The School and Early Years Finance (England) Regulations 2026

Made: 16th January 2026

Laid before Parliament: 20th January 2026

Coming into force: 11th February 2026

The Secretary of State makes these Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 45(1B)[^f00001], 45A[^f00002], 45AA[^f00003], 47[^f00004], 47ZA[^f00005], 47A(4), (4B) and (5)[^f00006], 48(1) and (2)[^f00007], 49(2) and (2A)[^f00008], and 138(7)[^f00009] of, and paragraphs 1[^f00010] and 2B[^f00011] of Schedule 14 to, the School Standards and Framework Act 1998[^f00012], section 24(3) and (4)[^f00013] of the Education Act 2002[^f00014] and sections 99(1) and 104(2) of the Childcare Act 2006[^f00015].

Part 1 — Introduction

Citation, commencement, extent, application and interpretation

1

• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the School and Early Years Finance (England) Regulations 2026.

• (2) These Regulations come into force on 11th February 2026.

• (3) These Regulations extend to England and Wales and apply in relation to England.

• (4) In these Regulations—

• “the 1989 Act” means the Children Act 1989[^f00016];

• “the 1996 Act” means the Education Act 1996[^f00017];

• “the 1998 Act” means the School Standards and Framework Act 1998;

• “the 2002 Act” means the Education Act 2002;

• “the 2003 Act” means the Local Government Act 2003[^f00018];

• “the 2006 Act” means the Education and Inspections Act 2006[^f00019];

• “the 2010 Act” means the Academies Act 2010[^f00020];

• “the 2014 Act” means the Children and Families Act 2014[^f00021];

• “the 2014 Regulations” means the Local Authority (Duty to Secure Early Years Provision Free of Charge) Regulations 2014[^f00022];

• “the 2025 Regulations” means the School and Early Years Finance (England) Regulations 2025[^f00023];

• “the ACA” means the “area cost adjustment”, which is a multiplier applied to the funding factors specified in these Regulations to account for variations in labour market costs in different areas of England[^f00024];

• “administrative costs and overheads” includes— expenditure on legal services; expenditure in relation to the investigation and resolution of complaints; expenditure related to functions imposed by or under Chapter 4 of Part 2 of the 1998 Act (financing of maintained schools), the administration of grants to the local authority (including preparation of applications) and, where it is the local authority’s duty to do so, ensuring payments are made in respect of taxation, national insurance and superannuation contributions; and expenditure on recruitment, training, continuing professional development, performance management and personnel management of staff who are funded by expenditure not met from schools’ budget shares and who are paid for services;

• “capital expenditure” means expenditure of a local authority which falls to be capitalised in accordance with proper accounting practices, or expenditure treated as capital expenditure by virtue of any regulations or directions made under section 16 of the 2003 Act[^f00025];

• “central expenditure” means, in respect of the funding period, the total amount deducted by a local authority from its schools budget in accordance with regulation 9 (determination of individual schools budget) or, in respect of the previous funding period, the total amount deducted by a local authority from its schools budget in accordance with regulation 8 of the 2025 Regulations;

• “CERA” means capital expenditure which a local authority expects to charge to its revenue account within the meaning of section 22 of the 2003 Act[^f00026];

• “community early years provision” means funded early years provision provided by the governing body of a maintained school under section 27(1) of the 2002 Act (power of governing body to provide community facilities etc.) to children other than pupils at the school, where the local authority has chosen to fund such provision;

• “Dedicated Schools Grant” means the grant of that name paid to a local authority by the Secretary of State under section 14 of the 2002 Act (power of Secretary of State and National Assembly for Wales to give financial assistance for purposes related to education or children etc)[^f00027];

• “disadvantaged two year olds” means children eligible for early years provision prescribed for the purposes of section 7(1) of the Childcare Act 2006 (duty to secure early years provision free of charge in accordance with regulations)[^f00028] and who meet the condition in regulation 3(2) but not the condition in regulation 3(3) of the 2014 Regulations;

• “early years block” means the amount of funding allocated to a local authority in relation to early years provision in the Dedicated Schools Grant during the funding period;

• “early years provision” has the meaning given by section 20 of the Childcare Act 2006;

• “early years pupil premium” means funding supplied by the Department for Education for the purpose of early years provision to children who meet the criteria in regulation 35 (early years pupil premium);

• “EHC plan” has the meaning given by section 37(2) of the 2014 Act (education, health and care plans)[^f00029];

• “eligibility for free school meals” means eligibility for free lunches under section 512ZB of the 1996 Act[^f00030];

