Glossary
Funding rules
The official document setting out what may be funded, for whom, on what conditions and with what evidence, for one stream and funding year.
In full
The funding rules are the contractual basis on which funding is provided. They define eligibility, what can be claimed, the evidence required and the performance management arrangements.
They are published per stream and per funding year, and are reissued during a year from time to time. The version in force at the time of the delivery is the one that applies.
The rules behind this
A funding rule is only ever true for a stated funding year. Carrying an answer from one year into another, without checking, is one of the most common causes of an incorrect claim.
Where this comes up
module
How further education funding actually works
Colleges are not paid a block grant for teaching. They are funded through several separate streams, each with its own rules, and each earned by recording delivery in the ILR.
module
Building a funding map for your college
A funding map sets out every stream a college receives, how each is earned, when it reconciles and what data drives it. It is the fastest way for a finance or leadership newcomer to become useful.
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.
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
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?
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.
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.