure efficient and effective functioning of its operations.

Accruals

The recognition of income and expenditure in the accounting period that they have been earned or spent.

Amortisation charges

Depreciation charged on intangible assets.

Approver

The accounting officer or designated representative who submits the return on behalf of a trust and can also prepare the return.

Balance brought forward

Balance brought forward from the previous accounting period.

Balance carried forward

Balance carried forward to the next accounting period.

Capital

A term for financial assets, such as funds held in deposit accounts. While money is used to purchase goods and services for consumption, capital is more durable and is used to generate wealth through investment.

Capital expenditure (CAPEX)

Payments made to buy or enhance a capital asset.

Companies House

National register of company information within the UK that is available to the public.

Consolidated return

An academy trust level return that covers more than one establishment, such as the BFR.

Declaration section

Part of the application or form that requires the user to enter sign off details.

Devolved formula capital

DfE capital grant allocated to individual schools and other eligible institutions to spend on capital projects.

Disposal proceeds

Income received when selling assets.

DfE Sign In

New registration portal for setting up and updating user role.

Financial Management and Governance Self-Assessment (FMGS)

For new academies, and those at the pre-opening stage, to help them ensure compliance with the requirements of the ATH.

Fixed assets

Assets that are purchased for long term use and are not likely to be converted quickly into cash, such as land, buildings and equipment.

Forecast deficit

A situation when expenditure exceeds income in the near future.

Funding agreement

The funding agreement provides the framework within which your academy or free school will operate.

General Annual Grant (GAG)

Government funding for the school or trust to operate and will form a large part of academy funding.

IDAMS

Registration portal for setting up and updating user roles. This portal has been decommissioned and can no longer be used to access the BFR.

Impairments

A permanent reduction on the value of a fixed or intangible asset. It is when an asset’s market value is less than the asset’s book value.

Intangible assets

Assets that cannot physically be seen, for example, software, licenses, goodwill.

Investment income

Income received from investments.

Investment liquidations

Either selling the investment or bringing it to a form that can be easily converted to cash.

Looked after children pupil premium

Similar to pupil premium but this is aimed at children in the care of the local authority (LA). Money is paid through a virtual school head that works in the LA.

Organisation details

Details of the establishment in question, normally things like UPIN and trust type.

Post 16 allocations

Grant allocations for post 16 education.

Predecessor local authority

The local authority an academy was previously maintained by.

Preparer

The person who fills in the return with data then submits to the approver.

Private Finance Initiative (PFI)

Where private firms are contracted to complete and manage public projects.

Provisions

Financial or other arrangements for future eventualities or requirements.

Public Expenditure Statistical Analysis (PESA)

Annual publication of information on government spending.

Pupil premium and service premium

This provides funding to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in state-funded schools in England.

The grant also provides support for children and young people of service families, referred to as service pupil premium (SPP). This has been combined into pupil premium payments to make it easier for schools to manage their spending.

Regional directors

Each region has a team that looks after academies during and after conversion.

Reserves

Money held for emergencies or future projects. Some may be ringfenced for capital works, for example, or paying for staff expense contingencies.

Residual unspent net capital income

Capital income received and not spent on capital expenditure.

Revenue grants

Grants received for revenue expenditure.

Risk protection arrangement (RPA)

An alternative to commercial insurance for academy trusts. Under the RPA, the UK government covers the losses instead of commercial insurance.

Surplus and deficit

Monetary term denoting a value in a plus or negative state. Surplus budget is a situation where income exceeds expenditure, and a deficit budget is a situation when expenditure is more than its revenue.

Tangible assets

Fixed assets that are held by a trust for a long period of time and are easily identifiable that is, land, buildings and equipment, as opposed to software or licenses (see Intangible assets).

Trading activities

Activities undertaken to earn income from the school which are non-educational activities, for example room or hall rental.

Trust level

To do with all academies in the group that is, represented as one entity.

Unwinding of the discount

Term generally used when the future liability is fixed/certain (for example, loans or leases) and you undo (unwind) the process to find out the discount in the said fixed future liability as against its relative present value (for example, interest to its relative present value).

Validation messages

Alert or warning that highlights an error that requires attention.

13. Privacy notices 

DfE uses personal information in academy trust data collections. This includes:

• information you give to us
• information that we may collect about you
• personal data from the online forms you complete – this is part of the information telling us how your trust budgets and spends its money

The aim for this project is to provide an online service for trusts to send their financial data to the department. 

This is a requirement from the HM Treasury to account for the spending of public funds. 

You can find out more about how we use your data in: 

• privacy information: education providers’ workforce, including teachers
• privacy information: stakeholders