Guidance

Academy conversion: surplus and deficit balance transfer process

Guidance for schools and local authorities on what happens if a school has a budget surplus or deficit when it converts to academy status.

Applies to England

Documents

Details

This guidance is for:

  • local authorities
  • school leaders
  • school staff
  • governing bodies

It explains what happens if a school has a budget surplus or deficit when it becomes an academy and is no longer maintained by the local authority.

This guidance relates to the and the .

Read more guidance for schools on converting to academy status.

Updates to this page

Published 19 May 2014
Last updated 9 November 2023 show all updates
  1. Updated section 5 to clarify wording in the 'Treatment of surplus and deficit balances when maintained schools become academies' document.

  2. Updated section 1 and 5 following changes to legislation and guidance about the definition of a sponsored academy and section 8.1 about the treatment of local authority loan schemes.

  3. Updated document to clarify the definition of converter and sponsored academies; expand advice on the management of deficit costs; add information on schools with loans.

  4. First published.

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