Academies revenue funding allocations
Information for academies about their annual revenue funding.
Applies to England
Introduction
The Department for Education (DfE) funds academies (including free schools, university technical colleges and special academies) on the same basis as maintained schools. We base allocations and payments to academies on an academic year, compared with financial year for maintained schools.
A to Z of academy terms and acronyms
We explain the main funding, finance and governance terms and acronyms in our academies A to Z.
Annual allocations
2026 to 2027 academic year
On 19 November 2025, the Minister of State for School Standards made a written statement setting out the schools, and central school services national funding formulae (NFF) for 2026 to 2027.
You can view the provisional 2026 to 2027 NFF allocation tables and technical notes along with the policy paper detailing the changes.
It is important to note that, as in previous years, individual schools’ and academies’ actual funding may be different to the amounts shown in these tables. This is because local authorities continue to set a local formula, in consultation with local schools’ forums, and within the framework of the schools operational guide, to determine individual schools’ budgets in their areas.
General annual grant (GAG) allocation statement for 2026 to 2027 timetable
We began issuing 2026 to 2027 pre-16 general annual grant allocation statements in late February 2026 and have now issued all 2026 to 2027 statements for open academies.
In-year openers will receive their draft allocation in the month prior to opening, and will receive their final allocation in the month after they open.
We have published the academy general annual grant allocation guide for the 2026 to 2027 academic year for mainstream academies, free schools, UTC’s and studio schools, special and alternative provision academies and special free schools.
How to access your GAG statement
We issued digital statements online at Manage your education and skills funding (MYESF). You will have received an automated email when your statement is ready to view.
To access your statement, and receive automated emails, you will need to have a DfE Sign-in account and add the MYESF service and the ‘View allocation statements’ sub-service to your account. If you have not already set this up, please follow the instructions below.
To request access to a service, or sub-services:
1. Go to ‘services’.
2. Select ‘request access to a service’.
3. Select the service you’d like to access and click ‘continue’.
4. Select the sub-services you’d like to access (if applicable).
5. Review the request details before sending your request.
6. Click ‘request service’.
Your request will be sent to an approver, who will either approve or reject your request.
If you are an approver in DfE Sign-in, you can add the service and sub-service yourself.
Trust access
Academy trust users can view statements for all the academies in their trust by logging in to MYESF using their Trust UKPRN DfE sign-in account details.
The general annual grant (GAG)
Most funding for academies comes from the general annual grant (GAG). This is made up of:
- school budget share (SBS) – calculated on the same basis as for maintained schools in the same local authority. GAG guidance for 2026 to 2027 explains how we calculate the SBS
The minimum funding guarantee (MFG) is a protection against changes in per pupil SBS funding between the 2025 to 2026 and 2026 to 2027 academic years. The amount of protection will vary according to the impact of local changes in the funding formula and the effect of these on individual per pupil rates.
In 2026 to 2027, local authorities have the flexibility to set local MFG between minus 0.5% and 0% per pupil in order to offer higher levels of protection locally.
Where appropriate, the GAG may also include funding for high needs places and start-up funding for new institutions.
We have issued guidance for schools opening as academies to estimate their revenue funding.
16 to 19 funding
Information about how colleges, schools and academies receive their 16 to 19 allocations is available on our 16 to 19 funding allocations guidance page.
High needs funding
Local authorities commission education provision for pupils that attract high needs funding. This means academies receive high needs funding from both DfE and local authorities.
We have published information on high needs funding arrangements for 2026 to 2027.
Academies revenue payments
We pay academies’ GAG in 12 equal instalments in accordance with the terms set out in the academy’s funding agreement. A monthly remittance note accompanies each payment. Revenue funding: payments to academies explains how academies are paid and how to change bank details.
Revenue funding outside the general annual grant
There are several other funding streams available to academies. These are described on the Revenue funding: payments to academies page where you will also find links to published allocations and information about payment timings for these grants.