Guidance

Explanatory note: Special post-16 institution and non-maintained special school allocation statement - academic year 2017 to 2018

Updated 22 March 2017

This guidance was withdrawn on 30 January 2018

This page relates to the 2017 to 2018 academic year. Please visit our 16 to 19 allocations page for the latest information.

1. Introduction

This explanatory note sets out the background details behind the figures in the special post-16 institution (SPI) and non-maintained special school (NMSS) funding allocation statements for the 2017 to 2018 academic year and directs SPIs to refer to specific sections of the Explanatory note: Further education institutions allocation statement - academic year 2017 to 2018 for more information. Local authorities have a role in funding high needs students in SPIs and NMSSs as a commissioner of special education provision for these students. This means that SPIs and NMSSs receive funding for pupils and students with high needs from both the Education Funding Agency (EFA) (place funding) and local authorities (top-up funding). The allocation statement includes place funding only.

Top-up funding is based on the assessed needs of the student and the cost of meeting these in the education setting and should be agreed between the commissioning local authority and the SPI or NMSS. Top-up funding is paid for the period that the student is actually occupying the place in the institution. It is paid directly to the SPI or NMSS on a monthly basis unless a different payment frequency is agreed with the local authority. Further information regarding the high needs funding system is available in the high needs funding operational guide 2017 to 2018 published on GOV.UK.

2. Summary of the 2017 to 2018 funding allocation

We wrote to all SPIs and NMSSs on 31 January 2017 to confirm the methodology for allocating high needs place funding to SPIs and NMSSs for 2017 to 2018 academic year.

• SPI allocations are based upon the individualised learner record (ILR) data and 16 to 19 average funding factors
• SPI lagged student numbers (element 1) and high needs place numbers (element 2) are taken from the 2016 to 2017 R06 ILR return of students eligible for EFA funding as of 1 November 2016, by the student and high needs student R04:R14 ratios recorded in the 2015 to 2016 academic year ILR data returns
• New SPIs are allocated student and high needs place numbers on the higher of their 2016 to 2017 allocated numbers or their 2016 to 2017 R06 ILR return of students eligible for EFA funding as of 1 November 2016
• NMSS allocations will be based on the pupil number data from the October 2016 school census uplifted by the difference between the October 2015 and January 2016 census pupil number data with any negative movement capped at zero to ensure that no school is funded on numbers less than those recorded in their January 2016 census

For SPIs, the total high needs place number allocation is described in table 5 of the funding statement. Element 1 student numbers are calculated from lagged data and funded using the national funding formula. Element 2 high needs place numbers are also calculated on a lagged basis and are used to provide the first £6,000 of additional support costs for high needs students.

For NMSSs the total high needs place number allocation (inclusive of pre-16 and post-16 places) is described in table 2 of the funding statement. These places are funded at a rate of £10,000 per place.

2.1 Student numbers for closing institutions or provision

When an institution closes, or stops delivering EFA-funded 16 to 19 provision, we will remove or reduce the lagged numbers to reflect the expected decline in student numbers. We will not allocate 16 to 19 funding to any institution that is completely ceasing 16 to 19 education provision, and there will also be a reduction in funding before that if the change in delivery is material (for example, a rundown of provision over 2 years).

Where institutions are planning to close all or a significant part of their delivery to young people they are expected to notify the EFA before the start of the academic year. In such cases the institution will be taken out of the lagged approach and any allocation made for that academic year will be reduced or withdrawn.

Late notification of closure, after the start of the academic year, will result in withdrawal of the allocation and a recovery of funds. Where an institution has not planned to close their provision for young people but does not recruit, or data returns reveal that no students have been enrolled in for the academic year, the EFA will withdraw the allocation and will also action recovery of funds where payments have already occurred.

2.2 Transfers of provision and sub-contracted provision

Where students are transferred between 2 institutions on an agreed basis, then the funding for those students will also transfer. This will also be the case where a funded institution (the ‘prime’) ceases a sub-contracting arrangement with a sub-contractor and that sub-contractor then transfers the provision to a different prime contractor; the funding will follow the student.

