---
title: The recommended energy date passed yesterday.
description: DfE's 26 October energy date passed. The real deadline is 6 November noon — and DfE's own pages disagree. What schools and trusts need from Statlog
---

[Statlog News & Insights](https://statlog.co.uk/statlog-news-insights)

# [The recommended energy date passed yesterday.](https://statlog.co.uk/statlog-news-insights/energy-for-schools-recommended-date-passed)

 Written by [Richard Melis](https://statlog.co.uk/statlog-news-insights/author/richard-melis) | 27 Oct 2026, 04:00:00

## You're not too late.

Back in September, the DfE moved its Energy for Schools deadline — quietly, from 15 September to **6 November**, while some of DfE's own pages still carried the old date. \[1\]

Well. The date DfE now recommends you'd finished your paperwork by was yesterday, **Monday 26 October**.

Did you do it?

…No?

You're not the only one. But we have good news for you, and one thing to be careful of. First, what changed while nobody was looking.

### What's changed since September

Two things, both on DfE's Energy for Schools pages, and no DfE Update or blog post we can find carries either:

**The 12pm cut-off vanished from the guidance — but not from the application page.**

The guidance page used to carry a table with "12pm, 6 November 2026" in it. That table — both rows of it, including the one showing the next basket after April 2027 — has been deleted entirely. The guidance now just says 6 November, with no time of day anywhere on it.

But the page you actually apply on still says:

> "Apply by 12pm Friday 6th November 2026 to join the next available V30 basket on 1 April 2027." \[2\] \[3\]

So DfE's own pages now disagree about whether noon applies. Work to noon, not to midnight — the last thing a late application needs is a time-of-day argument.

**A soft date appeared.**

The guidance now reads:

> "The deadline to join the April 2027 basket is 6 November 2026. However, DfE strongly recommends you submit all necessary information before 26 October 2026 to allow enough time to review and clarify information before sending documents to suppliers."

And then the line that matters:

> "We'll do our best to process information submitted after 26 October 2026. If there are any issues with the information, you may not be included in the April 2027 basket." \[2\]

Read those together and the picture is: the real deadline is **6 November**, and yesterday's date was DfE telling you not to leave it to the last minute — because late, imperfect paperwork can now cost you your place in the April 2027 basket. (Not the scheme — you can sign up at any time, and new customers are added to the basket every April. But April 2027 is the next one.) \[2\]

That last point is the thing to be careful of. You're not too late. But you're now in the "we'll do our best" zone, and DfE doing its best is not a guarantee.

### What it means if you're a school (maintained, or a single academy trust)

Your route is the online service. \[3\] Your job this week is the paperwork. The guidance page gives one list; \[2\] the application's own "before you start" page adds three requirements the guidance list doesn't spell out. Combined: \[4\]

- Authorisation from your school or trust to switch energy supplier
- Your current contract end date
- Who your supplier is
- How many meters you have on site, and their numbers (MPRN/MPAN)
- Estimated annual usage per meter, in kWh
- Your data aggregator, data collector and meter operator, if you have half-hourly meters (ask your current supplier if unsure)
- The percentage VAT your school is charged for energy, and the percentage of total consumption qualifying if you pay 5% VAT
- Supply capacity (kVA), if you have a half-hourly electricity meter

Two things that catch people out.

Smart meters are required — if you don't have them, getting them installed becomes part of your timeline. \[2\]

And you serve the notice on your current supplier yourself:

> "You'll need to serve out your notice period and inform your supplier if you join Energy for Schools. DfE cannot do this for you." \[2\]

(If your energy contract is already through GCA — the government's buying agency — DfE transfers you onto the new account and you don't need to give notice. \[2\])

**And one thing worth knowing before you start: this is not a fixed-price contract.**

The guidance describes V30 as "a low-risk variable rate contract" and "a rolling contract, meaning your school will remain on V30 until you give notice to exit. 30 months' notice is required." \[2\]

And if your current contract ends before your V30 start date, an interim rate contract bridges the gap — "You'll be placed on an interim rate if there's a gap between your current contract's expiry date and the next available start date for V30", and "Interim rates are available on request" — you can ask DfE for the rates before you decide. \[2\] \[3\]

None of that is a reason to sit on your application — it's the context for the decision you're making this week.

