Skip to main content
Guidance

Special free school revenue funding

How we calculate and allocate revenue funding for special free schools in the 2026 to 2027 academic year.

Updates to this page

From:
Department for Education
Published:
9 September 2014
Last updated:
7 September 2026
Show all updates

  1. Updated for 2026 to 2027.

  2. Updated for 2025 to 2026.

  3. Updated for the 2024 to 2025 academic year.

  4. Added 'A guide to new special free school revenue funding: 2023 to 2024'.

  5. Updated guidance for 2022 to 2023 academic year and removed link to financial template.

  6. Document updated: 'Financial statements' section updated and also the date for annual revenue funding for free schools, which will be paid on the eighth working day of the first month a school opens.

  7. Added updated guide to new special free school revenue funding 2021 to 2022.

  8. Updated 'A guide to new special free school revenue funding: 2020 to 2021'.

  9. Updated document for the 2020 to 2021 academic year.

  10. Updated for the 2019 to 2020 academic year.

  11. Updated document for the 2018 to 2019 academic year.

  12. Updated document for the 2017 to 2018 academic year.

  13. All documents updated in February 2015 to reflect known changes to funding rates. Revised versions including 2015 to 2016 funding rates should be available at the end of March 2015.

  14. Updated 'Financial template for special free schools: 2014 to 2015'.

  15. First published.

Applies to England

Documents

A guide to new special free school revenue funding: 2026 to 2027

HTML

Details

This guide explains how much revenue funding special free schools will receive. Special free schools are free schools for children with special educational needs or disabilities.

There is also a financial template to help budget planning for:

  • groups proposing to open a special free school for children with special educational needs or disabilities
  • open special free schools

It gives you an indicative funding allocation based on the size, phase and location of your school.

Sign up for emails or print this page

Related content