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Clegg, Alex

Corlett, Adam

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Guidance
Reducing fraud in the education
sector
Information to help schools, colleges and independent
training providers manage the risk of fraud.
From:
Department for Education
Published
30 June 2025
Applies to England
Introduction
This guide will help schools, colleges and independent training providers
to:
reduce the risk of fraud or financial irregularity
deal with fraud within their organisation, should it occur
report fraud, theft or irregularity
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Academy and academy trust finance and reporting
Contents
Types of fraud—
Cybercrime and cyber security—
Create a fraud risk management strategy—
Create a fraud response plan—
Make a report—
be aware of and manage cybercrime risks
Types of fraud
Fraud is deception carried out to gain an unfair advantage or to
disadvantage another. It may involve the:
misuse of funds or other resources
supply of false information
Common types of fraud in the education sector include:
theft
fictitious and falsification of invoices
credit card and mandate fraud
Cybercrime and cyber security
Organisations should be vigilant and proactive in relation to cybercrime
and have cyber security arrangements in place.
Read cyber security standards for schools and colleges to understand
the standards your organisation should meet.
Create a fraud risk management strategy
Annex 4.9 of the HM Treasury publication Managing Public Money
highlights the responsibilities and expectations of public sector
organisations in relation to fraud.
An effective fraud risk management strategy involves:
assessing your overall vulnerability to fraud
testing your internal control system to ensure it is robust
identifying the areas most vulnerable to fraud risk – the list of potential
fraud red flags may support this review
evaluating the scale of fraud risk
responding to the fraud risk through improved control arrangements
measuring the effectiveness of the risk strategy to potential fraud
reporting fraud
The most effective way to manage the risk of fraud is prevention. You
can reduce your risk by:
having a robust fraud risk management plan in place
developing an anti-fraud culture
Create a fraud response plan
An organisation’s response to fraud risk should be proportionate to the
risks it faces. Typically, it will involve:
developing a fraud policy statement, a fraud risk strategy and a fraud
response plan – every organisation should have these documents
developing and promoting an anti-fraud culture through:
clearly stating a commitment to ethical behaviour
promoting awareness of fraud
recruitment screening
regular training
maintaining good staff morale
clarifying roles and responsibilities for the overall and specific
management of fraud risk
establishing cost-effective internal systems of control to prevent and
detect fraud
confirming contacts and routes for staff to report suspicions of fraud,
including developing a whistleblowing policy
responding quickly and effectively to fraud when it arises
establishing systems and processes for investigations into allegations
of fraud
using your internal audit function to advise on fraud risk, where
appropriate, and drawing on their experience to strengthen controls
continually evaluating the effectiveness of anti-fraud measures in
reducing fraud
It’s good practice to measure the effectiveness of actions taken to
reduce the risk of fraud. You can obtain assurance measures from:
internal audit
stewardship reporting
control risk self-assessment
monitoring activity
Make a report
Follow the Report fraud or financial irregularity process to make a report.
Published 30 June 2025
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Contents
Explore the topic
Academy and academy trust finance and reporting
Financial management, reporting and assurances for 16 to 19 year olds funding
Local authority schools financial reporting and assurance
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Guidance : Reducing fraud in the education sector

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