Disclaimer.
This handbook is a reading layer. The ESFA Information for Applicants 2026-27 and the Condition Funding Methodology are the source of truth for any operational decision. Trust-specific advice is the responsibility of the trust's own advisors.
Compiled by Oliver Wakefield-Smith, founder, Digital Signet. Reviewed against ESFA Information for Applicants 2026-27 and the Condition Funding Methodology March 2026 revision.
Not legal or financial advice
Nothing on this site constitutes legal, financial, accounting or tax advice. Trusts take advice from their own qualified advisors for any decision that has legal or financial consequence.
Source-of-truth
The ESFA Information for Applicants 2026-27 and the Condition Funding Methodology are the authoritative source. Where this handbook paraphrases or interprets those documents, the underlying source prevails on any discrepancy.
Numerical claims
Numerical claims are paraphrased from published sources and cited inline. Errors of paraphrase are corrected in the changelog. Editorial liability is limited to the correction itself.
Error correction
Corrections are logged in the changelog with the prior wording and the new wording recorded side by side. The trust's own decisions should rely on the primary ESFA source, not on this handbook alone.