16 to 19 funding: programme cost weighting changes
Guidance about programme cost weightings in the 16 to 19 funding formula for sector subject areas from 2023 to 2024 academic year.
Applies to England
Summary
Programme cost weightings (PCWs) are one element of the 16 to 19 funding formula used to calculate 16 to 19 funding allocations. PCWs recognise that some subjects cost more to deliver.
Each academic year, we publish a list of the current PCWs for each sector subject area (SSA) in the funding rates and formula guidance.
2025 to 2026
We have not made any changes for this academic year.
Changes made in 2023 to 2024
July 2023 changes
On 13 July 2023, we announced a further investment of £185 million in 2023 to 2024 financial year and £285 million in 2024 to 2025 financial year to drive forward skills delivery in the further education sector.
One way we delivered the investment was by increasing PCWs for higher-cost subject areas. This funding helped colleges and other 16 to 19 institutions delivering higher-cost programmes to address key priorities as they saw fit. This included tackling recruitment and retention issues in high-value technical, vocational and academic provision which are of critical importance to our economic growth and prosperity. This built on the increases to specific PCWs we announced in January 2023.
We use 7 PCW factors in the 16 to 19 funding formula. We adjusted these 7 PCW factors so that the uplift each provides was 30% higher than before. This increased the funding available to higher cost courses while maintaining the differential between the different PCWs.
We set out the increases to the 7 PCW factors in table 1 and have also reflected these in tables 2 and 3 on this page.
Table 1
| From | To |
|---|---|
| Base (1) | Base (1) |
| Low (1.1) | Low (1.13) |
| Medium (1.2) | Medium (1.26) |
| High (1.3) | High (1.39) |
| Very High (1.4) | Very High (1.52) |
| Exceptionally high (1.5) | Exceptionally high (1.65) |
| Specialist (1.75) | Specialist (1.975) |
The increases to the 7 PCW factors mean higher funding uplifts for students on programmes with their primary activity in those 21 SSAs attracting a low, medium, high, very high, exceptionally high or the specialist PCW factor, and those on A level based study programmes attracting the low PCW factor.
January 2023 changes
We made several changes to the 16 to 19 programme cost weightings following the findings of the DfE survey report into high cost provision. The findings from this report explain why we made these changes.
In academic year 2023 to 2024, we changed how we apply the PCW factors to 10 subject areas. The subject area tier 2 codes and descriptions are:
- 2.1 – Science
- 3.1 – Agriculture
- 3.2 – Horticulture and forestry
- 3.3 – Animal care and veterinary science
- 3.4 – Environmental conservation
- 4.1 – Engineering
- 4.2 – Manufacturing technologies
- 4.3 – Transportation operations and maintenance
- 5.2 – Building and construction
- 6.1 – ICT practitioners
We also changed how we apply PCWs to A level based study programmes and increased the PCW factor applied to the King’s Trust Team Programme.
Engineering and manufacturing, construction and digital subjects
The DfE survey report into high cost provision identified that alongside the typical increased costs incurred for delivering practical subjects that are supported by PCWs, institutions also need to pay more to recruit and retain teachers in certain SSAs. In particular those related to engineering and manufacturing, construction and digital.
We increased the PCW factors for programmes with their primary activity in ‘engineering’, ‘manufacturing technologies’, ‘transportation operations and maintenance’, and ‘building and construction’ and ‘ICT practitioners’ to help institutions with the additional costs of recruiting and retaining teachers in these subject areas.
Table 2
| Sector subject area (SSA) | From (2022 to 2023) | To (2023 to 2024) |
|---|---|---|
| SSA 4.1 – Engineering | Very high (1.4) | Exceptionally high (1.65) |
| SSA 4.2 – Manufacturing technologies | Very high (1.4) | Exceptionally high (1.65) |
| SSA 4.3 – Transportation operations and maintenance | Very high (1.4) | Exceptionally high (1.65) |
| SSA 5.2 – Building and construction | Very high (1.4) | Exceptionally high (1.65) |
| SSA 6.1 – ICT practitioners | Medium (1.2) | High (1.39) |
We identified these subjects as areas where institutions were facing some of the greatest challenges in recruiting and retaining teaching staff. We selected these subjects using evidence from a range of sources:
- Department for Education (DfE) college staff survey (2018)
- DfE survey report on high-cost provision (2022)
- Association of Colleges staff survey report (2022)
- stakeholder engagement in 2022 with institutions across the further education sector about workforce challenges
The evidence also indicated that recruitment and retention is a particular issue for vocational subjects due to the need to attract industry professionals.
