Guidance

How to complete the high needs place change workbook for 2026 to 2027

Published 5 November 2025

Applies to England

1.   About this guidance

This guide explains how the workbook should be completed for local authorities requesting changes to their 2026 to 2027 high needs place numbers. It provides technical guidance for those who are completing and submitting the return.

Refer to the guidance high needs place change process: academic year 2026 to 2027 for further information about the high needs place change notification process and how the outcomes will be managed.

2. Changes to the workbook for 2026 to 2027

The workbook supporting the place change process is similar to last year. However, please note the following changes:

• the digital platform for securely downloading blank copies of your bespoke local authority workbook and submitting completed workbooks has changed to prepare and submit your high needs return service. To access this, you must have a Department for Education (DfE) Sign-in account.  If you are unable to access this form, contact us through the Customer Help Portal

• the facility to embed documents supporting the completion has been removed

• the requirement to differentiate between ‘New’ and ‘Existing’ schools on the ‘Place change notification (PCN)’ worksheet has been removed

• requests for changes to hospital education funding at local authority level through the dedicated schools grant (DSG) will no longer be considered using the high needs place change workbook. Please see high needs place change process: academic year 2026 to 2027 for further information

3.  Expiry or review date

We will review this guidance in autumn 2026.

4.   Completing the workbook

This guide shows local authorities how to navigate and complete the high needs place change workbook.

Local authorities can download the workbook from prepare and submit your high needs return service and logging into their account using the DfE Sign-in service. You may need to  create an account if you do not already have one. You can amend your workbook and resubmit it up to the data collection deadline, 5 December 2025. If you make multiple submissions, we will take account of your latest submission and disregard any previous submissions. If you experience difficulties accessing or creating an account, you can contact us through the Customer Help Portal.

Local authorities must submit the workbook via prepare and submit your high needs return service account on or before 5 December 2025. We may not consider submissions received after this date.

The workbook is currently only available as an MS Excel spreadsheet. We are looking at changing this in future to enable the use of other accessible communication formats.

A 2026 to 2027 PCN by a local authority must meet the requirements set out in this guide. Contact us at: High.Needs@education.gov.uk if you have any questions about completing the workbook.

Please do not email copies of your completed workbook unless we request you do so.

There will be a 2-week window for local authorities, schools, and colleges to review the information and raise any enquiries with us following publication of the place change outcomes in February 2026. This includes where a place number previously marked as ‘not agreed’ in the original return has subsequently been agreed. Applications for changes raised during the 2-week enquiry window for any schools that are not included in the workbook and queries received outside of the enquiry window may not be considered.  See high needs place change process: academic year 2026 to 2027 for further information.

5. ‘Cover’ worksheet

Enter the contact details of the person who is responsible for completing the workbook in the ‘Primary local authority contact details’ section. We will use this information if there is a query regarding your submission.

For us to accept the workbook, you must enter primary contact details in rows 13 to 15, however you may wish to include additional contact details in the second and third columns.

A workbook should still be returned to DfE even where no changes to current 2025 to 2026 places are required. For the purposes of these instructions and the workbook, this is called a ‘nil return’.

The primary contact should complete the declaration for every submission, including ‘nil returns’. If the primary contact does not complete the declaration correctly the submission will be rejected, and a resubmission requested.

To successfully fulfil the declaration, complete the following steps:

1. For ‘nil returns’ only: check the tick box (row 30).

2. Check the tick box (row 33) to confirm your agreement to the statement included in the declaration.

3. Add an electronic signature or typed name into the section headed ‘Signature or typed name’ (cell D41).

4. Enter the date of completion into the ‘Date completed’ cell (D43).

Where ‘nil return’ is selected, submit the workbook via your prepare and submit your high needs return service account on or before 5 December 2025.

The validation on this page will show as a ‘Fail’ if the primary contact details have not been entered. It will also fail if the declaration is not completed correctly - you must make sure the statement is ticked and both a signature and date are entered.

Additional information is included in the ‘Cover’ worksheet, giving a brief description of the areas covered by the workbook and hyperlinks to help navigate to the different worksheets (rows 25 to 28).

These are:

• ‘Cover’
• ‘2025 to 2026 HN Data’
• ‘Place Change Notification (PCN)’
• ‘Validation’

6.   ‘2025 to 2026 HN Data’ worksheet

This worksheet contains pre-populated details of the 2025 to 2026 high needs data (correct as of 1 October 2025) for those provider types that are in scope for changes from current high needs places. Refer to the high needs place change process: academic year 2026 to 2027 guidance for the types of provider that are in scope.

