Financial assurance: monitoring post-16 funding
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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.
Financial assurance: monitoring post-16 funding
This guidance explains how we monitor post-16 data returns to ensure funding is eligible and the data used to drive funding calculations and allocations processes is robust. We summarise the relevant rules and guidance for the current funding year to help you review your data returns and ensure funding is correct.
This guidance is for colleges, training providers and other providers delivering post-16 funding including 16 to 19 study programmes, T Levels, apprenticeships, adult skills fund, support funding and advanced learner loans. Specifically, it is aimed at those staff who submit data to us and those who review data quality.
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If you have questions after reading our guidance, or if there’s anything else you need help with, you can find more support in our customer help centre.
Updates to this page
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Added 'Financial assurance: monitoring post-16 funding for 2026 to 2027' and removed the guidance for 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023.
Update history
2026-09-03 15:55
Added ‘Financial assurance: monitoring post-16 funding for 2026 to 2027’ and removed the guidance for 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023.
2025-06-25 11:54
We have added the financial assurance: monitoring post-16 funding for 2025 to 2026 guidance. We summarise the relevant rules and guidance for the current funding year to help you review your data returns and ensure funding is correct.
2024-07-31 10:02
We have added the financial assurance: monitoring post-16 funding for 2024 to 2025 guidance. We summarise the relevant rules and guidance for the current funding year to help you review your data returns and ensure funding is correct.
2023-08-02 09:00
We have added the Financial Assurance: Monitoring post-16 funding for 2023 to 2024 guidance.
2023-05-17 10:13
We have updated the Financial Assurance: Monitoring post-16 funding for 2022 to 2023 guidance document.
2022-12-14 14:11
We’ve updated the FRM43, 50 and 56 sections in the 2022 to 2023 document
2022-08-01 10:07
Type of change: new reportsDetails of change: Two new reports published externally and available from R12 2021 to 2022:FRM43 – 16 to 19 study programme learners with no planned learning hours, who are not identified as requiring additional learning support through either an EHC plan or self-identified LLDD and health problems.FRM69 – Proportion of planned EEP hours is greater than or equal to 50% of total planned hours and learner is not recorded with high needs.Addition of Monitoring post-16 funding for the 2022 to 2023 academic year guidance.