Guidance

Non-maintained special schools revenue funding allocation guide: 2025 to 2026

Updated 5 June 2025

Applies to England

The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) closed on 31 March 2025. All activity has moved to the Department for Education (DfE). You should continue to follow this guidance.

1. Introduction

This guide explains how we have calculated funding allocations for non-maintained special schools (NMSS) for academic year 2025 to 2026.

You can find your 16 to 19 allocation statement in Document exchange in the 바카라 사이트˜Documents received from DfE바카라 사이트™ section. To access Document exchange, . If you need access, please contact one of the super-users in your organisation. If you experience any issues accessing DfE Sign-In, please contact the help desk.

2. Allocation changes

The allocation statement shows your current allocation based on the data available to us at this point.

We reserve the right to reduce or withdraw your allocation at any stage should issues arise through audit or other processes:

• which significantly affect the data underlying your allocation calculation (such as errors in your individualised learner record (ILR) or school census returns)
• which significantly affect contract compliance, or
• if we believe that by making an allocation we will be putting public funds at risk   

We also reserve the right to change your allocation if there are significant policy or data changes that impact on the calculated figures.

By exception, we will consider evidenced and credible business cases from institutions where there has been a significant error in the data returned by the institution. If you wish to submit a case, please refer to our guidance for submitting a business case .

3. Enquiries

If you have questions after reading our guidance, or if there바카라 사이트™s anything else you need help with, you can find more support in our .

4. NMSS funding allocations

We will base NMSS funding allocations on the pupil numbers recorded in the October 2024 school census, uplifted by the difference between the pupil numbers recorded in the October 2023 and January 2024 school censuses. We treat any reduction in pupil numbers between the October 2023 and January 2024 school census as zero. This ensures that no school is funded below its October 2024 census pupil numbers.

We round the values in your statement to various numbers of decimal places. However, we calculate your funding using un-rounded values. This may result in some slight differences when you work through the calculation yourselves.

5. Funded places

This section explains how we calculate funded places in the NMSS revenue funding allocation statement.

5.1 Total pupil numbers recorded in October 2023 census         

This is the total pupil headcount recorded in the October 2023 census based on the age range that the school is legally allowed to make provision for.

5.2 Total pupil numbers recorded in January 2024 census    

This is the total pupil headcount recorded in the January 2024 census based on the age range that the school is legally allowed to make provision for.

5.3 Difference between October 2023 and January 2024

We calculate the difference between census data by:

• 바카라 사이트˜total pupil numbers recorded in January 2024 census바카라 사이트™ - 바카라 사이트˜total pupil numbers recorded in October 2023 census바카라 사이트™

5.4 Total pupil numbers recorded in October 2024 census     

This is the total pupil headcount recorded in the October 2024 census based on the age range that the school is legally allowed to make provision for.

5.5 Total places funded for 2025 to 2026

If the 바카라 사이트˜difference between October 2023 and January 2024바카라 사이트™ is greater than zero, then we calculate the total places funded by:

• 바카라 사이트˜difference between October 2023 and January 2024바카라 사이트™ + 바카라 사이트˜total pupil numbers recorded in October 2024 census바카라 사이트™

If the 바카라 사이트˜difference between October 2023 and January 2024바카라 사이트™ is a negative value, we treat this as zero and do not apply a reduction.

6. High needs place funding

This section explains how we calculate high needs place funding in the NMSS revenue funding allocation statement.

6.1 Pupil numbers (October 2024 census)

These are the pupil numbers recorded in the October 2024 census split by pre-16 pupil numbers and post-16 pupil numbers.

6.2 Proportions used in 2025 to 2026 allocation

These are the proportions of pre-16 and post-16 students to be funded based on the 바카라 사이트˜total pupil numbers recorded in the October 2024 census바카라 사이트™.

6.3 Funded places

These are the percentage proportions applied to the 바카라 사이트˜total places funded for 2025 to 2026바카라 사이트™ shown in the 바카라 사이트˜funded places바카라 사이트™ table.

6.4 Rate  

The rate of funding per place is £10,000.

6.5 Place funding       

We calculate place funding by:

• 바카라 사이트˜funded places바카라 사이트™ (pre-16 and post-16) × 바카라 사이트˜rate바카라 사이트™

7. Student financial support funding

This section explains how we have calculated student financial support funding in the NMSS revenue funding allocation statement.

We have published financial support advice for institutions on the support  young people may be able to access to help them participate in education and training.

7.1 Post-16 funded places number

This is the 바카라 사이트˜funded places바카라 사이트™ (post-16 only) shown in the 바카라 사이트˜high needs place funding바카라 사이트™ table.

7.2 Instances per student

For 바카라 사이트˜element 1: financial disadvantage바카라 사이트™, we use student postcodes from your May census 2024 data return and the IMD 2019 to determine the number of instances per student.

For 바카라 사이트˜element 2a: student costs 바카라 사이트“ travel바카라 사이트™, we use student postcodes and delivery location postcodes from your May census 2024 return and the IMD 2019 to determine the number of instances per student.

The maximum 바카라 사이트˜instances per student바카라 사이트™ value is 1.000.

If historic institution-level data is not available to complete the 바카라 사이트˜instances per student바카라 사이트™ calculation, we use local authority average values.

7.3 Number of instances

To calculate the number of instances, we multiply instances per student for 바카라 사이트˜element 1: financial disadvantage바카라 사이트™ and 바카라 사이트˜element 2a: student costs 바카라 사이트“ travel바카라 사이트™ by the post-16 funded place number:

• 바카라 사이트˜instances per student바카라 사이트™ x 바카라 사이트˜post-16 funded place number바카라 사이트™

7.4 Instance funding rate

This is the funding rate for each element of the discretionary bursary for 2025 to 2026. Bursary funding rates are subject to change year on year.

7.5 Funding

We calculate funding by:

• 바카라 사이트˜number of instances바카라 사이트™ x 바카라 사이트˜instance funding rate바카라 사이트™

7.6 Discretionary bursary fund

We calculate the sum of each bursary element by:

• 바카라 사이트˜element 1: financial disadvantage total바카라 사이트™ + 바카라 사이트˜element 2a: student costs travel total바카라 사이트™

7.7 Bursary adjustment by exception

This is an exceptional increase or decrease applied to your discretionary bursary funding.

7.8 Student financial support funding total

We calculate the student financial support funding total by:

• 바카라 사이트˜discretionary bursary fund sub-total바카라 사이트™ + 바카라 사이트˜bursary adjustment by exception바카라 사이트™

If 바카라 사이트˜discretionary bursary fund sub-total바카라 사이트™ is greater than £0 but less than £500, then we will uplift the allocation to £500.