Filters are applied to allow you to search the data, but the worksheet is protected, and you will be unable to change this data. Details of any school or college you identify as requiring a change in this worksheet, will be replicated in the ‘Place change notification (PCN)’ worksheet.

7.  ‘Place change notification (PCN)’ worksheet

You should use this worksheet to notify us of changes from the 2025 to 2026 high needs places and place values for academies with hospital education funding.

Validation rules are built into the worksheet to ensure data that is entered into the cells is formatted correctly. In addition, the ‘Validation’ worksheet will highlight instances where information is entered incorrectly (for example, if data is entered into greyed cells or a UKPRN appears more than once).

At the top of the worksheet is the current validation status (see the section headed ‘Validation worksheet’ for more details). This will show as ‘Pass’ if the worksheet is completed correctly.

The worksheet is split into 2 sections depending on the reason for change.

1. In the first section (starting at row 12), local authorities must enter those schools and colleges with the reason for change identified as ‘New unit, school or college’ – entries here relate to schools that are not currently funded by DfE or do receive funding from DfE but not for high needs

2. Any ‘Change from currently high needs places’ should be entered in the second section (starting at row 29) - entries here must relate to schools and colleges in the ‘2025 to 2026 HN data’ worksheet

There are 2 links at the top of the PCN worksheet (cells A3 and A6) that will help you to navigate between the different sections of the worksheet.

The workbook is designed so that when the ‘Provider type’ is entered, cells requiring completion will open and change from grey to white backgrounds.

7.1   PCN worksheet general principles

To successfully complete the PCN worksheet, for each entry you should:

• enter schools and colleges into the correct section of the PCN worksheet:

  • the first section is for new or existing DfE funded schools and colleges with changes other than to current high needs places
  • the second section ‘change from current high needs places’ is for schools and colleges funded for high needs places via DfE in 2025 to 2026
• start at column A of the PCN workbook and work along the row
• record the change as either ‘agreed’ or ‘not agreed’ with the school or college
• confirm which schools require a change to place numbers (for changes to currently funded high needs places ONLY)
• not enter data into greyed out cells
• only make one entry per academy, college, or other provider
• enter the total place numbers you require after any adjustment has been applied (where a change in the place number is required)
• if no change is needed, leave the cell blank (if ‘0’ is entered into the 2026 to 2027 revised place number columns, the final place numbers will be set at zero)
• ensure all validation markers show as ‘pass’ before submitting the completed workbook to us

7.2 Infrastructure changes (for example, mergers and amalgamations – including mergers across local authorities)

These types of changes may affect more than one school or college. Each school or college may fall into a different category (new, existing, or change) of the workbook depending on the status of that organisation. You should consider the steps below when notifying us of infrastructure changes:

1. Each school or college that will receive DfE funding, and is affected by the change, will need to be listed separately in the workbook and added to the section appropriate for that school, whether it be a change from current place numbers, a new provider or a change to an existing DfE funded provider that has not received high needs funding from us in the past.
2. Do not add any affected maintained schools that are not converting to an academy as a separate school (see the comment on ‘Notes’ for additional actions).
3. Each school or college should show the impact on its own place numbers within columns M to AX of the PCN worksheet.
4. The notes section for each affected school or college should name all providers (including maintained schools) impacted by this change and identify any closing and lead school’s along with any other information that will help us to process the merger/amalgamation data.

7.3 Populating the PCN worksheet

The process for completing the 2 sections of the worksheet is set out below:

7.3.1 Section 1: ‘New providers / Existing providers’

The first section of the worksheet (rows 12 to 26) focuses on new reasons for change in the academic year 2026 to 2027. Refer to the high needs place change process: academic year 2026 to 2027’ for the types of provider that are in scope.

Use the ‘New unit, school or college’ link at the top of the worksheet (row 3) to navigate to this section of the workbook.

In this section enter high needs place activity for all high needs units, schools or colleges that are considered as ‘New’ or ‘Existing’.  Definitions of ‘New’ and ‘Existing’ are set out below.

New providers

A school or college with no activity funded by DfE as of 1 October 2025, but is within scope to receive funding, and requires high needs place funding in 2026 to 2027 academic year.

