Estimating your academy funding allocation for academies opening between 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027
Updated 26 January 2026
Applies to England
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Introduction
Before a school opens as an academy, the Department for Education (DfE) provides details of their revenue funding, known as the general annual grant (GAG), in a pre-16 indicative allocation statement. Academies are funded in line with their funding agreements, and this guide explains how to estimate your GAG before receiving your indicative statement. It includes links to online data and examples to help explain how to estimate your funding.
This guide is designed for schools converting to become academies, and schools becoming sponsored academies, between 1 April 2026 and 31 March 2027.
For free schools, studio schools and university technical colleges (UTCs), further supporting information to assist you to estimate your funding is available:
General annual grant (GAG): mainstream academies
GAG is revenue funding and is used by academies to meet their day-to-day running costs. The main element of this funding is the pre-16 school budget share (SBS).
Funding outside the general annual grant (GAG)
As an academy, you will receive other revenue funding that is not part of your GAG. Some non-GAG funding has not been confirmed for 2026 to 2027, this section will be updated as grants are confirmed:
- early years funding - this is paid by the local authority to academies with a nursery class through the early years national funding formula (EYNFF)
- pupil premium - paid in 4 instalments by DfE, we have published allocations for the 2025 to 2026 financial year
- PE and sport for primary schools - the details for 2026 to 2027 academic year are not yet available
- universal infant free school meals (UIFSM) - this is paid in instalments by DfE to academies with infant classes
- High needs top up funding - this is paid by the local authority where required:
Details for how to claim national non domestic rates (NNDR) are available.
In addition, you may also receive capital funding.
Risk protection arrangement
The risk protection arrangement (RPA) is an alternative to commercial insurance for academies and local authority maintained schools. Under RPA, the UK government covers the losses instead of commercial insurance.
Schools converting to academy status will be signed up automatically to the RPA scheme, irrespective of whether they are a member of the local authority maintain school (LAMS) RPA scheme. However, if the school does not wish to join the RPA scheme, they should discuss with the DfE project lead assigned to the conversion who will arrange this.
After conversion, the RPA team will provide those academies joining RPA with details of their RPA membership certificate etc.
If you opt in at the outset, RPA will not be shown on your allocation statement as it does not affect your allocation, but it will affect the amount you will receive monthly. If you subsequently opt in, you will not receive an adjusted GAG statement, but your monthly pay schedule will be reissued.
Funding for new academies
Opening between 1 April 2026 and 31 August 2026
The SBS for the 2025 to 2026 academic year will be the same as for your predecessor school for the 2026 to 2027 financial year.
Funding is prorated until the end of the academic year, 31 August 2026. It does not include early years funding that your local authority allocated to your maintained predecessor.
Sixth form funding is based on the 2025 to 2026 academic year rates.
High needs place funding is paid at £10,000 per place (£6,000 per occupied place in mainstream academies) for 2025 to 2026 multiplied by the high needs place numbers for the academic year.
Opening between 1 September 2026 and 31 March 2027
The SBS for the 2026 to 2027 academic year will be the same as your predecessor school for the 2026 to 2027 financial year.
Funding is prorated until the end of the academic year, 31 August 2027. It does not include early years funding that your local authority allocated to your maintained predecessor.
Sixth form funding and start-up grants are all based on the 2026 to 2027 academic year rates.
High needs place funding is paid at £10,000 per place (£6,000 per occupied place in mainstream academies) for 2026 to 2027 multiplied by the high needs place numbers for the academic year.
Estimating your pre-16 school budget share
You can estimate your SBS by calculating a daily schools block allocation and multiplying it by the number of days remaining in the academic year.
To illustrate, for a school that converts on 1 May 2026:
- open the schools funding document supplied from your local authority
- calculate the prorated allocation using the following method
| Factor | Calculation | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Total schools block allocation (post MFG) | £3,500,000 | This is taken from the schools and academies provider level file (remember to deduct the rates) |
| SBS daily amount | £3,500,000 divided by 365 equals £9,589.04 | This is the yearly SBS amount divided by the number of days in the year (365 days) |
| SBS prorated amount | £9,589.04 multiplied by 123 equals £1,179,452.05 | This is the SBS daily amount multiplied by the number of days the school is open for the remainder of that academic year (in this example - 1 May 2026 to the end of the 2025 to 2026 academic year, 31 August 2026) |
| De-delegation | £1,000 divided by 365 multiplied by 123 equals £336.99 | Deduct this amount from the total above. The de-delegation services offered by your local authority will stay in place until 31 August 2026 or 31 March 2027 depending on when you opened |
Estimating your sixth form funding
You can estimate your sixth form funding by calculating a monthly allocation and multiplying the number of remaining months in the academic year.
Note that students support funding is paid on a financial year basis and so may have already been paid to the converting sixth form.
For example, for an academy that opens on 1 May 2026:
- open the 16 to 19 revenue funding statement for academic year 2025 to 2026 issued to the predecessor school sixth form
- calculate the prorated allocation using the following method
| Factor | Calculation | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Total programme and/or high needs funding allocation | £500,000 | Can be found from predecessor school documentation |
| Sixth form funding per month amount | £500,000 divided by 12 equals £41,666.67 | This is the total programme and, or high needs funding allocation divided by the number of months in the year (12 months) |
| Sixth form funding prorated amount | £41,666.67 multiplied by 4 equals £166,666.67 | This is the sixth form funding monthly amount multiplied by the number of months the school is open for the remainder of that academic year. (in this example - 1 May 2026 to the end of the 2025 to 2026 academic year, 31 August 2026) |
Estimating your high needs unit places in mainstream schools
Some mainstream schools receive high needs place funding. Pre-16 places occupied by pupils recorded on the school census as sole or dual (main) are funded at £6,000. Pupils in these places will also attract funding through the mainstream school formula.