When a prime contractor ceases a sub-contracting arrangement, it is important to ensure there is continuity of provision for those students already on the programme and that there is not a gap in provision created as a result. Prime institutions are reminded that students on sub-contracted provision are their responsibility. In particular they have a responsibility to ensure that existing students are funded to the end of their programme either by a phased withdrawal from the relationship or transferring funded numbers to another institution which has agreed to pick up the continuing students.

If an institution is planning to cease a sub-contracting arrangement, we would expect the sub-contractor to be given sufficient notice of the end of that arrangement (this must be at least 3 months, but may well need to be longer). The prime institution must work with the sub-contractor to put plans in place to ensure that students who are part way through their programme are supported to complete.

Where a sub-contracting arrangement ceases, the EFA will decide whether to remove the former prime from the lagged approach to reflect this, and if so, will adjust their allocation to remove the sub-contracted numbers. The decision on whether to make an adjustment to lagged numbers will depend on the scale of the sub-contracted provision, the timing and process followed in ceasing the contract, and the nature of any gap that has resulted. If an adjustment is made to the allocation for the former prime, the funding for continuing students would usually transfer to the new prime institution. We would then consider an evidence-based business case from the new prime to fund any planned new starts. As set out in the sub-contracting controls guidance, we normally expect sub-contracted provision to be local and distant sub-contracted provision to be the exception.

2.3 Next steps - business cases

The figures in the statement are your final funding allocation, which under normal circumstances will not be changed.

We reserve the right to reduce or withdraw your allocation at any stage should issues arise, through audit or other processes, which significantly affect the underlying data in relation to contract compliance, or if we believe that by making an allocation we will be putting public funds at risk.

By exception, we will consider evidenced and credible business cases from institutions where there has been a significant error in the data returned by the institution. We will apply standard minimum thresholds to decide whether a case is taken forwards for consideration or not, as shown below.

• for cases affecting lagged student numbers - 5% of students or 50 students, whichever is lower
• for cases affecting the full time/part time split and other funding factors including programme cost weightings, retention and disadvantage funding - an overall impact of 5% on total funding or £250,000, whichever is lower
• for other cases not covered above – reviewed on a case by case basis

We will take into consideration cases where a combination of data errors has a combined overall funding impact of 5% on total funding or £250,000, whichever is lower.

Should you wish to raise any queries or put forward a business case as set out above, please do so by using our online enquiry form.

Please do not include any personal or sensitive data about your students when submitting your case.

Personal data is information relating to an individual who is or can be, identified from the data provided. Personal data can be information about the individual, their families or circumstances. This may include:

• names
• contact details
• gender
• date of birth

When investigating queries from institutions, we will limit requests for data to that which is absolutely necessary for completion of the investigation.

Your business case should be submitted by the head of organisation. If the head of organisation has delegated the responsibility to another colleague, the business case must be sent with a supporting email confirming that the head of organisation has agreed the business case can be submitted.

Depending on the nature of your business case, we may require a completed template. If a template is required, we will contact you via email to inform you that a template has been uploaded to the EFA Information Exchange. The deadline for submitting a business case is 21 April 2017. We expect to review all business cases and share outcomes by the end of June 2017.

3. Special post-16 institution funding allocation

The first 2 tables below provide an explanation of how your student numbers (Table 1a) and breakdown of funding by funding band (Table 1b) have been derived for your 2016 to 2017 funding allocation.

3.1 Table 1a: Student numbers (including students aged 19 to 24)

Title	Comments
1.1a 2016 to 2017 R46 total students	R46 is the count of students eligible for EFA funding as of 1 November 2016 as recorded in the 2016 to 2017 R06 ILR data return.
1.2a 2015 to 2016 R04-R14 student ratio	The ratio between the early student number count at R04 in 2015 to 2016 and the final student number count at R14 from 2015 to 2016.
1.3a Total lagged student number	For most SPIs, this figure is derived by multiplying box 1.1a by box 1.2a. For SPIs funded directly by the EFA in 2016 to 2017 for the first time, this figure has been derived by taking either the higher of the numbers allocated in 2016 to 2017 or the student number count recorded in box 1.1a.
1.4a Exceptional variations to lagged student number	An increase or decrease that has been applied to the total lagged student numbers recorded in box 1.3a. This is where an exceptional case has been agreed or where there have been any changes resulting from reviewing student numbers based on the 2016 to 2017 R06 ILR data return.
1.5a Total student numbers for 2017 to 2018	This is the total of lagged students (box 1.3a + 1.4a).