This includes:

• special post-16 institutions (SPIs) that require funding for high needs places in 2026 to 2027 that were not DfE funded in academic year 2025 to 2026 (subject to due diligence process)
• schools or pupil referral units that were local authority maintained on 1 October 2025, but will convert to an academy on or by 1 January 2026 and require high needs place funding in 2026 to 2027
• special free schools located in the local authority’s area that were not open by 1 October 2025 (and are not therefore included in the pre-populated data) but that are due to open on or by 1 January 2026

Supply as much information as possible about the new school to enable us to process the change.

Existing provider

A school or college that did receive DfE funding on 1 October 2025 and are in scope of this data collection exercise, but who did not receive funding from us for high needs places in 2025 to 2026.

Schools that are not eligible for this option include:

• any school or college listed in the ‘2025 to 2026 HN Data’ worksheet
• SPIs that were DfE funded in academic year 2025 to 2026

Where such changes are applied to existing provider’s, the schools existing funding agreement with us may need a deed of variation supporting this change, this must be submitted to us on or before 5 December 2025 to enable inclusion of the agreed changes in initial funding allocations issued by the end of March 2026. A further deadline of 9 April 2026 will enable changes to be reflected in revised funding agreements issued by the end of August 2026.

Pre-populated cells are protected stopping you from entering data, for example, ‘Change category’ (column A) is fixed.

You should also complete the following fields for the proposed change to be processed correctly:

i. ‘Do you wish to make a change to currently funded high needs places?’ (column B)

Not required for ‘new’ or ‘existing’ entries

ii. ‘Is the requested change agreed with the school or college?’ (column C):

Select from the options ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.

Advise us of the ‘agreed’ status with the school or college, at the point of completing the form. It may be that discussions with the school or college are ongoing, and you should document this in the notes section. If you select the option ‘No’ you will still be able to add this request to your workbook and there will be an opportunity to advise us of progress during the enquiry window phase of the data collection.  Applications for changes raised during the 2-week enquiry window for any schools not listed in the workbook as needing a change, may not be considered. See high needs place change process: academic year 2026 to 2027 for further information.

iii. ‘Deed of Variation (DoV) has been submitted to DfE’ (column D):

Requests to add a new special education needs (SEN) unit or resourced provision (RP) to an existing school, may need a corresponding variation to the schools funding agreement with us. Please consult with the school and advise us of the status of the deed of variation at the point of completing the workbook.

The workbook will present you with the following options:

• ‘The funding agreement already covers the required position’
• ‘A DoV is being developed to permit the required position’
• ‘A DoV is required’
• DfE is not funding any activity at this school as of 1 October 2025

A deed of variation will not be required for any provider identified as ‘New’ (a school or college with no activity funded by DfE as of 1 October 2025). For activity falling into this category you should select ‘DfE is not funding any activity at this school as of 1 October 2025’.

If you select ‘A DoV is being developed to permit the required position’ or ‘A DoV is required’ you will still be able to add the change to your workbook and there will be an opportunity to advise us of progress during the enquiry window phase of the data collection. However, you should ensure that the school is progressing this action. See high needs place change process: academic year 2026 to 2027 for further information.

Where we agree to the requested change, and for us to reflect these changes in the school or colleges initial funding allocations issued by the end of March 2026, the school must submit the deed of variation to us on or before 5 December 2025. A further deadline of 9 April 2026 will enable changes to be reflected in revised funding agreements issued by the end of August 2026. See high needs place change process: academic year 2026 to 2027 for further information.

If the funding agreement does not reflect the requested activity, or the school/college does not submit a deed of variation, we cannot support the change.

iv. ‘Proposed date of change’ (column E):

Enter the date the change is expected to come into effect, this cell will only accept the date the workbook is completed (or a later date) and use the format dd/mm/yyyy

v. ‘UKPRN’ (column F):

This must be an eight-digit number (with no letters) – you can get this from ‘Get information about schools’ (GIAS)

vi. ‘LAEstab’ (column G):

This must be a seven-digit number (with no letters or symbols for example ‘/’) – if unknown, leave this blank

vii. ‘URN’ (column H):

This must be a six-digit number (with no letters) - you can get this from ‘GIAS

viii. ‘School or college name’ (column I)

You can get this from ‘GIAS

ix. ‘Provider type’ (column J):

Select your option from the dropdown list linked to the cell (refer to the high needs place change process: academic year 2026 to 2027’ for the provider types that are in scope) – by selecting the provider type the cells that require updates will become available (changing from grey to white).

