Glossary
Funding band (16 to 19)
The band a 16 to 19 student falls into based on their planned hours, which determines the national funding rate for them.
In full
Bands group students by planned hours for the year. The band determines which national funding rate applies to that student.
Band thresholds and the rates attached to them are set annually in the rates and formula document for the funding year, so always take the figures from that document rather than from memory.
The rules behind this
A 16 to 19 student's funding band is determined by their planned hours for the year, which is the total of planned qualification hours and other planned, timetabled, education-related activity.
Not to be confused with
A 16 to 19 funding band groups students by planned hours. An apprenticeship funding band caps the price that may be funded for a standard. Same word, different systems.
Where this comes up
module
16 to 19 funding: how the formula actually works
Student numbers, band, national rate, retention, programme cost weighting and uplifts. Where each element comes from, and which of them your own data controls.
diagnostic
Planned hours do not match the timetable that is actually delivered
The planned hours recorded for 16 to 19 students do not reconcile to the timetable being delivered, so students may be in the wrong funding band.
module
Apprenticeship funding: price, band, service and evidence
A price negotiated with each employer, capped by the band maximum, paid monthly with a completion element, and dependent on the ILR and the apprenticeship service agreeing.
scenario
An employer agrees a price above the band maximum
A negotiated price sits above the funding band maximum for the standard. Who pays the difference, and what is recorded?
scenario
Hours are planned to reach a band rather than to deliver a programme
A programme is designed with just enough hours to reach a higher funding band. Is that legitimate?
module
What curriculum decisions do to funding
Curriculum teams make funding decisions every week without calling them that. This module connects each decision to the data it creates and the money it moves.
Sources
These are the official documents this page rests on. Where a figure, a deadline or an exact rule matters, the document is the authority and this page is the explanation.
Content reused from GOV.UK is Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence. FEFunding is not endorsed by the Department for Education.