• “excluded early years provision” means early years provision provided by a provider— which is an independent school (other than an Academy school) which does not meet the standards prescribed under section 94 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 (independent educational institution standards)[^f00031] in relation to the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils at the school; or which the local authority has reasonable grounds to believe— does not actively promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs; or promotes, as evidence-based, views and theories which are contrary to established scientific or historical evidence and explanations;

• “expenditure on the schools specific contingency” is central expenditure deducted for the purpose of ensuring that monies are available to enable an increase in a school’s budget share after it has been allocated and where it subsequently becomes apparent that a governing body has incurred expenditure which it would be unreasonable to expect it to meet from the school’s budget share, which may include expenditure in relation to— schools in financial difficulty; the writing off of deficits of schools which are discontinued, excluding any associated costs and overheads; new, amalgamating or closing schools; or circumstances which were unforeseen when the school’s budget share was initially determined;

• “a fringe authority” means Buckinghamshire Council[^f00032] or the County Councils of Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent or West Sussex;

• “fringe district” and “non-fringe district” refers to those districts which are listed as such against the entries in relation to Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and West Sussex in the document entitled “Area cost adjustment for national funding formula 2026 to 2027: technical note”[^f00033], where different ACAs are applied so as to reflect the higher costs incurred by schools in fringe districts, as compared to non-fringe districts, within the same fringe authority’s area;

• “funded early years provision” means— early years provision prescribed for the purposes of section 7(1) of the Childcare Act 2006 (duty to secure early years provision free of charge in accordance with regulations); and early years provision specified for the purposes of section 2(1) of the Childcare Act 2016 (discharging the section 1(1) duty)[^f00034];

• “funding period” means the financial year beginning with 1st April 2026;

• “hospital education” means education provided at a community special school[^f00035] or foundation special school established in a hospital, or under any arrangements made by the local authority under section 19 of the 1996 Act (exceptional provision of education in pupil referral unit or elsewhere)[^f00036], where the child is being provided with such education by reason of a decision made by a medical practitioner, and “hospital education places” shall be read accordingly;

• “integrated care board” means an integrated care board established under section 14Z25 of the National Health Service Act 2006[^f00037];

• “key stage” means the key stage of the National Curriculum for England comprising the requirements and entitlements described in sections 84 and 85 of the 2002 Act[^f00038] and “key stage 1”, “key stage 2”, “key stage 3” and “key stage 4” mean, respectively, the first, second, third and fourth key stages referred to in those sections;

• “Local Health Board” means a Local Health Board established under section 11 of the National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006[^f00039];

• “maintained nursery school supplement” is any amount allocated to the local authority in respect of nursery schools[^f00040] maintained by it, notified to it in the early years block;

• “middle school single sum formula” is A x (B/C) + D x (E/C) where— A is the amount allocated per school by the local authority under regulation 17(2)(a) (primary single sum); B is the number of primary-age year groups in the school; C is the number of year groups in the school; D is the amount allocated per school by the local authority under regulation 17(3)(a) (secondary single sum); and E is the number of secondary-age year groups in the school;

• “NHS foundation trust” means an NHS foundation trust established under section 30 of the National Health Service Act 2006[^f00041];

• “NHS trust” means an NHS trust established under section 25 of the National Health Service Act 2006;

• “non-domestic rate” has the meaning given by section 54 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 (central rating: liability and reliefs)[^f00042];

• “premises factor allocation” means— any additional funding that would be allocated to the school by virtue of regulation 26(3) (additional criteria: schools); and any additional funding that the local authority has allocated to the school which has been authorised by the Secretary of State under regulation 43(1)(d) (alternative arrangements approved by the Secretary of State);

• “prescribed alteration” means a prescribed alteration within the meaning of the School Organisation (Prescribed Alterations to Maintained Schools) (England) Regulations 2013[^f00043];

• “previous funding period” means the financial year beginning with 1st April 2025 and “previous funding periods” means such funding periods as the context specifies more particularly;

• “provider”, in relation to funded early years provision, includes a governing body of a maintained school or a relevant early years provider;

• “prudential borrowing” means borrowing money for the purpose of facilitating the modernisation and rationalisation of the school estate, where the revenue savings expected to be achieved as a result are equal to or more than the expenditure expected to be incurred in borrowing the money;

• “pupil premium” means the amount allocated by a local authority from the pupil premium grant to a school under the terms and conditions of the grant;

• “pupil premium grant” means a grant of that name paid to a local authority by the Secretary of State under section 14 of the 2002 Act in respect of pupils who are entitled to a pupil premium;

• “Reception” means the school year in which the majority of pupils attain the age of five;

