16–19 study programmes

The national funding formula

Core programme funding is student numbers multiplied by the funding rate per student (set by the funding band), the retention factor and programme cost weighting. English and maths funding, disadvantage funding and large programme funding are then added, and the total is multiplied by area cost. High needs funding is separate (see below).

The band a student falls into is driven by their planned hours for the year — the total of qualification hours plus other timetabled, education-related activity.

• Funding = (student numbers × band rate × retention × programme cost weighting + English and maths + disadvantage + large programme funding) × area cost
• Planned hours determine the band, not the number of qualifications
• Condition of funding: students without a GCSE grade 4 in maths and/or English must generally continue to study them, on programmes of 150 hours or more and subject to the exemptions

Funding bands by planned hours

Each student is placed in a national funding band according to their planned hours for the year (qualification hours plus other timetabled, education-related activity). The band sets the national funding rate per student, and the DfE reviews the rate for each band every academic year.

A 16 or 17 year old, or a student aged 18 or over with high needs, with 580 or more planned hours is in Band 5. Students aged 18 and over without high needs are in Band 4a from 485 planned hours. The current national funding rates per band are shown below, resolved live from the official DfE rates document. Band 1 (part-time) is funded per full-time equivalent (rate × planned hours ÷ the FTE basis).

What counts in planned hours (and what doesn't)

Planned hours are the timetabled, planned and organised education hours that lead to a student's qualifications and approved study programme — including qualification hours, exam time and Education, Employment and Progression (EEP) activity that is planned, supervised and delivers a specific educational or developmental benefit.

Some activity is specifically NOT eligible and must be excluded from planned hours. Including it risks an over-claim and clawback on audit.

• NOT fundable: induction sessions and morning registration (routine administrative tasks)
• NOT fundable: homework or independent study/research that is not timetabled
• NOT fundable: voluntary extra-curricular activities or clubs outside the institution's normal working day
• NOT fundable: travel time to and from work experience placements or other off-site activities
• NOT fundable: externally certificated qualifications that are not approved for funding
• NOT fundable: lunch breaks (paragraph 123), and paid employment or work experience where the student receives a wage or a regular allowance to attend (paragraph 112)
• No student's planned hours may be more than 40 hours a week (paragraph 97)
• Resits and retakes are not usually funded, because the activity has already been funded; the exceptions are long-term sickness with medical evidence, significant personal or family circumstances, or a change of career goal. Repeating a year only to improve a grade for higher education is not funded. GCSE maths and English for students who have not yet achieved grade 4 do not count as retakes (paragraphs 88, 89 and 91)
• Fundable: timetabled qualification hours, exam time, and planned/supervised EEP activity with a clear educational benefit
• T Levels: planned hours exclude the industry placement (funded separately) but include EEP and English/maths

When a student finishes early: part of the programme or all of it

Planned hours are set at the start of the programme and are usually only changed in the first 6 weeks (paragraph 98). After that, DfE's 16 to 19 funding rules for 2026 to 2027 (updated 17 June 2026, paragraphs 98 to 101 and 128) treat two situations differently.

Part of the programme finishes early, for example a student passes their maths or English GCSE resit in November. Do not change the planned hours recorded at the start. DfE expects the timetabled hours that have stopped to be replaced with other meaningful activity, such as work experience, volunteering or pastoral support (paragraph 99). Whether that is a compliance requirement depends on the funding band: if the hours that are left would drop the student below the funding band they started in, you must replace them; if the student stays in that band, DfE expects you to consider replacing them but says it is not a compliance requirement (paragraphs 99 and 100, examples below). The planned hours, and so the funding band, stay as recorded at the start: do not adjust, reduce or re-work them for the hours that have stopped. Why: planned hours show what the college set out to deliver, and keeping them without replacing the lost lessons would make the funding higher than the delivery supports (paragraph 99).

The whole programme finishes significantly early. DfE advises reviewing full-time students who complete more than 6 weeks before the planned end date, and shorter part-time students who complete more than 2 weeks early. Where a student completes significantly early, you must reduce the planned hours to match the period they actually attended (paragraph 128).

• Example where replacing the hours is required: a student with 600 planned hours (Band 5, which starts at 580 hours) who passes a November maths resit and loses 60 timetabled hours would drop to 540 hours (Band 4b), so the college must replace those 60 hours with other activity or the student's funding is overstated (paragraph 100).
• Example where replacing the hours is not required: a student with 660 planned hours who passes a November maths resit and loses the same 60 timetabled hours still has 600 hours, above the 580-hour Band 5 minimum, so DfE expects the college to consider replacing the hours to support the student's progress but it is not a compliance requirement (paragraph 100).
• The same applies to any planned activity that stops, for example a summer work placement that is no longer available: replace it with other supported education so the planned hours stay realistic and deliverable (paragraph 98).
• Not the same as a student who leaves: if a student withdraws from their whole programme after the first 6 weeks, do not change the planned hours. Record the withdrawal date as the last day they actually attended; the funding is reduced through the retention factor instead (paragraph 98 and Annex B, question 2).
• Not the same as dropping a course in the first 6 weeks: if a student withdraws from an aim within the first 6 weeks, remove that aim's planned hours from the total, unless leaving out the hours already delivered would make a material difference to the student's funding band (paragraph 131).
• Moving to an apprenticeship at the same institution, or a financially related one: reduce the study programme planned hours to the student's last day of learning on it, even after the first 6 weeks, so the two kinds of funding do not overlap (paragraph 129).

Disadvantage and area cost uplifts

Disadvantage funding Block 1 is for students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds: eligibility is decided by the student's home postcode and the level of deprivation for that area in the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) 2019. Block 1 also pays an amount for each student who is in care or has recently left care. Block 2 supports students without a GCSE grade 4 in maths or English.

An area cost uplift adjusts funding for providers in higher-cost regions, principally London and the South East.

High needs and EHC plans

Students aged 19 to 24 on 31 August 2026 with an EHC plan remain in the 16–19 funding model (funding model 25) rather than moving to adult funding (funding rules 2026 to 2027, paragraph 47). An EHC plan on its own does not make a student high needs: high needs students are those whose additional learning support costs more than £6,000 and who receive top-up funding from their local authority (rates and formula 2026 to 2027, paragraph 179).

For high needs students, element 1 is the core programme funding; element 2 is £6,000 per high needs place, with place numbers determined by local authorities; element 3 is top-up funding paid by the local authority. See the high needs guide for the ILR flags and 2027 to 2028 place changes.