As the new academic year is upon us, now is the time to ensure financial return deadlines are clearly planned and built into your trust’s calendar. With the Department for Education's (DfE) updated guidance now live, coordination with internal teams and external partners will help keep everything on track and compliant.
Remaining proactive in managing financial returns is essential, not only to meet statutory compliance but also to support strategic decision-making across the trust. Successfully meeting submission deadlines requires coordinated efforts from internal stakeholders, including finance teams and governance committees, as well as collaboration with external partners such as auditors and pension providers.
These updates provide clarity on submission timelines and expectations. Having these requirements clearly outlined in advance enables Trusts to plan effectively and maintain compliance.
To ensure governance bodies remain informed and engaged, it is advisable to integrate key financial return deadlines into your finance and audit committee agendas. This approach increases transparency and accountability, equipping trustees with the oversight needed to monitor compliance and support the trust’s financial health.
Calendar of key financial deadlines
| Financial return | Deadline |
| Budget Forecast Return (BFR) | 28 August 2025 |
| Teacher's Pension Scheme - End of Year Certificate (audited) | 30 September 2025 |
| Land & Buildings Collection Tool (LBCT) | 16 December 2025 (go live 11 November 2025) |
| Submission to the DfE of: -Audited accounts; -Audit findings report; -Accounts submission cover; -Annual internal scrutiny report. | 31 December 2025 |
| Accounts return | 27 January 2026 (go live 16 September 2025) |
| Publishing of audited accounts on trust website | 31 January 2026 |
| Teacher's Pension Scheme - End of Year Certificate (unaudited) | 29 May 2026 |
| Companies House filing of accounts for the year ending 31 August 2025 | 31 May 2026 |
| Budget Forecast Return (BFR) | Expected August 2026 |
When adding key deadlines to the calendar, it’s also worth including other important compliance requirements from the Academy Trust Handbook, such as:
- Approval of the trust’s written scheme of delegation
- Publication of the number of employees whose benefits exceeded £100k
- A full review of the risk register
- Setting the proposed plan of work for internal scrutiny
- Reviewing the external auditor’s plan
- Assessing the effectiveness of the external auditor
The next step
If you have any further questions regarding this insight, please contact Matt Stephens or your usual UHY academy adviser.
