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Audio lesson · 11 minutes

16 to 19 funding

Student numbers, band, national rate, retention, programme cost weighting and uplifts. Where each element comes from, and which of them your own data controls.

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Chapters

  1. The formula, element by element
  2. Why this year's recruitment does not change this year's money
  3. English and maths

Transcript

The complete text of the lesson. It is indexable, searchable and readable on its own, so nobody has to listen to get the content.

Introduction

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.

The formula, element by element

Three of those elements are driven directly by your own data. The band comes from planned hours you record. Retention comes from withdrawals you record. Disadvantage comes substantially from home postcodes you record. That is the useful insight for a leader: most of the 16 to 19 formula is not something that happens to the college, it is something the college's own data decides.

Why this year's recruitment does not change this year's money

This is the most consequential thing for a leader new to further education to understand, and it is counter-intuitive coming from almost any other sector. It also means the December return is where next year's income is effectively decided. Everything that makes that return accurate is worth doing, and nothing done later can undo it.

English and maths: the condition of funding

The requirement is about continued study, and it has to be recorded. A student who is studying the subject but whose record does not show it is treated the same as one who is not. Exemptions exist. Which grades qualify, which qualifications count and which exemptions apply are all set out in the funding rules for the year and do change.

Read it instead

16 to 19 funding: how the formula actually works

The written module carries the same content at three depths, with the worked examples, the pitfalls and the sources.

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.

16 to 19 funding 2026 to 2027: rates and formula (opens in a new tab)

GOV.UKOfficial funding document2026–27Awaiting first verification

Advice: funding rules for 16 to 19 provision 2026 to 2027 (opens in a new tab)

GOV.UKOfficial funding document2026–27Awaiting first verification

Funding allocations and data returns information (opens in a new tab)

GOV.UKOfficial funding documentAwaiting first verification

Content reused from GOV.UK is Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence. FEFunding is not endorsed by the Department for Education.