Regulatory advice 14: Guidance for providers for the Annual Financial Return

This regulatory advice sets out guidance about the information that a provider is required to submit as part of its financial monitoring returns to the Office for Students (OfS).

The returns apply to providers that are registered with the OfS in either the Approved or Approved (fee cap) category of the OfS Register. However, where a provider is a further education college or a sixth form college under the primary regulation of the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), it is not required to submit this financial data to the OfS. For such providers, the OfS works closely with the ESFA to ensure that it is able to undertake appropriate monitoring of financial viability and sustainability.

Non-interactive copies of the workbook templates can be downloaded for reference (please note that providers should not submit these templates, as we will provide bespoke, pre-populated versions for providers to download, complete and submit).

Ref:
OfS 2024.18
Date:
24 May 2024

Annual Financial Return (AFR) 2024



Annual Financial Return (AFR) 2023



Previous years

Regulatory advice 14: Guidance for providers for the Annual Financial Return
Guidance for the 2021 Annual Financial Return

Guidance on completing the Annual Financial Return 2021 workbook
Guidance on what providers should include in the AFR 2021 workbook

Annex A: Annual Financial Return 2021 additional guidance
Additional guidance on research income and cost centres

Annex B: Glossary for Annual Financial Return 2021
Glossary of workbook accounting terms

Annex C: Sample template – Annual Financial Return 2021 workbook

Annex D: Sample template - Annual Financial Return 2021 commentary

Appendix 1: Annual Financial Return 2021 submission process guidance
Detailed information on submitting the AFR 2021, covering all stages of the submission process

Appendix 2: Comparison of AFR21 and AFR20 workbooks
A comparison of the tables in the Annual Financial Return 2021 with those in the Annual Financial Return 2020

Reporting access and participation expenditure: FAQs
Reporting access and participation expenditure in Table 14 of the Annual Financial Return (AFR) and Disclosure Note in Financial Statements for 2020-21 onwards

The Interim Financial Data Collection required providers to give summary information relating to the year ended in 2020 and forecast information about their expected financial performance and position relating to the year ended in 2021. This enabled the OfS to maintain an assessment of financial viability of providers as they continued to manage the implications of COVID-19.

Guidance on completing the Interim Financial Data Collection workbook

Annex A: Sample template – Interim Financial Data Collection workbook

Appendix 1: Interim Financial Data Collection submission process guidance

Last updated 24 May 2024
24 May 2024
Updated for AFR 2024.
06 September 2023
Added 'Frequently asked questions about research grants and contract income'.
27 April 2023
Annual update of information for providers on submitting the Annual Financial Return (2023)

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