On the 11 September 2024, it was announced that the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) is set to close on the 31 March 2025.
The ESFA was created on the 1 April 2017 in order to create a single agency accountable for funding education and skills for children, young people and adults. Under the new structure, this work will continue, but will be delivered from within the department, giving education settings a single point of contact for financial management and support.
This follows the reclassification of the FE Sector and it is hoped that it will result in greater consistency of experience and greater clarity for support functions such as HM Treasury Permissions.
The closure will happen in two stages, the first stage will see the ESFA’s Schools Financial Support and Oversight (SFSO) teams move to Regions Group from 1 October. This will support the launch of Regional Improvement Teams by January 2025. The remaining functions will then move over by 31 March.
