Guidance

How to complete the 16 to 19 tuition fund: 2023 to 2024 form

Updated 16 September 2024

Applies to England

1. Introduction

The 16 to 19 tuition fund is specifically allocated funding for all 16 to 19 institutions that receive annual funding allocations from Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) for the provision of 16 to 19 education, to mitigate the disruption to learning due to COVID-19. These instructions provide guidance so you can opt in to, or out of, the 16 to 19 tuition fund for the academic year 2023 to 2024. 

For the second window in October: 

1.1 You do not need to submit this digital form if:  

• your institution opted in or out of receiving 16 to 19 tuition funding for academic year 2023 to 2024 using the digital form during the first window in May 2023, and you do not wish to change your response  

or  

• your institution chose to automatically have your allocation renewed and you are in receipt of 16 to 19 tuition funding, unless you wish to now opt out 

1.2 You will need to submit the digital form if:  

• your institution is not in receipt of 16 to 19 tuition fund for academic year 2023 to 2024 but you wish to opt in to the funding  

or  

• your institution is in receipt of 16 to 19 tuition fund for academic year 2023 to 2024 and wish to opt out of receiving this funding 

If your institution did submit a digital form during the first window in May 2023 and wish to change your response, you should submit a further digital form which will supersede the one submitted in May. 

1.3 About the fund 

The 16 to 19 tuition fund is specifically allocated funding for schools, colleges and all other 16 to 19 institutions that receive annual funding allocations from ESFA for the provision of 16 to 19 education to mitigate the disruption to learning due to COVID-19. 

The fund supports students that meet eligibility requirements in: 

• small groups and one to one tuition 
• tuition in English, maths/other academic subjects 
• tuition in non-academic subjects, such as exam preparation 
• tuition in vocational courses

1.4 Considerations for students

The following students are eligible for tuition via the 16 to 19 tuition fund:

• students with low prior attainment, meaning those who did not have a GCSE grade 4 or above in English and/or maths at age 16 and would need catch-up support 

• students who have not achieved a grade 6 in English and/or maths at age 16 and would need catch-up support 

• students from the 27% most economically deprived areas of the country (based on the index of multiple deprivation) and would need catch-up support 

• students that are economically disadvantaged who meet the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund eligibility criteria and would need catch-up support to reach their full potential will be eligible, even where their prior attainment is high 

• students aged 19 to 24 who have an education, health and care (EHC) plan are also eligible for support, subject to meeting the eligibility for the fund

For more information, read the 16 to 19 tuition fund 2023 to 2024 guidance.

2. When to complete your submission

The deadline to complete this form is 11:59pm on Friday 20 October 2023.

3. Accessing the form 

Access the 16 to 19 tuition fund 2023 to 2024 form  to opt in or opt out of the 2023 to 2024 tuition fund.  

3.1 Before you start   

You should make sure you have: 

• a DfE Sign-in account
• your UK Provider Reference Number (UKPRN). If you do not know this, you can find it by searching the UK Register of Learning Providers 
• your tuition fund spend for the 2020 to 2021, 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023 academic years 
• the amount of tuition fund carried over at the end of 2022 to 2023 (if any) 

3.2 DfE Sign-in 

You log in to your DfE Sign-in account:  

1. When prompted, enter your DfE Sign-in credentials – this is just for authentication.

2. Choose the organisation for whom you are completing the form.

3. The next page will display the details we hold about your organisation. This will show the name, address and unique reference number (URN) or UKPRN of the organisation, as well as the name and email address of the person who logged into DfE Sign-in.

4. If these details are correct, then all you need do is to click ‘Continue’ to step to the next page.

5. If you believe they are incorrect, please contact us through our customer help centre and we will investigate. You can still proceed with your submission.

Your account must be connected to the organisation you are completing the form for. You do not need to add any services in DfE Sign-in; it is used only for authentication. 

3.3 If you do not have a DfE Sign-in account  

You will need to create one:  

1. Select the create account button from the [DfE Sign-in page.(https://services.signin.education.gov.uk/) 

2. Enter your name and email address – use a valid business email address that contains your name.

3. We will send you an email to verify your email address; copy the code from this email and paste it into the box on the verification page.  

