College financial handbook
For college governors, accounting officers, chief financial officers, governance professionals and auditors.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) closed on 31 March 2025. All activity has moved to the Department for Education (DfE). You should continue to follow this guidance.
Colleges must comply with this handbook as a condition of their accountability agreement.
Read this handbook if you have responsibility for governing, managing or auditing a college or college group.
It is for:
- college governors
- accounting officers
- chief financial officers
- governance professionals
- auditors
To provide feedback about this handbook or to contact DfE for guidance, use the customer help portal.
Updates to this page
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We have updated the thresholds for senior pay approvals to match the updated HM Treasury thresholds (paragraphs 2.25 to 2.27).
Update history
2026-07-08 12:00
Added ‘College financial handbook 2026’ and removed ‘College financial handbook 2024’.
2025-10-24 11:01
Updated the summary table to reflect changes to special severance payments.
2025-10-22 09:30
Updated information relating to special severance payments following guidance issued by HM Treasury.
2025-07-23 11:00
We have updated the thresholds for senior pay approvals to match the updated HM Treasury thresholds (paragraphs 2.25 to 2.27).
2025-06-25 11:00
First published.