3.2 Table 1b: Breakdown of funding by funding band

We have applied an assumption that all students in SPIs are funded in band 5.

Title	Comments
1.1b – 1.6b Student numbers and proportions for 2017/18 allocation	5 students are all students with annual timetabled hours of 540 and over. All students in SPIs are funded in band 5.
1.1b - 1.6b National funding rate	The base amount of funding for each student in the band.
1.1b - 1.6b Student funding	This is the total student funding for each band.
1.7b - Total student funding	The total student funding for all bands.

3.3 Table 1c: Condition of funding (CoF)

Any student that does not have a maths and/or English GCSE at grades A*-C, is not enrolled on either an approved maths and English GCSE or stepping stone in academic year 2015 to 2016, and is not recorded as exempt will have an impact on your 2017 to 2018 allocation.

Full time students starting their study programme on or after 1 August 2015 who have prior attainment of a grade D GCSE or equivalent in maths and/or English language must be enrolled on a GCSE qualification only. Enrolment on a stepping stone qualification will not meet the condition of funding for these students. The details of how this is applied (including mitigation arrangements) can be found in the maths and English condition of funding guidance.

For students that were not compliant with the maths and English condition of funding in the 2015 to 2016 academic year Ministers have decided not to impose the full funding reductions to 2017 to 2018 funding allocations. This was in recognition of the continued progress by post-16 providers in delivering the 16 to 19 English and maths policy. We communicated this to the sector in the EFA e-bulletin published on 17 November 2016.

There is still progress that needs to be made in achieving full compliance and institutions should plan to be fully compliant each academic year. The EFA expects any school, college or provider not fully compliant with the condition of funding to have a robust plan in place for achieving full compliance. We will not ask institutions to submit their compliance plan to the EFA, or for institutions to complete an online survey as we did last year. We do however expect the plans to be documented and available on request. We expect the plan to be shared with and reviewed by the institution’s governing body and that progress towards full compliance is monitored.

Title	Comments
1.1c to 1.6c Total students (2015 to 2016 R14)	The total number of students in 2015 to 2016 as recorded in your 2015 to 2016 ILR R14 return, split by each funding band.
1.1c to 1.6c National funding rate applied to total students	The student funding associated with the total students. Total students (FTEs for band 1) multiplied by national funding rate.
1.1c to 1.6c Students not meeting the CoF (2015 to 2016 R14)	The number of students not meeting the condition of funding in 2015 to 2016 as recorded in your 2015 to 2016 ILR R14 return, split by each funding band.
1.1c to 1.6c National funding rate applied to CoF non-compliant students	The student funding associated with the students not meeting the CoF. Students (FTEs for band 1) not meeting the CoF multiplied by national funding rate.
1.7c Total funding	This shows the total funding for all students and for those students not meeting condition of funding. 1.1c + 1.2c + 1.3c + 1.4c + 1.6c.
1.8c 5% of national rate funding for total 2015 to 2016 R14 students	This is a tolerance that is allowed before any adjustment will be applied. 5% of national funding rate applied to total students (1.7c).
1.9c Funding for non-compliant students less 5% of total student funding	The resulting adjustment following the 5% tolerance national funding rate applied to CoF non-compliant students (1.7c) minus 1.8c.
1.10c Final condition of funding adjustment (at 50%)	In order to mitigate the effect of the CoF adjustments for the first year the final adjustment will be at 50% of 1.9c.

3.4 Programme funding formula

The following table describes the approach taken to derive other elements of the 16 to 19 funding formula that are specific to SPI funding allocations with the exception of area cost allowance, which applies across all of further education.