4. Create a memorable password of 8 characters or more. Your password must include 2 upper case letters, 2 lower case letters and 2 numbers. 

5. Sign in using your new credentials and request access to the organisation for which you would like to submit your estimates. Your request will be sent to the approver(s) at your organisation for action. 

Once your request to access an organisation has been approved, you can follow the steps outlined under the DfE Sign-in section to complete the form.  

You might have noticed the term ‘approver’ during account creation. An approver is someone at your organisation responsible for controlling who has access to DfE Sign-in and the services within the system. It is usually a senior person, such as an administrator or manager.  

For security reasons you will need the approval of one of your organisation’s approvers before you can access the form.  

3.4 If you need further assistance  

If you are having problems using the DfE Sign-in service, follow DfE Sign-in Help. You will be able to request further assistance if required. When raising a support request, please select ‘other’.  

If you believe you are eligible to submit your estimates but have problems accessing the form, please get in touch with us through our customer help centre.

4. Completing the form 

There is a ‘save and continue’ button at the bottom of each page; this will take you to the next page. The form will remember information you have saved if you sign out or if you leave it open for an extended period. 

You will be presented with a number of pages to step through which will ask you to complete information related to your estimated pupil numbers. You will then need to complete the required declarations.  

4.1 Conditions for accessing this funding 

You must be an institution that is eligible for 16 to 19 tuition funding. If you are an ineligible institution, you will see the following message: 

According to our records, you cannot access the 16 to 19 tuition fund 2023 to 2024 form because your institution has not received an offer of tuition funding.  

If you think this is incorrect, you can contact us through our customer help centre with your details and we’ll investigate the issue. 

If you do not submit a digital form and your institution is not currently in receipt of 16 to 19 funding for academic year 2023 to 2024, we will assume you wish to opt out of receiving it. 

4.2  Your details  

This page will display the details we hold about your organisation when you signed into your DfE Sign-in account via this form.  

4.3 2023 to 2024 funding 

You will only see this page if your institution is eligible for 2023 to 2024 tuition funding. On this page, you’ll be presented with a table that shows the amount of 2023 to 2024 funding your institution is eligible to receive. The table breaks down how your funding allocation has been calculated. 

Extra funding will be allocated through 16 to 19 funding allocations for the 2023 to 2024 academic year. You’ll start to receive payments from the start of 2023 to 2024 academic year. 

By opting in to receive this funding, your institution agrees to meet the conditions of funding.

If you opt in to or opting out of the 2023 to 2024 tuition fund 

All institutions, including those eligible for auto renewal, that do not wish to receive their allocation are expected to opt out using the digital form. 

If you have not previously claimed tuition fund, you will be asked to confirm if you are opting in to receive 2023 to 2024 tuition funding.  

You must ensure the funding allocation is used in accordance with the published 16 to 19 funding guidance. 

Please note if you are opting out of 2023 to 2024 tuition funding, you must select at least one option to give your reason.  

4.4 Check your answers and declarations 

Once you have completed your submission, you will be presented with your submission summary along with declarations specific to your answers. 

You will not be able to submit your form without agreeing to these declarations. 

After completing the declarations, you should select the ‘accept and send’ button.   

You’ll then see the submission confirmation page.  

4.5  Confirmation  

The final page confirms your submission relating to the 16 to 19 tuition fund and will  provide a unique reference number.  

You’ll also receive an email which includes your submission reference and a PDF of your submission.  

4.6  Amending your submission 

If your submission is incorrect, you can resubmit up until 11:59pm on 20 October 2023 when this form window closes. To do this, you’ll need to log in and update the relevant information. 

If you make a second submission, we’ll take the details of the most recently submitted form and disregard previous versions. 

Claims can be submitted or resubmitted until the deadline by selecting the link to the claim form. It will not be possible to grant any extensions to the deadline. 

You will receive a new unique submission reference for an amended claim. 

4.7  What happens next  

You will receive an email confirming the details of your registration.

5. Contact us

If you’ve read this guidance and have any questions about the 16 to 19 tuition fund 2023 to 2024, please contact us through our customer help centre.