We prioritised these SSAs for an increase to the PCW factor based on the evidence as they are vocational subjects and identified as high value provision and areas of high value to the economy by the high value courses premium.
Land-based subjects
Programmes with their primary activity in ‘Agriculture’, ‘Horticulture and forestry’, ‘Animal care and veterinary science’ and ‘Environmental conservation’ attract a specialist weighting when delivered by land-based institutions with specialist resources.
We publish the criteria to identify land-based institutions with specialist resources in the funding rates and formula guidance.
We increased the PCW for land-based programmes, when delivered by institutions without specialist resources, to a very high weighting for programmes with primary activity in all 4 land-based subject areas.
We removed the specialist weighting for ‘Environmental conservation’ as we considered that institutions did not need specialist resources for delivering this subject area. This attracts the very high weighting, no matter which institution delivers the subject.
Table 3
| Sector subject area (SSA) | From (2022 to 2023) | To (2023 to 2024) |
|---|---|---|
| SSA 3.1 – Agriculture | High (1.3)/Specialist (1.75) | Very high (1.52)/Specialist (1.975) |
| SSA 3.2 – Horticulture and forestry | High (1.3)/Specialist (1.75) | Very high (1.52)/Specialist (1.975) |
| SSA 3.3 – Animal care and veterinary science | High (1.3)/Specialist (1.75) | Very high (1.52)/Specialist (1.975) |
| SSA 3.4 – Environmental conservation | High (1.3)/Specialist (1.75) | Very high (1.52) |
Science and A level study programmes
We changed how we apply the programme cost weightings to A level based study programmes. A level based study programmes and other academic programmes do not have a clear core aim to indicate the primary activity of a study programme as they have several similarly sized aims. Most A level based study programmes and other academic programmes consist of 2 or more A levels.
From academic year 2023 to 2024, any A level based study programmes consisting of 2 or more A levels in Design & Technology, Electronics, Computer Science, Physics, Biology and Chemistry will attract a low weighting. We base the list of qualifying A levels on those approved for funding each relevant academic year.
Not all Science A levels count towards attracting the low weighting for A level based study programmes, only Physics, Biology and Chemistry.
We chose to prioritise only certain A level based study programmes that are the most high-cost to deliver. The DfE survey report into high cost provision found these A levels incur increased costs to deliver, and also have evidence to indicate recruitment and retention challenges for the teaching staff needed to deliver them.
We decreased the weighting for those vocational Science programmes with a core aim in Psychology from a low weighting to a base weighting based on the findings of the DfE survey report into high cost provision. All other vocational Science programmes continue to attract a low weighting. We base the list of qualifications affected by this change to vocational Science programmes on those approved for funding each relevant academic year.
Other programmes
We increased the weighting for the King’s Trust Team Programme from medium to high.
Contact us
If you have questions after reading our guidance, or if there’s anything else you need help with, you can find more support in our customer help centre.
Updates to this page
Published 4 November 2019Last updated 5 March 2025 + show all updates
-
There are no changes to programme cost weightings policy for academic year 2025 to 2026.
-
We have updated this page to show all the changes for academic year 2023 to 2024 due to the extra funding announced in July.
-
We have updated programme cost weighting (PCW) information for academic year 2023 to 2024. There is one new PCW for the academic year.
-
We have updated the guidance to reflect changes for 2022 to 2023 including details of further increases to programme cost weighting factors in 5 subject areas.
-
We have extended this guidance to cover academic year 2021 to 2022.
-
First published.