Statements of Recommended Practice (SORPs) set out current best accounting practice for specialised industries or sectors. The Further and Higher Education Statement SORP combines the requirements of institutions of both further and higher education in the UK.
2026 edition
Following amendments to FRS 102 by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) in March 2024, designed to enhance the quality of financial reporting in the UK and Ireland, work has been underway on the development of a new Statement of Recommended Practice for Further and Higher Education.
Members of BUFDG's Financial Reporting Group have formed a Technical Working Group to act in a technical advisory capacity to the SORP Board as the SORP-making body recognised by the Financial Reporting Council. BUFDG are being supported by KPMG’s Accounting Advisory Services team to coordinate the development of the new FEHE SORP, which will have an effective from date of 1 January 2026 and mean adoption for the 2026/27 financial year for most.
The proposed SORP has undergone an extensive development process, and many across the sector have contributed, for which the FEHE SORP Board is grateful. The Board invites comments on the 2026 SORP Exposure Draft from all interested parties, be they further and higher education institutions themselves, governors and trustees of institutions, sector regulators, accountancy bodies, professional accountancy and audit firms, government and its agencies, those who fund activities undertaken by institutions or providers of finance, or services to the further and higher education sectors. The FEHE SORP Board particularly welcomes responses from general users of financial statements, whatever their interest or status.
The FEHE SORP Board has identified a number of questions which you are invited to respond to. These set out areas that the SORP Board consider represent the most change from current accounting practice or might be contentious and so are worthy of highlighting; namely leases, revenue, and primary statements. However, respondents are invited to raise any other points not specifically included in the consultation questions via general comments. The consultation opened on Wednesday 5 February 2025. Comments are invited to be submitted by midday on Wednesday, 30 April 2025, via an online survey hosted on the BUFDG website.
All responses will be published via the BUFDG website within 12 weeks of the consultation closing, and full records of this consultation will be shared with the Financial Reporting Council, hosted on the UUK website, and held securely for no less than six years and no more than twenty years, in line with FRC policy.
Following the completion of the public consultation exercise, the Financial Reporting Group will review and make recommendations to the FEHE SORP Board, which will consider all responses and agree any recommended revisions before submitting the final SORP 2026 document to the Financial Reporting Council for its consideration. Subject to approval of the Financial Reporting Council, the Board anticipates that a final version of the SORP will be published in August 2025. Any change to this timeline will be communicated widely. The new SORP will be effective from accounting periods starting on or after 1 January 2026. 19
Should you or your teams require further assistance in navigating the implementation of the SORP, please contact BUFDG or the Association of Colleges for support.
2019 edition
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Publication
Statement of Recommended Practice 2019
The 2019 edition became effective for financial periods beginning on or after 1 January 2019. It reflects the Amendments to FRS 102 – Triennial review 2017 – Incremental improvements and clarifications issued by the Financial Reporting Council in December 2017
Most of the changes introduced by the Triennial Review 2017 were made to clarify rather than change the accounting treatment. There were also changes to disclosure requirements which must be adopted. As with the 2015 SORP, practitioners will also be required to consult FRS 102 to understand the full accounting requirements.
The 2019 edition also includes the previous amendments set out in the FE / HE SORP Guidance Note 2015, issued by Universities UK, in response to the 2015 amendments to FRS 102. In other areas, terminology was more closely aligned with FRS 102.
Latest guidance note
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In July 2021, the FE HE SORP Board published FE / HE SORP Guidance Note 2021 to reflect the Amendments to UK and Republic of Ireland accounting standards – UK exit from the European Union issued by the Financial Reporting Council in December 2020.
More information
The FE/HE SORP reflects the collaboration between further and higher education funding and regulatory bodies, sector representative bodies, and accounting practitioners. These key stakeholders are represented on the FE/HE SORP Board. The FE/HE SORP Board’s technical advisory group is the British Universities Finance Directors Group (BUFDG) Financial Reporting Group.
Further information is available on the BUFDG website.