Several eligible provider types are included in the dropdown options. However, the four options listed below only apply to ‘New’ providers (a school or college with no activity funded by DfE as of 1 October 2025).  These should not be used for ‘Existing’ providers:

• MAINTAINED ALTERNATIVE PROVISION (AP) – PRU
• MAINTAINED SCHOOL – MAINSTREAM
• MAINTAINED SPECIAL SCHOOL
• SPECIAL POST-16 INSTITUTION

Using the option above, this workbook can be used to apply for ‘New’ SPIs not currently funded by DfE.  Changes to ‘Existing’ funded SPI activity should not be applied for using this workbook. Refer to the high needs place change process: academic year 2026 to 2027 for the types of provider that are in scope.

Hospital education calculations in columns AS to AX will be displayed if the provider type is populated.

x. ‘Reason for change’ (column K):

Select an option from the dropdown that best fits the change you are applying to that school.  If the option ‘Other’ is selected, add details of the change to the ‘Notes’ field (column L).

xi. ‘Notes’ (column L):

Ensure that you supply sufficient detail to enable us to process the change (for example, details of all schools and colleges involved in a merger and for new schools and colleges including SPIs, contact details of the new provider must be provided such as their address, email and telephone contact information)

xii. Changes to new/existing places (columns M to AX):

Where needed, add 2026 to 2027 revised place numbers to the open columns in the table (columns M to AX). Only whole numbers will be accepted. 2025 to 2026 numbers will not be pre-populated but local authorities may manually enter the 2025 to 2026 place numbers on which a school or colleges 2025 to 2026 place funding is based, for information.

7.3.2 Section 2: Change from current high needs places

The second section (rows 29 to 119) allows you to request changes to high needs places for academic year 2026 to 2027 for any schools or colleges where we fund high needs places in the 2025 to 2026 academic year.

Use the ‘Change’ link at the top of the worksheet (row 6) to navigate to this section of the workbook.

The types of changes could include:

• a change in place numbers
• a change in the age range (for example, where a school was funded for pre-16 high needs places in the 2025 to 2026 academic year, but this now needs to be extended to include post-16 high needs provision, such as the inclusion of a new sixth form, for the 2026 to 2027 academic year)

The request to change the age range may need a corresponding variation to the schools funding agreement with us. A deed of variation supporting this amendment must be submitted to us on or before 5 December 2025 to enable inclusion of the agreed changes in initial funding allocations issued by the end of March. A further deadline of 9 April 2026 will enable changes to be reflected in revised funding agreements issued by the end of August 2026.

This section of the worksheet is populated with all eligible schools including their 2025 to 2026 funded high needs places. Pre-populated cells are protected stopping you from entering data, for example, ‘Change category’ (column A) is fixed.

The following cells must be completed for the proposed change to be processed correctly:

i. ‘Do you wish to make a change to currently funded high needs places?’ (column B)

Cells in this column are pre-populated with the option ‘No’. This confirms that the school does not require a change to its current funded place numbers. The places set out in the ‘2025 to 2026 HN Data’ worksheet will be rolled forward to 2026 to 2027 for any schools listed as ‘No’ or where this cell is blank.

If ‘No’ is selected, you may not be able to request a change for these providers during the 2-week enquiry window. See high needs place change process: academic year 2026 to 2027 for further information.

Change the ‘No’ to ‘Yes’ for all schools or colleges that require a change to their currently funded place numbers.

When you enter ‘Yes’, previously greyed out cells will change to white and open to allow you to enter data where applicable. If cells remain grey, then these columns will not relate to the provider type associated with the school and they should not be completed.

ii. ‘Is the requested change agreed with the college or school?’ (column C):

Select from the options ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.

You are required to advise us of the ‘agreed’ status with the school or college, at the point of completing the form. It may be that discussions with the school or college are ongoing, and you should document this in the notes section. If you select the option ‘No’ you will still be able to add this request to your workbook and there will be an opportunity to advise us of progress during the enquiry window phase of the data collection. Applications for changes raised during the 2-week enquiry window for any schools not listed in the workbook as needing a change, may not be considered.  See high needs place change process: academic year 2026 to 2027 for further information.

iii. ‘Deed of Variation (DoV) has been submitted to DfE (column D):

Requests to change the age range at a school that is currently receiving high needs place funding from us may need a corresponding variation to the schools funding agreement with us. Please consult with the school and advise us of the status of the deed of variation at the point of completing your workbook.