Title	Comments
Retention factor	We have applied the average factor used in 2016 to 2017 allocations for SPIs: 0.983.
Programme cost weighting	We have applied the average factor used in 2016 to 2017 allocations for SPIs: 1.054.
Table 2a - Disadvantage funding – block 1	We have applied the 2017 to 2018 national average of all institution types of 1.038.
Table 2a - Disadvantage funding – block 2	We have applied two instances per student, which attract the £480 funding rate.
Table 2b - Large programme funding	Not applicable to SPIs.
Area cost allowance	Some areas of the country are more expensive to teach in than others, and the area cost weights the allocation to reflect this. The area cost reflects the location of delivery of the provision, and is normally based on delivery postcodes from the ILR.

3.5 Table 3: Care standards

Title	Comments
3.1 Care standards	Care standards funding is paid as a lump sum of £12,252 per institution, plus £817 per eligible care standards student for those institutions eligible for this funding.

3.6 Table 4 Formula Protection Funding (FPF)

Not applicable to SPIs.

3.7 Table 5: High needs funding

Title	Comments
5.1 2016 to 2017 R46 total high needs students	R46 is the count of high needs students eligible for EFA funding as of 1 November 2016, as recorded in the 2016 to 2017 R06 ILR data.
5.2 2016 to 2017 R46 total high needs student proportions by age	The proportions of 16 to 19 and 19 to 24 high needs students recorded in the R06 with a reference date of 1 November. These proportions are used in the calculation of box 5.6.
5.3 2015 to 2016 R04-R14 high needs student ratio	The ratio between the high needs student number early count at R04 from 2015 to 2016 and the final high needs student number count at R14 in 2015 to 2016.
5.4 Total lagged high needs student number.	For most SPIs, this figure is derived by uplifting the 2016 to 2017 R46 total high needs student numbers to a full year estimate by applying the high needs student R04 to R14 ratio from 2015 to 2016 (box 5.1 × 5.3). For SPIs funded directly by the EFA in 2016 to 2017 for the first time, total student numbers have been derived from the higher of the numbers allocated in 2016 to 2017 or the high needs student number count recorded in the 2016 to 2017 R46 return.
5.5 Exceptional variations to lagged high needs student number	An increase or decrease that is applied to the lagged high needs student numbers in box 5.4. This is where an exceptional case has been agreed or where there have been any changes resulting from reviewing the high needs student numbers based on the R06 return as described in box 5.4.
5.6 Total high needs element 2 for 2017 to 2018 allocated against the proportions in box 5.2.	This is the total of high needs students calculated by applying the proportions in box 5.2a and 5.2b to the total lagged high needs student number in box 5.4 to any exceptional variation in box 5.5. Funding is calculated by multiplying the total numbers in box 5.6c × rate per student (£6,000) = funding.

3.8 16 to 19 Bursary Fund and free meals in special post-16 institutions

In 2017 to 2018, there is again no ring fence between the free meals allocation and the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund discretionary bursary allocation. The two allocations have been calculated separately (as set out in this note), and are presented separately on your funding statement, but institutions have the flexibility to treat this funding as a single overall allocation and use it for both 16 to 19 Bursary Fund and free meals. Institutions must ensure they manage the single allocation appropriately to promote the availability of free meals and to ensure all eligible students who apply for free meals are provided with them.

Additional funding for free meals for post-16 students attending SPIs was introduced in 2014 to 2015 to provide parity with those young people attending school sixth forms. Prior to 2014 to 2015, institutions had been supporting the cost of meals for students who needed them on a discretionary basis from the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund. The independent evaluation of the Bursary Fund allowed us to recognise this funding overlap and we addressed it in 2016 to 2017 allocations. We will again address this overlap in 2017 to 2018 allocations by adjusting 16 to 19 Bursary Fund discretionary allocations for those institutions also in receipt of an allocation for free meals.

