The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) is an executive agency of the government of the United Kingdom, sponsored by the Department for Education.
The ESFA was formed on 1 April 2017 following the merger of the Education Funding Agency (EFA) and the Skills Funding Agency (SFA).[1] It brings together the existing responsibilities of the Education Funding Agency (EFA) and Skills Funding Agency (SFA), creating a single agency accountable for funding education, apprenticeships and training for children, young people and adults. Previously the EFA was responsible for distributing funding for state education in England for 3-19 year olds, as well as managing the estates of schools and colleges; and the SFA was responsible for funding skills training for further education in England and running the National Apprenticeship Service and the National Careers Service.
The EFA had been formed on 1 April 2012 by bringing together the functions of two previous non-departmental public bodies, the Young People's Learning Agency and Partnerships for Schools.[2] From 2013, the EFA oversaw a schools capital building programme, appointing construction contractors under national and regional framework agreements to enable schools and other education bodies to select and appoint contractors. A report was issued in 2015 which highlighted that the EFA had discriminated against small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) when appointing to the framework agreements, contrary to UK government guidance promoting SME access to government procurement opportunities.[3]
In the 2019–20 financial year, the ESFA was responsible for a budget of £59 billion and had approximately 1,500 staff.[4] The budget had increased to £65 billion by 2022.[5]
Eileen Milner has been the agency's Chief Executive since November 2017. Previously she was a director at the Care Quality Commission.[6][7]