Other places are funded at £10,000 and are categorised as unoccupied. This may apply where:
- the place is or will be occupied by a pupil registered on the roll of another school
- a place is not occupied at the time of the school census count, but is likely to be filled, and requires funding
- spare capacity is required for another reason
The Section 251: High needs places funding by maintained school 2025 to 2026 (September to March), sets out your current high needs places. This will be used to determine your funding allocation in indicative GAGs and upon conversion. If this data is incorrect, or there is a requirement for post-16 high needs places, please notify your local authority and advise the DfE project lead overseeing the conversion.
You can estimate your high needs place funding by calculating a daily allocation and multiplying the number of remaining days in the academic year.
To illustrate, for a mainstream school with 10 unoccupied places and 5 occupied places that converts on 1 May 2026.
| Factor | Calculation | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Total unoccupied place allocation | 10 multiplied by £10,000 equals £100,000 | The number of unoccupied places multiplied by the rate per place |
| Total occupied place allocation | 5 multiplied by £6,000 equals £30,000 | The number of occupied places multiplied by the rate per place. Pupils in these places will also attract funding through the mainstream school formula that is not included here |
| Unoccupied place funding per day | £100,000 divided by 365 equals £273.97 | The yearly unoccupied place funding allocation divided by the number of days in the year (this gives a daily funding rate) |
| Occupied place funding per day | £30,000 divided by 365 equals £82.19 | The yearly occupied place funding allocation divided by the number of days in the year (this gives a daily funding rate) |
| Prorated unoccupied place funding | £273.97 multiplied by 123 equals £33,698.63 | This is the unoccupied funding per day amount multiplied by the number of days the school is open until the end of that academic year (in this example - 1 May 2026 to 31 August 2026) |
| Prorated occupied place funding | £82.19 multiplied by 123 equals £10,109.59 | This is the occupied funding per day amount multiplied by the number of days the school is open until the end of that academic year (in this example - 1 May 2026 to 31 August 2026) |
| Total prorated high needs place funding | £33,698.63 plus £10,109.59 equals £43,808.22 | This is the total amount of high needs place funding the school will receive for the period 1 May 2026 to 31 August 2026 |
Estimating your start-up grant
On opening, a start-up grant (SUG) is paid to full-sponsored academies in order to assist them to raise standards and transform educational attainment. There are 2 elements to SUG:
-
a flat rate allocation (based on the type of school), which an academy receives in the first year of opening
-
growth towards full capacity which is a formulaic allocation paid only to academies opening with numbers on roll (NOR) less than 90% of capacity. An academy will receive the formulaic element over a number of years as the academy grows
The minimum value threshold is £10,000. The maximum values are:
- primary: £50,000
- small secondary, capacity up to 250 pupils: £60,100
- medium secondary, capacity 251 to 999 pupils: between £60,100 and £80,200
- large secondary, capacity of 1,000 or more pupils: £80,200
- you can use the ‘ready reckoner’ spreadsheet to estimate the growth towards full capacity which a secondary academy may expect to receive on opening
General annual grant (GAG): special and alternative provision academies
Special and alternative provision academies receive high needs place funding. We’ll use the figures published in the Section 251: High needs places funding by maintained school 2025 to 2026 spreadsheet to calculate this place funding.
If this data is incorrect, or there is a requirement for post-16 high needs places, please notify your local authority and advise the DfE project lead overseeing the conversion.
Special academies are funded for pre-16 and post-16 provision on the same place funded basis:
- £10,000 per special place for both age groups, and
- £10,000 per alternative provision pre-16 place
Post-16 learners at AP academies will be funded according to the national 16 to 19 funding methodology.
Element 3 top-up funding should continue to be provided by your local authority at the rate agreed prior to conversion.
Further information on the high needs funding arrangements for 2025 to 2026 and 2026 to 2027 is available.
Estimating your high needs place funding for special schools and AP academies
You can estimate your high needs funding by calculating a daily allocation and multiplying by the number of remaining days in the academic year.
To illustrate, a special school with 40 high needs places that converted on 1 May 2026 would estimate their funding using the following method.
| Factor | Calculation | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Total high needs funding allocated | 40 multiplied by £10,000 equals £400,000 | The number of high needs places multiplied by the rate per place |
| High needs place funding per day | £400,000 divided by 365 equals £1,095.89 | The yearly high needs funding allocation divided by the number of days in the year |
| Prorated high needs place funding | £1,095.89 multiplied by 123 equals £134,794.52 | This is the high needs funding per day amount multiplied by the number of days the school is open for the remainder of the year (in this example - 1 May 2026 to 31 August 2026) |
Annex: days remaining
The number of days remaining in the 2025 to 2026 academic year for academies opening to August 2026.
| Academy opening day | Days remaining |
|---|---|
| 1 April 2026 | 153 |
| 1 May 2026 | 123 |
| 1 June 2026 | 92 |
| 1 July 2026 | 62 |
| 1 August 2026 | 31 |
The number of days remaining in the 2026 to 2027 academic year for academies opening to March 2027.
| Academy opening date | Days remaining |
|---|---|
| 1 October 2026 | 335 |
| 1 November 2026 | 304 |
| 1 December 2026 | 274 |
| 1 January 2027 | 243 |
| 1 February 2027 | 212 |
| 1 March 2027 | 184 |