3.9 16 to 19 Bursary Fund

Institutions will receive 16 to 19 Bursary Fund allocations for just discretionary bursaries, as in previous years. For the majority of institutions, the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund allocations for discretionary bursaries in 2017 to 2018 have been calculated based on the number of students in 2009 to 2010 who were in receipt of Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) at £30 per week as a percentage of the 2010 to 2011 allocated student numbers. We have applied this percentage to institutions’ 2017 to 2018 student numbers and multiplied the resultant number by the rate of £298 (based on the overall budget available and number of students to be funded) to give the allocation for the institution. Where an institution had no EMA students in 2009 to 2010 or where the provision was new in 2011 to 2012 or later, allocations have been based on 36% of the institution’s 2017 to 2018 allocated student numbers. A minimum allocation amount of £500 has been applied.

3.10 Young people in the Bursary Fund defined vulnerable groups

For 16 to 19 Bursary Fund vulnerable bursaries, institutions draw down funding (by submitting a funding claim) from the Student Bursary Support Service (SBSS) when they have identified students who meet the vulnerable bursary criteria. In some cases a young person might be eligible for a vulnerable bursary because they are in one or more of the defined vulnerable groups, but their financial needs are already met and/or they have no relevant costs.

For example:

• a student attending specialist residential provision that covers their educational costs in full
• a student taking a distance learning programme and who has no financial barriers to participation (for example, they don’t have any travel costs or meal costs)
• a student in local authority care whose educational costs are covered in full by the local authority

If a student in these circumstances still wants to claim a vulnerable student bursary, institutions can decide to award a reduced bursary or no bursary at all. Institutions should consider the particular circumstances and clearly explain to all parties why no bursary is being awarded or why a reduced bursary is being paid.

3.11 Free meals in special post-16 institutions

In 2017 to 2018, most institutions will receive an allocation of funding for free meals based on their full year 2015 to 2016 ILR R14 data returns and their lagged student number for 2017 to 2018. That is, the proportion of students they have assessed as eligible for and in receipt of free meals in 2015 to 2016 at R14. This proportion will be applied to the number of students funded in 2017 to 2018 to provide an all-year number of students who are expected to require free meals support. These mainstream ‘fundable free meals students’ have been apportioned across the funding bands, using the same methodology as for mainstream allocations. Band 5, band 4 and band 1 FTEs are full time students. Band 3 and band 2 are part time students. Two funding rates have been applied, one for full time students and one for part time students, equivalent to £2.41 per student per meal.

Where we were not able to generate a credible free meals allocation by using an institution’s 2015 to 2016 R14 data return, we have instead used the previous set of full year data: namely, 2014 to 2015 R14. Institutions should not assume that the EFA will exercise such flexibility in future years and are strongly recommended to make data returns showing the number of students they have assessed as eligible for and in receipt of free meals on an ongoing basis. The EFA may reconcile 2017 to 2018 allocations that have been generated based on 0 free meals students in the 2015 to 2016 R14 data return where subsequent data returns show that the institution has been allocated too much funding.

Institutions will also receive free meals funding for their newly funded 19+ continuing students in 2017 to 2018. This will be calculated using the same proportion used for the 16 to 19 aspect of the free meals allocation to determine how many 19+ continuing students might be eligible for free meals. Funding for these 19+ students will be based on the full time free meals funding rate.

3.12 16 to 19 Bursary Fund: adjustment based on Free Meals funding

To help institutions understand the adjustment that has been made, there are some overall figures in the table below.

Item	Comment
circa 39.3%	This is the percentage that the deduction amount represents of the total free meals in FE allocation for the academic year 2017 to 2018.
circa £101m	This is the overall amount (pre-adjustment) of the discretionary bursary fund allocated to those institutions in receipt of a free meals allocation.
circa 14.9%	This is the average percentage reduction to institutions’ discretionary bursary allocation once each institution’s share is removed (before any protection).
circa 12.8%	This is the average percentage reduction to institutions’ discretionary bursary allocation once all protection has been applied.
circa 9.7%	This is the average percentage reduction in the combined discretionary bursary and free meals allocations once reduction and all protection has been applied.

