Guidance

Section 251: 2019 to 2020

Information for local authorities, schools and the general public about local authority education funding and expenditure plans for 2019 to 2020.

This guidance was withdrawn on

This has been withdrawn as it is out of date.

Find the latest section 251 documents.

Applies to England

Introduction

Section 251 is part of the .

Local authorities submit statements on planned and actual expenditure on education and children바카라 사이트™s social care.

The Department for Education uses the data for publishing statistics, constructing benchmarking tables, answering parliamentary questions and responding to other data requests.

Comparing information is important for schools forums and others in discussions about budget levels and use of funds.

Budget guidance

Local authorities must submit their budget statements by 30 April 2019 using .

Read the (PDF, 835 KB, 70 pages) to find out how local authorities record their budget statements.

The budget statements must be submitted in the (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 92.8 KB), using COLLECT (DfE바카라 사이트™s data collection and management system for education). The budget tables are available to download as a:

Read the COLLECT instructions to find out how to submit the budget statement.

The (PDF, 232 KB, 2 pages) is a formal request for the collection of section 251 data. It바카라 사이트™s prepared on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education.

Budget data

The section 251 budget data statements are the primary means of informing schools and the public in general about local authority funding and expenditure plans.

They are intended to give detailed information on each local authorities planned expenditure on their education and children바카라 사이트™s social care functions in a form that allows benchmarking.

Budget summary level: 2019 to 2020

View the (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 295 KB) at a national level, split by sector and budget line.

Budget detailed level: local authority information 2019 to 2020

View the (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 1.46 MB) submitted by local authorities, split by local authority and budget line.

Budget detailed level: high needs table 2019 to 2020

View the (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 432 KB) submitted by local authorities, split by local authority and budget line.

Budget detailed level: early years table 2019 to 2020

View the (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 610 KB) submitted by local authorities, split by local authority and budget line.

Section 251 budget 2019 to 2020: individual local authority expenditure data

View the (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 7.43 MB).

Benchmarking data

The benchmarking tables of planned expenditure are drawn from the published section 251 budget statements for the 2019 to 2020 financial year and are primarily aimed at schools forums and local authorities.

Local authority table (net) information: per capita

View the (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 2.84 MB) to see section 251 net budget data on a per capita (per pupil or per head of population) basis, to enable easy comparison between local authorities.

Local authority table (gross) information: per capita

View the (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 2.77 MB) to see section 251 gross budget data on a per capita (per pupil or per head of population) basis, to enable easy comparison between local authorities.

Pupil numbers 2019 to 2020

View the (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 30.3 KB) to see the pupil and population numbers used to calculate the 바카라 사이트˜per capita바카라 사이트™ figures used in the other tables.

Changes in local authority planned expenditure between 2018 to 2019 and 2019 to 2020

View the (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 648 KB) to see year on year changes in selected items of planned spending to enable easy comparison across financial years.

Local authority benchmarking tables 2019 to 2020

View the (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 674 KB) to see additional information on planned expenditure, including dedicated schools grant allocations and the percentages of schools with minimum funding guarantee.

Additional information and explanatory note

Use the (PDF, 260 KB, 3 pages) and (PDF, 535 KB, 15 pages) to find out how to use the local authority benchmarking data.

Section 251 outturn

Read the (PDF, 718 KB, 57 pages) to find out how to complete the outturn statement.

Use the (710 KB) to provide details of actual expenditure for your schools. Please note, this file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology. If you require this in a different format, please email ESFA.GOVUK-ENQUIRIES@education.gov.uk.

The (PDF, 139 KB, 1 page) is the formal request prepared on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education.

The (2.98 MB) is a detailed view of the section 251 data split into individual local authority tables.

The (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 1.55 MB) is a detailed view of the section 251 schools outturn data submitted by local authorities, split by local authority and outturn line.

The is a summary of the section 251 outturn education data at a national level, split by sector and outturn line.

The is a summary of the section 251 outturn children and young people바카라 사이트™s services data at a national level, split by sector and outturn line.

Updates to this page

Published 1 March 2019
Last updated 28 May 2021 show all updates
  1. Updated to include 2019 to 2020 section 251 outturn data

  2. We have corrected a contact email address on page 7 of the Section 251 outturn guidance. The correct email address for queries about the 2019 to 2020 data collection is: outturnqueries.s251@education.gov.uk.

  3. 2019 to 2020 section 251 outturn guidance, outturn tables and administrative direction added.

  4. We've published the section 251 benchmarking data and supporting guidance.

  5. We've added the section 251 budget data statements.

  6. First published.

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