Original document : https://www.gov.uk/guidance/academies-budget-forecast-return

Change description : 2025-03-28 14:27:00: ‘Updated with the dates that the BFR 2025 covers and the open date and deadline date for this year. Added the ‘BFR 2025 traditional workbook’ and ‘BFR 2025 multipage workbook’. Updated ‘BFR lines quick reference guide’ and removed the ‘BFR ICT Guidance’. [Guidance and regulation]

Showing diff : 2024-09-09 11:04:49.713043523 +00:00..2025-03-28 14:28:00.989654806 +00:00

Guidance

Academies budget forecast return

Information to help academy trusts submit their budget forecast return. return to the Education and Skills Funding Agency.

From:
Department
Education forand EducationSkills Funding Agency
Published
28 February 2018
Last updated
289 MarchSeptember 20252024 — See all updates

Applies to England

Academies budget forecast return (BFR)

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Academies budget forecast return background

The BFR  is a collection that spans the past, current and future financial years. It collects data in a format to allow for academic and financial year analysis by theESFA Departmentand for Education (DfE).

. BFR 20252024 covers these periods:

  • September 20232022 to March 20242023 and April 20242023 to August 20242023 (part pre-populated from previous BFR return) return)
  • September 20242023 to March 20252024 and April 20252024 to August 20252024
  • September 20252024 to March 20262025 and April 20262025 to Aug 20262025
  • Summary forecasts for September 20262025 to August 20272026
  • Summary forecasts for September 20272026 to August 20282027

To find out more about how to use the BFR online form, use the link below for detailed guidance.

Guide for using the academies budget forecast online form

There are 2 versions of the Excel workbook to help you prepare your BFR:

  • a single-page version
  • a multi-page version structured to look like the online form

Both versions have the same questions and validations contained within the online form.

BFR 2024: traditional workbook

277299 KB

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BFR 2024: multi-page workbook

346357 KB

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In-year academy transfers

YourYour  BFR return return must reflect any academies transferring in or out of your trust. The re-brokerage of academies section in the main BFR guidance contains tables with details of what you need to include in your  BFR  based on the month of transfer.

BFR lines quick reference guide

The purpose of ​the BFR lines quick reference guide (PDF, 4.51(PDF, MB,741KB) 35 pages) is to provide ‘one click’ access to specific lines of the budget forecast return to enable you to complete your return.​

Access to your BFR online form

The budget forecast return online form uses the DfE Sign-in (DSI)  registration service. Academy trusts must be registered and set up to use the service before they can access the form. Read this guide on how to register and set up the online forms for the BFR.

Log in here

Support

YouTo canfind contactout usmore usingabout the customerBFR helpreturn portaland to ask any questions directly, join our sector calls hosted using Microsoft Teams. at the below dates and times.

Updates

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Passcode: updates

Updates to this page

Published 28 February 2018
Last updated 9 September 2024 + show all updates

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Contents

Update history

2025-03-28 14:27
‘Updated with the dates that the BFR 2025 covers and the open date and deadline date for this year. Added the ‘BFR 2025 traditional workbook’ and ‘BFR 2025 multipage workbook’. Updated ‘BFR lines quick reference guide’ and removed the ‘BFR ICT Guidance’.

2024-09-09 12:04
This year’s BFR deadline, 29 August 2024, has passed. If your trust has not submitted your BFR yet, log into your return and complete your return as soon as possible.

2024-08-02 10:15
We have updated the ‘BFR 2024 multi-page workbook’ and the ‘BFR 2024: traditional workbook’ based on user feedback.

2024-05-29 10:51
The academies budget forecast return (BFR) is now open, the deadline to complete your return is 29 August 2024. Added in the sector calls arrangements, if you have queries.

2024-04-22 16:15
Replaced ‘BFR 2023 multi page workbook’ and ‘BFR 2023 traditional workbook’ with 2024 versions. Updated the page details to reflect these changes.

2024-04-03 10:18
This update includes more details on in-year transfers including links to more information on what to when academies join or leave a trust. We have also added a new quick reference guide for all BFR lines.

2023-09-01 11:33
The academies budget forecast return (BFR) deadline of 31 August 2023 has passed. Thank you for all the academy trusts who submitted by the deadline, if your academy trust has not yet submitted your BFR use the link on the webpage to access your return.

2023-07-27 11:58
We have added information on our weekly webchat question sessions, with dates and details on how to participate.

2023-06-06 09:00
BFR Form is now live. This year’s deadline for completion is 31 August 2023.

2023-05-25 14:26
BFR Power Hour session date and time included on the main page.

2023-05-19 11:17
We’ve updated the BFR 2023 workbooks.

2023-05-15 12:20
We’ve added new BFR sector call dates for the 2023 return.

2023-05-03 13:30
We’ve added details about the BFR deadline for this year, 31 August 2023, including updated guidance and supporting information.

2022-07-27 09:30
The academies budget forecast return has passed, please submit your return as soon as possible if you’ve not already done so.

2022-06-27 14:32
Updated the duration details for the weekly sector calls and webchats.

2022-06-20 10:00
The weekend service update was successful and the budget forecast form is accessible again from the dashboard.

2022-06-07 17:02
The online form for the academies budget forecast return is now live. The deadline to complete and submit the return is 26 July 2022.

2022-04-27 10:14
We have updated this page with new versions of the Excel workbooks to include the extra questions for academy trusts with a revenue balance of 20% or more.

2022-03-01 14:30
We have uploaded 2 Excel workbooks to help users prepare for the online BFR collection in June. There is a new multi-page workbook that mirrors the layout of the online form.