Their own payment-practices filing · gov.uk

Aqa Education pays suppliers in 22 days on average — within its stated 1–60 day terms

CRN 03644723 · Education · 17 statutory reports on record · period to 30 Sept 2026

22daysavg time to pay · H2 2026

Their H2 2026 filing puts the average 21 days past the shortest term they state (1 days), still within their 60-day upper term.

Faster than mostvs a 31-day median across 6,104 recent filers

Their stated terms: 1–60 days
Paid outside agreed terms: 23% of invoices
Paid after 61+ days: 2%
Reporting period: 1 Apr 2026 – 30 Sept 2026
Source: their gov.uk filing, filed 15 Oct 2026

Self-reported figures from their statutory filing. How this is compiled.

Terms vs reality · their H2 2026 filing

Paid within their stated range — 22 against 1–60 days

PAIDLATE · terms vs the clockdays to pay · 0–65

avg 22d

0 days65 days

reported avg 22 days their filed terms 1–60 days UK median 31 days · n = 6,104 recent filers

Where their invoices landed · share of all invoices

within 30 days 90% 31–60 days 8% 61+ days 2%

Source: their statutory Payment Practices Report #117447, period 1 Apr 2026 – 30 Sept 2026, filed 15 Oct 2026 · gov.uk payment-practices service

Aqa Education pays within its stated range, 21 days past the shortest term. 23% of invoices still went outside agreed terms; 2% reached 61 days or more. Self-reported in their statutory H2 2026 filing.

The pattern · last 6 of 17 reports

38 → 22 days — getting faster

PAIDLATE · the patternavg days per report

Last 6 of 17 filed reports · linear day scale · every period is in the table below · Source: gov.uk payment-practices service

16 days faster across the window. From 38 days in H1 2024 to 22 in the H2 2026 filing; the dashed line marks the 1-day term they state.

The read · computed from their figures

Aqa Education's H2 2026 filing puts their average at 22 days against stated terms of 1–60 days; 23% of invoices were paid outside agreed terms and 2% took 61 days or longer. Filed 15 Oct 2026.

The direction is faster: from 38 days in H1 2024 to 22 now — 16 days faster across their last 6 reports.

On the latest reported averages: Faster than 65% of the 309 large companies reporting in education.

That is 17 statutory periods on record (earliest H2 2018) — a historical record, not a promise for a new invoice.

In their own words · from the filing

Standard payment terms

Standard contractual payment term for goods and services is 30 days. The maximum contractual payment term is 60 days. The minimum contractual payment term period is immediate.

Dispute resolution

Suppliers are requested to log any queries with AQA via a designated email address, this email address is monitored on a daily basis and any queries relating to overdue invoices are dealt with accordingly and resolved in a timely manner.

Every statutory report on record

Most recent first.

Period	Avg days	Outside terms	61+ days	Filed
H2 2026	22	23%	2%	15 Oct 2026
H1 2026	25	25%	3%	21 Apr 2026
H2 2025	25	22%	2%	6 Nov 2025
H1 2025	25	25%	3%	22 Apr 2025
H2 2024	25	32%	6%	11 Oct 2024
H1 2024	38	46%	10%	2 May 2024
H2 2023	38	33%	13%	7 Nov 2023
H1 2023	31	39%	10%	4 May 2023
H2 2022	38	37%	11%	1 Nov 2022
H1 2022	53	61%	21%	3 May 2022
H2 2021	29	57%	2%	18 Nov 2021
H1 2021	13	11%	6%	30 Apr 2021
H2 2020	13	11%	7%	23 Oct 2020
H1 2020	6	11%	6%	4 May 2020
H2 2019	6	61%	3%	1 Nov 2019
H1 2019	52	46%	13%	30 Apr 2019
H2 2018	60	23%	10%	2 Nov 2018

On the public register · Companies House

Company record

Status: Active
Type: PRI/LBG/NSC (Private, Limited by guarantee, no share capital, use of 'Limited' exemption)
Incorporated: 30 Sept 1998
Registered office: DEVAS STREET, M15 6EX

1 outstanding charge — secured borrowing registered Accounts due 31 Dec 2026

Open the full record at Companies House.

Illustrative · working-capital arithmetic

What a 22-day cycle ties up

A worked example, not a finding. On a hypothetical £12k/month account, at a 22-day vs a 1-day payment cycle.

≈ £8,500

of invoicing outstanding at any one time on a 22-day cycle — about £8,300 more than the same account would carry at 1-day terms.

Late Payment Act. The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 lets a supplier charge statutory interest and fixed compensation on invoices paid past agreed terms. Work out what a late invoice is worth → Whether it applies depends on your contract — check with an adviser.

Quick answers · Aqa Education

Are they getting slower or faster?

Their reported average has moved about 16 days faster over the window (38 → 22 days).

What's their typical pay point?

Their latest filed report puts the average at day 22; across their last 6 reports it ranged 22–38 days. Treat that as a historical reference point, not a promise for a new invoice.

Can I see what this means for my invoices?

Run the live check — it re-reads their record and their live Companies House file, on the amount you invoice.

Stay ahead

Watch Aqa Education (free)

Their next payment report is due ≈ 28 Apr 2027. We watch their public record and email you when something changes — a new payment report, late filings, insolvency markers, new charges.

You’ll get a confirmation email first. Unsubscribe any time. How we handle your address.

More large companies in education

Anglian Learning · Archway Learning Trust · Alpha Plus Group Limited · Arden Multi Academy Trust · Aldridge Education · Ardingly College Limited

How UK payment reporting works

What is a Payment Practices Report?

UK companies and LLPs above a size threshold — broadly, two of: turnover over £54m, balance sheet over £27m, or more than 250 employees — must report twice a year, under the Reporting on Payment Practices and Performance Regulations 2017, how quickly they actually pay suppliers: the average time to pay, the share of invoices paid in 30 days or fewer, 31 to 60 days and 61 days or longer, and their standard payment terms. Those thresholds apply to financial years beginning on or after 6 April 2025; for earlier financial years they were £36m and £18m, with the same 250-employee test.

What does "paid outside agreed terms" mean?

The share of invoices paid later than the terms in the supplier contract. If terms are 30 days and an invoice is paid on day 45, it counts as paid outside terms, regardless of the headline average.

How often is this data updated?

Each report covers a six-month period and must be filed within 30 days of that period ending, so a company's record refreshes roughly twice a year. PaidLate re-reads the register as new reports are filed.

Is this official government data?

The underlying payment figures come from the company's own statutory filings on the gov.uk payment-practices service; company-status data comes from Companies House. PaidLate calculates trends, comparisons and summaries from those records. It does not use surveys or credit-agency scores.

How this is compiled. Built from official records only: Companies House and the gov.uk payment-practices service. The payment figures are self-reported — companies over the size threshold must file them by law and the board signs them off. No credit-agency data. The numbers are theirs; the plain-English read is ours. This is information compiled from public records under the Open Government Licence v3.0 — not a credit rating and not advice.

The 31-day comparison figure is the median across 6,104 companies with a current statutory report — every sector pooled, not an average of sector medians (how the figure is built).

Report PL-03644723 · latest period to 30 Sept 2026

Verify the original Companies House file

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