Correspondence

DfE Update further education: 23 April 2025

Published 23 April 2025

Applies to England

© Crown copyright 2025

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfe-update-23-april-2025/dfe-update-further-education-23-april-2025

1. Action: Further education (FE) college condition allocation for 2025 to 2026 

On 1 April 2025 we published details of the further education (FE) college condition allocation: 2025 to 2026, totalling £302 million. All FE colleges and designated institutions will get a share.

You can see details of spend guidance and allocation amounts, alongside details of the formula methodology.  

The funding is to support with maintaining, improving and ensuring the suitability of the FE college estate.

Urgent action 

FE colleges and designated institutions received a grant offer letter by email to the accounting officer at the beginning of April 2025. This must be signed and returned to capitalpayment.enquiries@education.gov.uk by 5pm on Wednesday 30 April 2025.

The allocation will then be paid in June 2025.

2. Information: Advanced learner loans (ALL) – funding and performance management rules for 2025 to 2026, and maximum loan amounts

We have published:

If you have any questions after reading our rules, or if there is anything else you need help with, you can find more support on our customer help portal.

3. Information: Adult skills fund allocations for 2025 to 2026

This week, we plan to issue the adult skills fund allocations for the 2025 to 2026 funding year.

Allocations are available in a digital format on manage your education and skills funding.

You need one of the following roles to view your allocation statement:

  • contract authoriser
  • contract manager
  • contract user
  • data returns and claims authoriser

We will:

For more information, please refer to your funding agreement.

Business case requests

To raise a business case you can use the digital form.

If you have questions after reading our guidance, or if there is anything else you need help with, you can find more support in our customer help centre.

4. Information: Universal infant free school meals (UIFSM) and further education free meals funding rate for 2025 to 2026

We can confirm that DfE has increased the meal rate for both universal infant free school meals (UIFSM) and further education free meals from £2.58 to £2.61 for the academic year 2025 to 2026.

5. Information: Post-16 National Insurance contributions grant

We have published further guidance on the post-16 National Insurance contributions grant.

6. Information: T Level uplift for 2025 to 2026

We have updated T Level guidance with details of a one-year 5% uplift for T Level funding bands for academic year 2025 to 2026.

This is in recognition that although now more established, T Levels continue to be more expensive on average in the early years of delivery.

We aim to revise 16 to 19 funding allocation statements in June 2025 to incorporate the 5% T Level uplift.

We will confirm this in a DfE Update article in May 2025.

7. Information: Tailored Learning – new codes for cost contributions 

We aim to gather more information on funding sources for Tailored Learning.

Currently, we use full or co-funding indicators (FFI) to track learner contributions based on local fee remission policies. 

A new aspect of Tailored Learning is employer-facing provision. This allows providers to develop and deliver new offers with local employers and stakeholders.

We now seek data on employer contributions to Tailored Learning. 

To facilitate this, we have introduced new Learning Delivery Monitoring (LDM)  codes, detailed in the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) provider support manual. These codes are optional for the rest of 2024 to 2025 but will be mandatory from August 2025.

We encourage early adoption to help us to understand your funding and familiarise you with the codes before August. 

From 1 August 2025, these codes will replace the FFI.

8. Feedback: Narrowing the digital divide in schools and colleges – contribute to the public consultation

We want to hear from FE colleges about technology.

Share your views on narrowing the digital divide in schools and colleges (by 11:59pm on Friday 23 May 2025).

This public consultation aims to bring together the sector’s expertise to tackle this issue and break down the barriers to opportunity. It includes a proposal for the future of the digital and technology standards for schools and colleges.

We would value your views on your college’s readiness to meet the standards. We want to gather feedback on examples of best practice and how DfE can best support you to ensure safe and reliable technology within your college.  
 
We want to work with you to ensure that all students have access to the opportunities technology can offer.

9. Feedback: Changes to the financial data submissions process for independent training providers, special post-16 institutions and non-maintained special schools

We are designing a new service to change the way you submit financial information to us annually.

The new service could involve entering specific financial data from your financial statements into an online portal, alongside uploading financial documentation.

If you would be responsible for doing this for your organisation, we invite you to take part in a research interview.

Research interviews will:

  • be at a time and date that suits you
  • held on Microsoft Teams
  • last between 60 to 90 minutes

To express your interest in taking part, complete this consent form by 5pm on Friday 2 May 2025.

If you need adjustments to participate, please indicate this in the consent form. We especially encourage individuals with accessibility needs, such as those using assistive technology, adjustments, or those less comfortable with online services.

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