High needs funding arrangements: 2024 to 2025
Information for local authorities, schools and colleges about high needs funding arrangements for the 2024 to 2025 financial and academic year.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) closed on 31 March 2025. All activity has moved to the Department for Education (DfE). You should continue to follow this guidance.
High needs funding: 2024 to 2025 operational guide
Read the operational guide to:
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find out how the high needs funding streams work for all types of provision
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help local authorities plan their 2024 to 2025 financial year high needs funding
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help schools, colleges and providers plan their 2024 to 2025 academic year
Special free schools adjustment: a guide for local authorities
This guide explains how local authorities’ dedicated schools grants (DSG) are adjusted for new and growing special free schools.
Pupil referral unit (PRU) and alternative provision (AP) academy additional funding allocations for 2024 to 2025
This document has been produced to assist local authorities in continuing to make the 3.4% additional allocation to maintained alternative provision (AP) schools (normally referred to as pupil referral units or PRUs) and AP academies (including AP free schools) for financial year 2024 to 2025. This is in accordance with the relevant DSG conditions of grant for 2024 to 2025 (yet to be published) and guidance on implementing that requirement in annex 2 of the high needs funding: 2024 to 2025 operational guide
High needs place change process
Read the guidance for an overview of the place change process for the 2024 to 2025 academic year, including how to determine place numbers and a timeline.
How to complete the high needs place change workbook
Local authorities should use these instructions to help complete the high needs place change workbook for providers in their area.
Hospital education funding: guidance
Read the hospital education funding guidance to find out how local authorities can apply for changes to their hospital education funding for the 2024 to 2025 financial year.
High needs place, pupil and student numbers in the school census and individualised learner record (ILR): 2022 to 2023 academic year
The data workbook shows:
- the number of pupils in special academies and special free schools recorded in the spring 2023 school census. It also shows the place numbers for the 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024 academic years
- the post-16 high needs student numbers for further education colleges, independent learning providers, 16 to 19 academies and 16 to 19 free schools, as recorded in the 2022 to 2023 ILR R14 data return. It also shows the place numbers for the 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024 academic years (see the ‘ILR actuals and published places’ tab)
- the post-16 high needs student numbers for special post-16 institutions (SPIs) as recorded in the 2022 to 2023 ILR R14 data return. It also shows the place numbers for the 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024 academic years (see the ‘SPI actuals & published places’ tab)
High needs place change request outcomes: 2024 to 2025 academic year
The high needs place change notification outcomes inform the funded place numbers for the 2024 to 2025 academic year in academies, free schools, further education (FE) colleges and independent learning providers.
Local authorities and providers can raise a query with us about their place numbers for the 2024 to 2025 academic year if they are not as expected.
Read the enquiry window section of the high needs place change process document to find out how to submit an enquiry.
The enquiry window opens on Wednesday, 17 January 2024 and closes on Friday, 2 February 2024.
High needs place process: alternative provision (AP) free school guidance for 2024 to 2025
Guidance on completing and returning the AP free school high needs places workbook.
Import/export adjustments 2024 to 2025: for local authorities to notify ESFA of data errors
As with previous years, local authorities can notify us if the January 2024 school census or February 2024 individualised learner record (ILR) R06 data used in the import/export adjustment was incorrect at the time returns were submitted by the school or college. This guidance explains the process for local authorities to notify us of data errors which may impact on their dedicated schools grant funding.
Further information
Read the schools operational guide: 2024 to 2025 to help plan the local implementation of the funding system for the 2024 to 2025 financial year.
Read the high needs funding 2023 to 2024: operational guide for information about the 2023 to 2024 academic and financial year funding arrangements.
You can read the national funding formula for schools and high needs for further details of the NFF funding system for 2024 to 2025.
View the provisional national funding formula allocation tables for schools, high needs and central school services blocks for 2024 to 2025.
View the high needs: allocated place numbers for a list of allocated high needs place numbers.