Introduction
Section 251 is part of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009.
Local authorities submit statements of planned and actual expenditure on education and children’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.
Section 251 budget guidance
The administrative direction is a formal request for the collection of section 251 data. It’s prepared on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education.
Read the section 251 budget guidance to find out how local authorities should complete their budget statements.
Use the section 251 XML generator to provide details of actual expenditure for your schools.
Read the COLLECT guidance for section 251 budget to find out how to use the COLLECT system to upload, amend and submit your data.
Section 251 benchmarking data
These Microsoft Excel files use formats that will not appear correctly if you open the files in browser view. To use these files open the spreadsheets with the desktop app.
The benchmarking tables for planned expenditure are drawn from the published section 251 budget statements for the 2024 to 2025 financial year and are primarily aimed at schools forums and local authorities.
The following tables give detailed information on each local authority’s planned expenditure on education in a form which enables comparison between local authorities.
Section 251 local authority table (net) information: per capita (MS Excel spreadsheet) shows section 251 net budget data on a per capita (per pupil or per head of population) basis, to enable easy comparison between local authorities.
Section 251 local authority table (gross) information: per capita (MS Excel spreadsheet) shows 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 2024 to 2025 (MS Excel spreadsheet) shows the pupil and population numbers used to calculate the ‘per capita’ figures used in the other tables.
Changes in local authority planned expenditure between 2023 to 2024 and 2024 to 2025 (MS Excel spreadsheet) shows year on year changes in selected items of planned spending to enable easy comparison across financial years.
Additional Local authority benchmarking tables (MS Excel spreadsheet) shows additional information on planned expenditure, including dedicated schools grant allocations and the percentages of schools with minimum funding guarantee.
Local authority planned expenditure benchmarking tables: 2024 to 2025: explanatory note and local authority planned expenditure benchmarking tables: 2024 to 2025: additional information provide information on how to use the local authority benchmarking data.