• “relevant early years provider” means a provider of funded early years provision, other than the governing body of a maintained school;

• “relevant early years provision” means funded early years provision provided by a relevant early years provider;

• “relevant group” refers to the following groups— working parent under two year olds; disadvantaged two year olds; working parent two year olds; three and four year olds;

• “risk protection arrangement” means an arrangement to cover the costs of certain liabilities arising in connection with maintained schools and their premises that is entered into between the Secretary of State and— the governing bodies of maintained schools, in the case of a maintained school other than a pupil referral unit[^f00044]; or the local authority, in the case of a pupil referral unit;

• “school census” means the record of individual pupil information supplied to the Secretary of State under section 537A of the 1996 Act[^f00045];

• “school year” means the period of 12 months beginning with 1st September, unless the school has a term beginning in August, in which case “school year” means the period of 12 months beginning with 1st August;

• “sixth form grant” means a grant of that name paid to a local authority by the Secretary of State under section 14 of the 2002 Act in respect of sixth form pupils;

• “special Academy” means an educational institution which meets the requirements of section 1A(2) of the 2010 Act[^f00046];

• “special educational needs” has the meaning given by section 20(1) of the 2014 Act (when a child or young person has special educational needs);

• “special educational needs inclusion fund” means the expenditure deducted from a local authority’s schools budget under regulation 9(12) and paragraph 32(b) of Schedule 2;

• “three and four year olds” means— children eligible for early years provision prescribed for the purposes of section 7(1) of the Childcare Act 2006 and who meet the condition in regulation 3(3) of the 2014 Regulations; and qualifying children of working parents eligible for early years provision specified for the purposes of section 2(1) of the Childcare Act 2016 during the period commencing with the next 1st April, 1st September or 1st January after the child attains the age of three years and ending immediately before the next 1st September after the child attains the age of five years;

• “working parent two year olds” means qualifying children of working parents eligible for early years provision specified for the purposes of section 2(1) of the Childcare Act 2016 during the period commencing with the next 1st April, 1st September or 1st January after the child attains the age of two years and ending with the earliest of the next 31st March, 31st August or 31st December after the child attains the age of three years;

• “working parent under two year olds” means qualifying children of working parents eligible for early years provision specified for the purposes of section 2(1) of the Childcare Act 2016 during the period commencing with the next 1st April, 1st September or 1st January after the child attains the age of nine months and ending with the earliest of the next 31st March, 31st August or 31st December after the child attains the age of two years.

• “Year 1” means the school year in which the majority of pupils attain the age of six;

• “Year 2” means the school year in which the majority of pupils attain the age of seven;

• “Year 3” means the school year in which the majority of pupils attain the age of eight;

• “Year 4” means the school year in which the majority of pupils attain the age of nine;

• “Year 5” means the school year in which the majority of pupils attain the age of 10;

• “Year 6” means the school year in which the majority of pupils attain the age of 11;

• “Year 7” means the school year in which the majority of pupils attain the age of 12;

• “Year 8” means the school year in which the majority of pupils attain the age of 13;

• “Year 9” means the school year in which the majority of pupils attain the age of 14;

• “Year 10” means the school year in which the majority of pupils attain the age of 15;

• “Year 11” means the school year in which the majority of pupils attain the age of 16;

• (5) In these Regulations—

• (a) a reference to a determination or redetermination of a budget share or amount to be allocated is a reference to such a determination or redetermination for the funding period, unless otherwise stated;

• (b) a reference to a “governing body” of a school includes the management committee of a pupil referral unit unless otherwise specified;

• (c) a reference to the number of pupils at a particular key stage is a reference to the number on 2nd October 2025, unless otherwise stated;

• (d) a reference to “pupils or children” in regulations 33 (special arrangements for early years pupils and children), 34 (social deprivation for early years) and 39 (discretionary funding cap) is a reference to—

• (i) in respect of a nursery school, the pupils at the school;

• (ii) in respect of a nursery class, the pupils in the class;

• (iii) in respect of a funded early years provider, the children receiving funded early years provision from the provider;

• (iv) in respect of a relevant early years provider, the children receiving relevant early years provision from the provider; and

• (v) in respect of community early years provision, the children receiving such provision at the school;

• (e) a reference to “pupils” includes only those pupils who are recorded on the school census as either—

• (i) registered solely at that school; or

• (ii) registered at more than one school, but attending that school for most of their time,

except in regulations 33, 34 and 39, where “pupil” means a registered pupil[^f00047];

• (f) a reference to “schools” in Schedule 1 includes maintained schools, Academy schools and alternative provision Academies, except where the context requires otherwise;