To arrive at the adjustment, we have calculated each institution’s share (the percentage) of all students supported with free meals who have been used in calculating 2017 to 2018 free meals allocations. This percentage is also each institution’s share of the total amount of deduction, to be subtracted from the institution’s discretionary bursary allocation.

• for example, institution A has had their 2017 to 2018 free meals allocation calculated based on their support of 1,000 students with free meals, as returned at R14. The total number of students supported with free meals who have informed the 2017 to 2018 allocations process is 100,000. Their share of the overall deduction is therefore 1% (1,000 / 100,000).

We have built protection levels into this process so that:

• no institution experiences a reduction of greater than 25% for their 16 to 19 Bursary Fund allocation
• no institution experiences a reduction that is greater than the reduction applied in 2016 to 2017
• no institution has a 16 to 19 Bursary Fund allocation of less than £500

In applying these rules, we have excluded the 19+ continuing students element of 2017 to 2018 16 to 19 Bursary Fund allocations.

If you require a detailed breakdown of how your allocation has been generated, please contact us using our online enquiry form.

### Table 6: Student Financial Support Funding

Title	Comment
6.1a Discretionary Bursary Fund – number of funded students	This number of students is based on the 2017 to 2018 funded student numbers as in box 1.5a.
6.1a Percentage applied	The percentage applied is the number of students in 2009 to 2010 in receipt of EMA at £30 per week as a percentage of 2010 to 2011 funded numbers. Where the provision was new in 2011 to 2012 or later, the percentage used is 36% (the national average percentage of students claiming £30 per week in 2009 to 2010). This percentage is multiplied by the 2017 to 2018 student numbers to determine the number of bursary funded students attracting the standard funding rate.
6.1a Standard funding rate	This is the unit cost that has been used to calculate the total funding. The rate for 2017 to 2018 is £298.
6.1a Funding	The standard funding rate is multiplied by the number of bursary funded students (rounded to the nearest pound). A minimum allocation of £500 has been applied.
6.1b Bursary adjustment in respect of free meals	Refer to the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund and free meals in further education section on page 7 of this document. Each institution’s percentage share of the deduction is calculated, proportionally, from R14 data. Protection is then applied so that no institution experiences a reduction of greater than 25% for their 16 to 19 Bursary Fund allocation, no institution experiences a reduction that is greater than the reduction applied in 2016 to 2017 and no institution has a 16 to 19 Bursary Fund allocation of less than £500.
6.1c Discretionary bursary fund total	6.1a + 6.1b
6.2a Residential bursary fund	Not applicable to SPIs
6.2b Residential support scheme	Not applicable to SPIs
6.3a Total students	This is the total number of 16 to 19 year olds recorded on the 2015 to 2016 ILR R14.
6.3a Free meals students	This is the number of students recorded on R14 as accessing free meals.
6.3a Proportion of students on free meals	Free meals students divided by Total Students.
6.3a Total students in 2017 to 2018 funded for free meals	This is the total number of students that will attract free meals funding in 2017 to 2018. It is calculated by applying the proportion of students on free meals to the total student numbers for 2017 to 2018 (1.5a).
6.3b to 6.3d Free meals higher rate, lower rate and FTE rate	The total number of 2017 to 2018 free meals students in box 6.3 is then split between the higher rate, lower rate and FTE rates according to the proportions in table 1b. For each of the three rate. Number of free meals students × free meals funding rate = free meals funding.
6.3e Free meals totals
6.3f 19 plus continuing students free meals	We apply the proportion of students on free meals (from 6.3a) to the number of 19+ continuing students and fund them at the higher free meals rate. Number of 19+ continuing free meals students × proportion of students on free meals × free meals higher funding rate = funding.
6.3g Free meals administration	Funding for administration is allocated at 5% of the free meals funding.
6.3h Total free meals funding	Total free meals funding for all rates + administration funding.
6.4 Total student support funding	Total student support funding. The sum of all student support funding. 6.1c + 6.3h.

Note that the values on your statement are shown rounded to various numbers of decimal places. The calculation of your funding however is done using un-rounded values. This may result in some slight differences when you work through the calculation yourselves.

