Guidance

State boarding schools: charging for boarding provision

How state boarding schools should charge for the boarding provision they offer.

• From: Department for Education
• Published: 23 January 2015
• Last updated: 9 July 2025
  Show all updates

  1. 9 July 2025

     Updated to reflect the Academy Trust Handbook 2025 and remove the references to the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA).

  2. 2 August 2024

     We have replaced the PDF document 'Full cost recovery and rate of return: managing and charging for boarding provision' with the updated HTML version 'Charging for boarding provision: full cost recovery and rate of return'.

  3. 23 January 2015

     First published.

Applies to England

Documents

Charging for boarding provision: full cost recovery and rate of return

HTML

Details

This advice is for state boarding schools, including:

• schools maintained by the local authority
• academies
• free schools

It explains the concept of full cost recovery and helps schools understand how to set the right fees for the boarding provision they offer.