Correspondence

DfE Update further education: 2 April 2025

Published 2 April 2025

Applies to England

Information: 2025 to 2026 student financial support scheme guides published

We have published the student financial support scheme guides for academic year 2025 to 2026, for:

• 16 to 19 Bursary Fund
• Residential Bursary Fund
• Residential Support Scheme
• Care to Learn

These guides set out the funding rules for each of the different schemes.

The 16 to 19 Bursary Fund guide includes information about the change in process for funding claims for students eligible for, and needing support from, the bursary for defined vulnerable groups. You must ensure you understand the change and what you need to do.

For institutions with students who are young parents and who need support from Care to Learn, the guide contains important changes about the new funding claim process. You must ensure you understand your responsibilities and how the process will operate.  

More generally, we ask that you review the updated guides and remind yourselves of the funding rules which apply to ensure your processes accurately reflect them.

Information: Maths and English continuous professional development grant competition 

On Wednesday 12 March 2025, the Department for Education (DfE) launched a grant competition to deliver continuous professional development for maths and English teachers and leaders. This is for those teaching 16 to 19-year-old students who are covered by the maths and English condition of funding. Further information can be found on Find a grant. 

Information: Maths and English condition of funding academic year 2025 to 2026

It is essential for 16 to 19-year-olds to progress towards level 2 English and maths, where they do not have these qualifications. That is why the maths and English condition of funding requires a minimum number of hours of stand-alone, whole class, in person teaching. Institutions should now have all the information they need to prepare for the 2025 to 2026 academic year. 

In the maths and English condition of funding, we have published technical updates: 

• explaining how to record the planned minimum teaching hours in the Individualised Learner Record (ILR)/school census 

• to support ensuring you have the evidence needed for audit of the planned minimum teaching hours 

The ILR technical specification has also been updated to include maths and English minimum hours Funding and Monitoring codes. The school census technical specification will be updated.

If you have any questions, contact your local place-based lead, or contact DfE via the online contact us form. 

Information: Post-16 budget grant and Teachers’ pension scheme employer contribution grants (TPSECG)

We have received some enquiries recently about these post-16 grants. This is where you can find the relevant information.

Post-16 budget grant

Academic year 2024 to 2025 - this is the former post-16 schools budget grant and this grant stops at the end of academic year 2024 to 2025.

From April 2025, the grant includes further education (FE) colleges and sixth-form colleges and is called the post-16 budget grant. We will communicate the methodology, conditions of grant and institution-level funding allocations in May 2025.

Academic year 2025 to 2026 - we have brought the grant into the national funding rate which will be the same for all institutions with a 16 to 19 allocation.

16 to 19 TPSECG – financial year 2025 to 2026

We’re paying the grant for maintained mainstream schools and mainstream academies with 16 to 19 provision in 2 instalments. 

FE TPSECG – academic year 2025 to 2026

FE providers will receive this as part of your 16 to 19 funding allocation. 

Information: 2025 to 2026 high needs operational guide has been updated

We have updated the high needs funding 2025 to 2026 operational guide in the following areas:

• information about the distribution methodology for the additional funding to compensate employers for the increase in National Insurance contributions

• updated information following the introduction of the Procurement Act 2023, which took effect from 24 February 2025

• references to updated arranging alternative provision commissioning guidance for local authorities and schools

You can read full details of these changes in section 2.2 ‘March 2025 updates’ of the guide.

Information: FE initial teacher education (ITE) bursaries programme for academic year 2025 to 2026

In January 2025 DfE announced the continuation of FE ITE bursaries for the 2025 to 2026 academic year for skilled non-graduates as well as graduates who are training, pre-service, to teach high-priority subjects in the FE sector in England.

The pre-service bursaries are a tax-free cash incentive paid to individual trainees while completing a specified teaching qualification (level 5 or above) for the FE and skills sector.

Bursary values for the following subjects are:

• £31,000 for mathematics, science (including chemistry, physics and biology), engineering (and/or manufacturing) and computing
• £15,000 for special educational needs and disabilities
• £10,000 for English (capped at 100 places)

The application window is now open, and we would encourage providers to submit their applications promptly, as awards are made on a first-come-first-served basis.

More information and the application form is available via FE funding: initial teacher education bursary, 2025 to 2026.