Guidance

16 to 19 funding: information for 2021 to 2022

Details for 16 to 19 funded institutions on how funding will work in academic year 2021 to 2022

This guidance was withdrawn on

Find the latest information in our 16 to 19 funding collection.

Applies to England

Purpose and latest updates

The purpose of this guide is to show the changes we are making for 16 to 19 funding for the academic year 2021 to 2022 and to provide you with the latest updates.

Changes for 2021 to 2022

On the 25 November 2020, the Chancellor announced additional funding of £291m for 16 to 19 education in 2021 to 2022. This is in addition to the £400m that the government provided in 2020 to 2021. This page explains what the announcement means for 16 to 19 funding.

For the 2021 to 2022 allocations, we will be using the index of multiple deprivation (IMD) 2019.

We confirm the approach for 16 to 19 funding in 2021 to 2022 in the following sections. We have also confirmed the funding allocations process for academic year 2021 to 2022.

National funding rate for academic year 2021 to 2022

The national funding rate for full-time 16- and 17-year-olds and students aged 18 and over with high needs will remain at £4,188.

We determine the funding rate for each student by the size of their study programme based on their planned hours.

Other funding rates

We can also confirm the following other rates for 16 to 19 funding in academic year 2021 to 2022:

  • we will base the condition of funding penalty in allocations for 2021 to 2022 on delivery in 2019 to 2020, therefore using the national rates for that year. We will use the increased national funding rate that was introduced in 2020 to 2021 to calculate the penalty for the condition of funding when the allocations are based on the delivery in that year
  • the disadvantage block 2 rate will remain unchanged in 2021 to 2022 at £480 for full-time students and the equivalent part-time rates. The block 1 rate for care leavers is also unchanged at £480
  • the funding rates for 14 to 16 provision in further education continue to be aligned with the 16 to 19 rates. We make funding allocations for 14 to 16 funding each January based on actual in-year delivery

Teachers’ pension scheme employer contribution grant

We can confirm we will fund the teachers’ pension scheme employer contribution grant for the remainder of the 2020 to 2021 academic year and for the full academic year 2021 to 2022.

Specific formula elements

Retention factor

We will calculate 16 to 19 funding allocations for 2021 to 2022 using an average retention factor for each provider. We will calculate this by establishing the 2019 to 2020 and 2020 to 2021 allocated retention factors, which are based on 2017 to 2018 and 2018 to 2019 data, and then combining the factors to create an average retention factor based upon these 2 years. This is intended to provide a retention factor for 2021 to 2022 allocations that is not affected by the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Changes to the indices of multiple deprivation used for 16 to 19 funding calculations

For 16 to 19 funding allocations from academic year 2021 to 2022 onwards we will calculate both disadvantage block 1 and bursary elements 1 and 2 using the updated 2019 IMD data. We have published further details about this change on our 16 to 19 allocations page.

Advanced maths premium

We will continue to fund the advanced maths premium in academic year 2021 to 2022.

High value courses premium

We will continue to fund high value courses premium in academic year 2021 to 2022.

Level 3 maths and English payment

We will continue to fund the level 3 maths and English payment in academic year 2021 to 2022.

Programme cost weightings

The programme cost weightings remain the same for 2021 to 2022. The increased weightings we announced for certain high-cost subject areas in 2020 to 2021 will continue to apply.

Industry placement capacity and delivery fund

We have confirmed that we will continue to fund the industry placements capacity and delivery fund for eligible providers. For 2021 to 2022 we will apply a funding rate of £210 per qualifying student at level 2 and level 3. This is a reduction from the 2020 to 2021 funding rate of £250 per qualifying student. We have published guidance on applying for and delivering industry placements capacity and delivery fund for the 2021 to 2022 academic year.

T Levels

We will continue to fund the higher costs of T Levels associated with the longer programmes, and the additional costs of including industry placements.

Updates to this page

Published 14 January 2021

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