### What it means if you're a multi-academy trust

Multi-academy trusts don't use the online service — you complete a register your interest form and the DfE team contacts you to finish the process offline. \[3\] Same deadline, same paperwork per school, one conversation at trust level.

But there's a second layer, and it applies to every academy trust — multi-academy trusts and single academy trusts alike, including single academy trusts using the online service.

From 1 October 2026, the Academy Trust Handbook puts this in writing:

> "Trusts must use DfE's Energy for Schools service or a DfE approved Energy deal as shown under Energy on Get Help Buying for Schools unless an alternative agreement of equivalent value for money has been sourced. This will apply when your energy contracts are renewed." \[5\]

Read that carefully. It's a must, with an escape hatch: you can go elsewhere, but only if you've sourced an alternative of equivalent value for money — and the burden of showing that sits with you.

A trust that engaged with the DfE route, on the record, holds something a trust that quietly renewed without checking doesn't.

**One honest wrinkle, for balance.**

One broker reported this summer finding a client on the DfE contract paying 13% more for electricity than comparable schools on fixed contracts it had procured in the same billing period — a single unnamed client, from a competing broker, and they say themselves it shouldn't be read as a definitive market comparison. \[6\]

It's not a reason to avoid the basket. It is a reason the handbook's "equivalent value for money" clause deserves a proper look at your own figures when your renewal comes up — that look belongs to the renewal decision, not a reason to sit on this week's submission.

### The tick list

Whether you're one school or one trust, here's what you need to have ready before you start:

1. Authorisation from your school or trust to switch supplier
2. Current contract end date (every school)
3. Current supplier name (every school)
4. Meter count and MPAN/MPRN numbers (every school)
5. Estimated annual usage per meter, kWh (every school)
6. Data aggregator, data collector and meter operator details, if half-hourly (ask your supplier if unsure)
7. Supply capacity (kVA), if you have a half-hourly electricity meter
8. VAT status — the percentage you pay, and the share of consumption qualifying if it's 5%
9. Smart meters: do you have them? If not, flag the installation conversation now
10. Notice period: check your current contract's termination terms, and diarise serving notice — that's on you, not DfE (unless you're already with GCA, in which case DfE handles the transfer)

And then: submit. Before **6 November** — **noon**, to be safe, since that's what the application page still says.

Do it this week, not in the final scramble before the deadline — remember what the guidance says happens to imperfect late paperwork.

How has your experience been with the Energy for Schools switch? Let us know in the comments.

[Statlog](http://www.statlog.co.uk)....more than just compliance and premises software.

### Sources

1\. The 15 September → 6 November deadline move and DfE's pages still carrying the old date, as documented on the Get Help Buying for Schools pages in September 2026 ([DfE Energy for Schools Guidance](https://get-help-buying-for-schools.education.gov.uk/energy/guidance); the DfE's own [15 June blog post](https://buyingforschools.blog.gov.uk/2026/06/15/energy-sorted-why-over-1000-schools-have-handed-their-energy-buying-to-us/) still carried the superseded 15 September date when checked).

2\. [DfE Energy for Schools Guidance — Get Help Buying for Schools](https://get-help-buying-for-schools.education.gov.uk/energy/guidance) — the deadline, the 26 October recommendation, the "we'll do our best" wording, the document checklist, smart-meter requirement, notice obligation, GCA novation and contract terms, as quoted in the article (checked 23 October 2026).

3\. [Join Energy for Schools — the online service page](https://get-help-buying-for-schools.education.gov.uk/energy/start) — "Apply by 12pm Friday 6th November 2026", the joining routes, and the interim-rate note.

4\. [Before you start — the Energy for Schools application checklist](https://get-help-buying-for-schools.education.gov.uk/energy/before-you-start) — authorisation, meter details, VAT percentages and kVA.

5\. [Academy Trust Handbook 2026 (effective from 1 October 2026) — GOV.UK](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/academy-trust-handbook/academy-trust-handbook-2026-effective-from-1-october-2026) — paragraph 2.29, the energy procurement requirement.

6\. [Energy procurement for schools: DfE guidance explained — Zenergi, 11 August 2026](https://zenergi.co.uk/news/energy-procurement-for-schools-dfe-guidance-explained/) — the broker's 13% observation, quoted with its own caveat.

[View full post](https://statlog.co.uk/statlog-news-insights/energy-for-schools-recommended-date-passed)

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