Academy national non-domestic rates (NNDR) claims

Introduction

These instructions are to help academies and trusts submit a claim for national non-domestic rates (NNDR) from the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA).

NNDR are a tax payable on non-domestic property set by the government and collected by the relevant billing authority. All institutions under the ‘academy programme’ are entitled to tax relief from the billing authority on a significant portion, currently 80%, of the NNDR. ESFA allows these institutions to claim funding for the remaining NNDR amount.

Eligibility to claim

New claims for 2022 to 2023

From 1 April 2022, some academies no longer need to claim NNDR as your billing authority will claim on your behalf.

Adjustments for previous years

All academies and trusts can use this form to adjust previously paid claims for the following financial years:

• 2021 to 2022
• 2020 to 2021
• 2019 to 2020
• 2018 to 2019
• 2017 to 2018

Academies will continue to be able to claim for historic adjustments to claims made from 1 April 2017 onwards through the NNDR portal after April 2022.

Historic claims for previously unclaimed years

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Making a valid claim

ESFA do not provide NNDR funding for periods prior to academy conversion. If your conversion date falls within a financial year, then you will be able to claim from the date of conversion to the end of March of that year and thereafter.

NNDR claims should only be submitted for academy buildings. Only buildings used for educational purposes are eligible for NNDR funding.

Rented facilities are not eligible for NNDR funding.

Car parking spaces and premises are not eligible for NNDR funding.

Multi-academy trusts can submit claims on behalf of their constituent academies; however, payments will remain at academy level.

Only the bill values are required when making a claim. You should enter the total bill amount for the year you are claiming. For instance, if your bill shows the total charge amount of £2490.88. Then £2490.88 should be entered into the online form. These instructions are the same for each year. Academies with multiple bills and buildings, must combine their bill values and enter these into the form.

Bills can be uploaded in the online form. It is not essential that bills are uploaded with every claim, but you may be prompted to do so. However, their inclusion will help support your claim through the audit process and will reduce possible delays in payment.

Depending on monthly payment deadlines, ESFA will make one payment within 2 months of receiving a claim.

When to claim

Claims can be amended up until the deadline. It will not be possible to grant any extensions to the deadline however the service will be available at a later date for in-year changesdeadline.

Accessing the claim form

Use the NNDR claim form to make a claim.

Before you start

Before you start the claims process, you’ll need to:

• have read this guidance on how to make a claim

• have a DfE Sign-in account

• have the authority to submit a claim on behalf of your setting and you understand that, as a recipient of this funding, your setting is responsible for protecting public money.

You might also be asked to upload a digital PDF copy of your NNDR bill. The bill should show a deduction of mandatory relief. If your bill does not show a deduction of mandatory relief, then you must obtain a new bill from the billing authority.

Log in to your DfE Sign-in account

Please try your DfE Sign-in credentials as soon as possible to avoid any issues with submitting your form.

1. Access the national non-domestic rates claim form.

2. Log in to DfE Sign-in using your username and password.

3. The next page will display the details we hold about the organisation you selected when you logged in. This will show the name, address, and URN or UK provider reference number (UKPRN) of the organisation, as well as the name and email address of the person who logged in via DfE Sign-in.

4. If these details are correct, select continue to move to the next page.

5. If you believe they are incorrect or you are experiencing issues accessing the form, please contact us via the ESFA help centre and we will investigate. You can still continue to submit your claim.

6. Complete the form as instructed in the following sections.

Your account must be connected to the organisation you are registering interest for.

If you do not have a DfE Sign-in account

You will need to create one.

1. Access DfE Sign-in and select the create account button.

2. Enter your name and email address (please use your work email address or one that is clearly associated with your organisation).

3. We will send you an email to verify your email address. Copy the code from this email and paste it into the box on the verification page.

4. Create a memorable password of 12 characters or more (we recommend joining 3 or more familiar words).

5. Sign in using your new credentials, select organisations and then request an organisation, enter the URN or name of your establishment. The request will be sent to the DfE Sign-in approver for the establishment, to approve your request.

You might have noticed the term ‘approver’ when creating your account. An approver is someone at your organisation responsible for controlling who has access to DfE Sign-in and the services within the system. It is usually a senior person, such as an administrator or a manager.

For security reasons you will need the approval of one of your organisation’s approvers before you can access the form.

Once you have a DfE Sign-in account you need to select add services and request access to national non-domestic rates (NNDR) claims. To request access, follow these steps on the DfE Sign-in help page..

If you need further assistance

If you need help using the DfE Sign-in service, follow DfE Sign-in help. You will be able to request further assistance if required. When raising a support request, please select other.

If you believe you are eligible to claim but have problems accessing the form, please contact us via the ESFA help centre.

Completing the form

You’ll be presented with several pages with series of questions which will ask you to complete information related to NNDR. All questions are mandatory.

After answering all the questions, you will be prompted to complete the required declarations before you can submit your form. Once submitted your form, an explanation on what happens next will follow.

Selecting continue on each page will take you through the form.

Enquiries

If you’ve read this guidance and have any questions about the NNDR process or how to complete the online form, contact us via the ESFA help centre.

When completing the enquiry form, select other as your query type.

What happens next 

The information you have entered will be checked and validated against your funding allocation.