The workbook will present you with the following list of options:

• ‘The funding agreement already covers the required position’
• ‘A DoV is being developed to permit the required position’
• ‘A DoV is required’

If you select ‘A DoV is being developed to permit the required position’ or ‘A DoV is required’ you will still be able to add the request to your workbook and there will be an opportunity to advise us of progress during the enquiry window phase of the data collection. However, you should ensure that the school is progressing this action. See high needs place change process: academic year 2026 to 2027 for further information.

Where we agree to the requested change, and for us to reflect these changes in the school or colleges initial funding allocations issued by the end of March 2026, the school must submit the deed of variation to us on or before 5 December 2025. A further deadline of 9 April 2026 will enable changes to be reflected in revised funding agreements issued by the end of August 2026. See high needs place change process: academic year 2026 to 2027 for further information.

If the funding agreement does not reflect the requested activity, or the school / college does not submit a deed of variation, we cannot support the change requested.

iv. ‘Proposed date of change’ (column E):

Enter the date the change is expected to come into effect, this cell will only accept the date the workbook is completed (or a later date) and use the format dd/mm/yyyy.

v. Pre-populated data (columns F to J)

If column B ‘Do you wish to make a change to currently funded high needs places?’ shows ‘Yes’, columns F to J are populated with identifying information pulled through from the ‘2025 to 2026 HN Data’ worksheet.  You cannot edit these columns.

vi. ‘Reason for change’ (column K):

Select an option from the dropdown that best fits the change you are applying to that school.  If the option ‘Other’ is selected, add details of the change to the ‘Notes’ field (column L).

vii. ‘Notes’ (column L):

Ensure that you supply sufficient detail to enable us to process the change (for example, details of all schools and colleges involved in a merger/de-merger. details supporting unit closures or deed of variation progress)

viii. Changes to current places (columns M to AX):

Enter the revised place numbers for 2026 to 2027 into the open cells (columns M to AX) that you want to change. Only whole place numbers will be accepted. Enter the total number of places you require, not the difference between the new and old place numbers. For example, if a school has 13 pre-16 high needs places and a total of 20 places is required, enter 20.

The difference between the new and old place numbers will appear in the following cell ‘Difference in 2026 to 2027 against 2025 to 2026’.

Where no change is required, leave the cell blank and the 2025 to 2026 place numbers will automatically roll-forward. If ‘0’ is entered into the ‘2026 to 2027 revised place number’ columns, the final place numbers will be set at zero.

Columns AP to AR calculate the total high needs places (excluding hospital education) for each school or college.

Columns AS to AX allow changes relating to hospital education place numbers and/or the per-place amount for academies only. The difference in place numbers and per-place funding when compared to 2025 to 2026 is calculated in columns AU and AX, respectively. The total hospital education funding is calculated in column AY for each applicable school or college.

8.  ‘Validation’ worksheet

The ‘Validation’ worksheet has been added as a check for local authorities to ensure the workbook is completed correctly. Before you submit the completed workbook to us, you should check that all values in the validation table show as ‘Pass’. We will request corrective action and a resubmission where a validation result shows as ‘Fail’.

Key points to note about the ‘Validation’ worksheet are:

• cell D2 gives the overall validation status of the workbook * this should show as ‘Pass’ before submitting the completed workbook to us
• cell D4 and D6 show the final validation status concerning the ‘Cover’ worksheet with focus on the primary contact details and the primary contact signed declaration
• cell D8 shows the status of the PCN worksheet, where this shows as a ‘Fail’ refer to row 16 – starting at column D – this gives the summary status for each column where data can be entered (where a ‘Fail’ appears search that column in the table below to identify the cell containing the error, this will be highlighted in red – the table from row 19 reflects the format of the PCN worksheet and you can use this to locate the cell that has been populated incorrectly on the PCN worksheet)
• cell D10 displays ‘Yes’ when the ‘nil return’ box on the ‘Cover’ worksheet has been completed

As with the PCN worksheet, links at cells C15 and C17 have been added to the ‘Validation’ worksheet to direct you to the 2 sections of the workbook relating to ‘New/Existing’ entries and ‘Change’ from current high needs places.