Guidance

How to download and return the authority proforma tool (APT): using the digital portal for 2024 to 2025

Published 19 December 2023

Applies to England

1. Introduction 

Each year, local authorities are required to detail their schools block funding formulae in accordance with the arrangements set out by the Secretary of State (SoS) for Education. 

The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) has developed the authority proforma tool (APT) to assist local authorities to model, and then confirm, how they plan to do this for the 2024 to 2025 financial year. 

You should use this guidance to download your APT and for subsequently returning a completed APT to ESFA. A separate document, ‘How to complete the authority proforma tool’, guides the user on how to complete the APT. 

The APT is available to local authorities via the ‘Access the authority proforma tool (APT) portal’. To access this, you must have a DfE Sign-in account. The APT workbook is password protected and we will email you the password details. This is to ensure that the information contained in the documents is kept secure. 

If you are unable to access the portal, contact us via the ESFA help centre. 

2. Who this portal is for 

The portal is for local authorities to download and/or upload their completed APT for the 2024 to 2025 financial year. 

3. When you can access the portal 

You can now download and/or upload your completed APT for the 2024 to 2025 financial year using the portal. 

The portal will close at 5pm on Monday, 22 January 2024.

You can amend your APT and resubmit it up to the deadline. We cannot guarantee any extensions. 

4. How to access the portal 

Select the link to the portal 

4.1 Before you start 

Ensure that you have a DfE Sign-in account that is linked to your local authority correctly. 

5. Completing the information in the portal 

There is a ‘save and continue’ button at the bottom of each page. Clicking on this button will take you to the next page. 

The portal will retain information you have saved if you sign out of the form or if you leave it open for an extended period. 

Once you have submitted your APT to the portal, you will be advised what will happen next. 

5.1 DfE Sign-in 

Sign in to your DfE Sign-in account 

Follow the below steps to access your DfE Sign-In account: 

1. When prompted, enter your DfE Sign-in credentials (your username and password) for authentication  

2. If asked, choose your local authority you are accessing the portal on behalf of 

3. The next page will display the details we hold about your local authority 

4. If these details are correct, then select ‘Continue’ to go to the next page 

5. If you believe these details are incorrect, complete the ESFA enquiry form and we will investigate. You can still proceed with your submission 

Your account must be connected to the local authority you are completing the form for. You do not need to add any services in DfE Sign-in; it is used for authentication only.

If you do not have a DfE Sign-in account  

You will need to create one by following steps 1 to 5 below:  

1. Select ‘create a DfE Sign-in account’ on the DfE Sign-in page  

2. Enter your name and email address (use a valid business email address that contains your name) 

3. We will send you an email to verify your email address; copy the code from this email and paste it into the box on the verification page  

4. Create a memorable password of 8 characters or more. Your password must include 2 uppercase letters, 2 lowercase letters, and 2 numbers 

5. Sign in using your new credentials and select request access to the organisation (local authority) for which you would like to submit the portal for. Your request will be sent to the approver(s) at your local authority for action 

You might have noticed the term ‘approver’ when creating your account. An approver is someone at your organisation responsible for controlling who has access to DfE Sign-in and the services within the system. It’s usually a senior person, such as an administrator or a manager. 

For security reasons, you will need the approval of one of your organisation’s approvers before you can access the form. 

Once your request to access your organisation has been approved, you can follow the steps outlined under already have a DfE account to complete the portal. 

5.2  If you need further assistance 

If you are having problems using the DfE Sign-in service, use our DfE Sign-in help service.  You will be able to request further assistance if required. When raising a support request, select ‘other.’  

If you are having problems accessing the portal, get in touch with us, selecting the authority proforma tool (APT) option. 

5.3 Your details 

We will show you the information we hold about the organisation you selected when you signed into your DfE Sign-in account. 

5.4 Download the APT 

You can download your APT for review and for completion by selecting this option. Once you have downloaded your APT you can work on it offline. 

When you have completed your APT offline, you will need to sign into this portal again; go to the APT page and select the upload option. 

5.5 Upload your completed APT 

Before you upload your completed APT return, you should ensure that: 

• your return is in .xlsx format 
• your return does not contain any special characters (a character that is not a number or a letter) within its file name  
• your return does not contain any spaces within its file name (replace any necessary spaces with an underscore) 
• there are no links to external files (see ‘Uploading supporting documents’ section)
• you have resolved any red flags in the workbook’s ‘Validation’ worksheet 
• you have not embedded any documents in the workbook - if you need to provide supporting documents, you can upload them on the next page 

To upload your completed return, click the ‘Choose File’ button, navigate to the completed APT workbook on your computer, select it, and then click the ‘Upload’ button. 

If your file upload is unsuccessful at the first attempt, please try again. 

5.6 Uploading supporting documents 

Although this is optional and you can proceed without having to upload any additional files, you can upload up to 5 additional documents to support your return. To do this, select the ‘Choose file’ button, find the document on your computer and select the ‘Open’ button. You will be notified when the file has been successfully scanned and uploaded. 

Any documents you attempt to upload should not contain any spaces or special characters within their file names or they may be rejected by the form. Any necessary spaces can be replaced with underscores. 

5.7 Declarations 

You must complete the declarations. You will not be able to submit your return without fully completing this section. 

5.8 Submission summary 

You will see a summary page before submitting the APT. You can make changes using the ‘change’ link that appears next to each data entry. 

You can also save your submission summary by clicking ‘save summary as PDF’ before you submit. 

5.9 Confirmation 

The final page confirms your submission and shows a unique reference number. Make a note of your reference number as we will not include this information in your confirmation email. 

We will send an email to confirm we received your submission to the email address you used to access the portal which will contain a link to download the PDF of your submission summary. 

We will review your submission and may contact you if additional information is required. 

5.10 Resubmitting your return 

If your APT was incorrect when submitted, you can access the portal and resubmit it up until 5pm on 22 January 2024. 

6. Enquiries 

If you have read this guidance and have any questions about the APT or how to complete the information in the portal, please contact us via the ESFA help centre. 

When completing the enquiry form, select ‘authority proforma tool’ as your query type.