4. Non-maintained special school funding allocation

The tables below provides an explanation of your 2017 to 2018 high needs funding allocation.

4.1 Table 1: Summary of 2017 to 2018 funding allocation

Title	Comments
1.1 Total high needs place funding	This figure is taken from Table 2: High needs breakdown, row 2.7 – place funding.
1.2 Student financial support funding	This figure is taken from Table 3: Student Financial Support Funding, row 3.1 – Discretionary Bursary Fund.
1.3 Total funding allocation	This is the total of the funding recorded in 1.1 and 1.2.

4.2 Table 2: High needs breakdown

Title	Comments
2.1 Total pupil numbers recorded in October 2015 census	Total pre and post-16 pupil headcount.
2.2 Total pupil numbers recorded in January 2016 census	Total pre and post-16 pupil headcount.
2.3 Increase between October 2015 and January 2016	Difference between total pre and post-16 pupil headcount with any reduction negated to zero to ensure no school is funded below its Autumn 2016 census total pupil headcount.
2.4 Total pupil numbers recorded in October 2016 census	Total pre and post-16 pupil headcount by age group.
2.5 Pre- and post-16 pupil number proportions recorded in October 2016 census.	The proportions of pre and post-16 pupils recorded in the October 2016 census data. These proportions are used to calculate the total pre and post-16 numbers in box 2.6.
2.6 Total pupil numbers funded for 2017/18	This is the pre and post-16 pupil numbers funded for 2017/18 calculated by applying the proportions in box 2.5 to the total pupil numbers in box 2.6. The total pupil numbers in box 2.6 are calculated by adding the increase in numbers in box 2.3 to the total pupil numbers recorded in the October 2016 census in box 2.4.
2.7 Place funding	2017 to 2018 total pupil numbers x £10,000 per place to calculate total high needs place funding.

4.3 Table 3: Student financial support funding

Institutions will receive 16 to 19 Bursary Fund allocations for just discretionary bursaries, as in previous years. The funding for vulnerable student bursaries (students in one or more of the defined vulnerable groups) is held centrally by the student bursary support service (SBSS). Institutions should draw down this funding, by submitting a funding claim to SBSS whenever they have identified, and evidenced, students in one of the defined vulnerable groups. This enables institutions to plan their discretionary schemes with much greater confidence, because bursary allocations will not come under pressure to pay unforeseen vulnerable student bursaries later in the year.

For the majority of institutions, the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund allocations for discretionary bursaries in 2016 to 2017 have been calculated based on the number of students in 2009 to 2010 who were in receipt of Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) at £30 per week as a percentage of the 2010 to 2011 allocated student numbers. We have applied this percentage to institutions’ 2017 to 2018 student numbers and multiplied the resultant number by the rate of £298 (based on the overall budget available and number of students to be funded) to give the allocation for the institution. Where an institution had no EMA students in 2009 to 2010 or where the provision was new in 2011 to 2012 or later, allocations have been based on 36% of the institution’s 2017 to 2018 funded student numbers. A minimum allocation amount of £500 has been applied.

Title	Comments
3.1 Discretionary Bursary Fund - 2017/2018 number of funded students	This number of students is based on the 2017 to 2018 post-16 funded student numbers as in box 2.6b.
Percentage applied	The percentage applied is the number of students in 2009 to 2010 in receipt of EMA at £30 per week as a percentage of 2010 to 2011 funded numbers. Where the provision was new in 2011 to 2012 or later, the percentage used is 36% (the national average percentage of students claiming £30 per week in 2009 to 2010). This percentage is multiplied by the 2017 to 2018 student numbers to determine the number of bursary funded students attracting the standard funding rate.
Standard funding rate	This is the unit cost that has been used to calculate the total funding. The rate for 2017 to 2018 is £298.
Funding	The standard funding rate is multiplied by the number of bursary funded students (rounded to the nearest pound). A minimum allocation of £500 has been applied. 2017/2018 student numbers × percentage applied × funding rate.