Correspondence

DfE Update academies: 8 July 2026

Published 8 July 2026

Applies to England

Action: Don’t miss the deadline to register for DfE Energy for Schools

Is your energy contract up for renewal in the next 12 months? Time is running out to register for the DfE’s Energy for Schools service. The deadline is midday on Tuesday 15 September 2026. 

Over 1,000 schools have already made the switch, securing significant savings on their energy costs. Don’t let your school or trust miss the next opportunity to access the service from April 2027. 

If you are still unsure, you can read how one trust saved over £78,000 a year on energy costs after joining the service. 

Register today. It only takes a few minutes and could save your school thousands of pounds.

Information: Details on schools funding, the 2026 teacher pay award and funding adjustment to account for the fall in employer pension contributions

On Wednesday 1 July 2026, we announced the 2026 and 2027 school teacher pay awards alongside £700 million additional funding for schools in the 2026 to 2027 financial year to support them with the cost of staff pay awards, rising to £1,115 million in 2027 to 2028. This additional funding will come from DfE budgets. 

For 2026 to 2027 financial year, this includes: 

• funding for mainstream schools (reception to key stage 4), special schools, alternative provision (AP) and hospital schools, and centrally employed staff, provided through the schools budget support grant 2026 (SBSG 26)
• funding for early years, provided through the early years teachers pay grant
• funding for schools and academies delivering 16 to 19 provision, provided through 16 to 19 allocations

The SBSG 26 calculator tool, can all be accessed through the SBSG 26 page linked above, will help mainstream schools estimate their additional pay funding.

From April 2027, employer contribution rates for the teachers’ pension scheme will decrease, and funding for schools will be reduced to reflect the decrease in pension costs. The methodology document describes how the funding will be adjusted for mainstream, special, AP and hospital schools as well as for eligible early years providers and centrally employed teachers.

For mainstream academies, this includes a deduction to their general annual grant allocations for the 2026 to 2027 academic year from April 2027. We have published a funding adjustment calculator to help academies estimate the funding reduction in the April to August 2027 period.

Information: Recoupment regulations 

The DfE has laid the Inter-authority Recoupment (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2026, which update the arrangements for recouping costs between local authorities for looked after children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) placed out of area.

The regulations will come into force on Tuesday 1 September 2026. 

The amendments introduce a new requirement for the local authority that looks after the child to meet the costs incurred by the authority providing the education for those with an education, health and care plan or in a special school, where agreement on costs is not reached within six months.

Accompanying Local authorities’ recoupment of the education costs of looked after children guidance to support implementation of the new regulations has been published.

Information : Electric vehicle salary sacrifice schemes for academy trusts and colleges

The college financial handbook 2026, published today, includes a new policy on electric vehicle salary sacrifice (EVSS) schemes which comes into effect for colleges from 1 August 2026. 

A policy specific to academy trusts will be  included in the Academy Trust Handbook 2026.

For both sectors, the permission to offer EVSS schemes takes effect from the date the relevant handbook comes into force – 1 August 2026 for colleges and 1 September 2026 for academy trusts.

Detailed guidance has been published on implementing EVSS schemes for colleges and academy trusts.    

Feedback: Help us improve the 16 to 19 business case process

We are improving our 16 to 19 business case process. If you have experience completing or submitting these business cases, we would like to speak with you to learn what works well, and what challenges you face as education providers.

We will be running a series of online interviews between Wednesday 8 and Tuesday 14 July. Sessions will take place through Microsoft Teams and will last up to 45 minutes.

If you would like to take part, please complete our short sign-up form and a researcher will be in touch to book a session with you.

Feedback: Help us to improve pupil premium allocation calculations 

We are improving how funding information is presented, specifically calculation information about allocation statements for pupil premium funding.
 
We would welcome your feedback on the design in development and encourage participation if your role involves accessing and using allocation calculation data.
 
Online feedback sessions will run from Monday 20 July to Friday 24 July 2026. Sessions will take place on Microsoft Teams and will last up to 60 minutes.
 
Please register your expression of interest to take part. We will then contact you to confirm your session date and time.

Your feedback will help make funding information clearer, more consistent, and easier to understand.

Feedback: Tell us about your experience of our funding service

If you receive education and skills funding, we want to hear about your experience.

Please complete this short survey by Wednesday 22 July 2026. It should take you 5 to 10 minutes to complete.

We aspire to run an excellent education and skills funding service that gives providers as much certainty as possible.

The survey runs once a year and asks whether we deliver:

• certainty on what we pay you and when
• clarity on how to comply with funding rules
• services that are accessible and easy to use
• answers when you have funding-related queries

We will keep your personal data confidential, and your feedback will help us to improve the service.

Events and webinars: Taking control of agency supply with Shaw Education Trust

Friday 10 July 2026, 11am to 11:30am. Register on Eventbrite.

Events and webinars: Academies chart of accounts technical updates for 2026 to 2027 

Tuesday 14 July 2026, 11am to midday. Register on Eventbrite.

Events and webinars: Academy finance professionals – budget forecast return

Wednesday 15 July 2026, 10am to 11am. Register on Eventbrite.

Events and webinars: Academies chart of accounts technical updates for 2026 to 2027 

Thursday 16 July 2026, 10am to 11am. Register on Eventbrite.