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The collection year · 2026–27

R01 to R14, and what each one is really for

Fourteen returns, each restating the whole year. Three of them matter more than the others, and knowing which is most of the job.

Next returnR033 days left5 November 2026, 18:00

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You are inside the recommended preparation window for R03. The checks for it are on its page.

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Put the deadlines in your own calendar, with the funding year and the source recorded against each one.

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These dates are taken from the official data collection timetable for the funding year. Data Collection Timetable 2026 to 2027.

The collection year
  1. 1 August: year starts(Something happens)
  2. R01 to R03: establish the routineConfiguration, enrolment quality, monthly discipline.(Somebody does something)
  3. R04: main source of next year's 16 to 19 student numbers(A check or a rule)
  4. R06: mid-year position and claim(Somebody does something)
  5. R10: year-end position, still changeable(A check or a rule)
  6. R12: delivery year ends(Something happens)
  7. R13: mandatory 16 to 19 return, used to rehearse the close(Somebody does something)
  8. R14: final hard closeFunding, achievement rates and audit population all fixed.(A check or a rule)
Read this diagram as text

The funding year runs from August to July. A return is made every month, each restating the whole year. R04 in early December is the main source of next year's 16 to 19 student numbers for FE colleges. R10 in early June supports the year-end forecast funding claim. R12 ends the delivery year. R13 is a mandatory 16 to 19 return, also used to rehearse the close. R14 is the final hard close: the year's data is fixed, although funding can still be recovered afterwards, for example through FRM27 or assurance findings.

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Other funding years

Rules and dates are set per funding year. Nothing here is carried between years by assumption.

2026–27 (showing)2025–26

The three that get a full explainer

R04

16 to 19 funding is lagged: the allocation for a funding year is built from data returned …

The most consequential in-year return for 16 to 19 providers. Its student numbers are the basis of next year's allocation, so an error here costs money in a year you have not budgeted yet.

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R10

By the end of May most of the year has been delivered, so the funding position is substant…

The return at which the year's funding outcome becomes clear while there is still time to do something about it. For adult skills, it supports the year-end forecast funding claim; the final reconciliation uses the R14 final claim.

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R14

R14 is the final hard close for the funding year. After it, nothing about that year can be…

The final hard close. After it, the year's ILR data cannot be amended, and it is the basis for the final funding position, the published achievement rates and the audit population. Funding can still be recovered later where that data proves to be wrong.

Read the explainer