In March 2025, the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) ceased operations. Its entire activities and functions transferred to the Department for Education (DfE).
Impact on academies
Ostensibly, there will be minimal changes which will impact academy trusts. The rationale behind the change is to streamline the governmental operations whilst providing greater collaboration with other departments (e.g. regulatory space).
In fact, one of the most significant changes has already impacted academy trusts. Since 1 October 2024, the functions relating to financial oversight have been undertaken by Schools Financial Support and Oversight (SFSO) teams.
Confirmation of transfer
The DfE have confirmed that all contacts, funding agreements and framework documents will continue exactly the same as previously under the ESFA. This means:
- Working and engaging with the same team(s) for financial issues or questions
- Continuing to raise enquiries through the DfE customer help portal
- Accessing payments and allocations in the same way
- Submitting data and other information via the same portal
- All financial frameworks and other guidance found on GOV.UK will continue to apply. For academy trusts, this specifically relates to the Academy Trust Handbook
DfE focuses and assurances
Following this change of internal government structure, the DfE have committed their focus to ensuring:
- Certainty in funding to allow effective planning
- High quality support and guidance to build financial capability in the sector
- Financial assurance and oversight
How BKL can help
Our specialist education sector team have more than 25 years’ experience of providing advice to over 100 schools and academies, including single academy trusts (SATs) and multi academy trusts (MATs) across the UK. We would be happy to answer any queries you have about the ESFA closure and the DfE’s compliance requirements for your trust.
Contact us today for a chat about how we can help you.