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DfE Update further education: 20 May 2026

Published 20 May 2026

Applies to England

Have Your Say

This is your chance to shape future DfE Updates. Please take a few minutes to complete our survey and share your views. See the feedback article for the link to the survey.

1. Action: Year-end funding claim for adult funding 2025 to 2026

The year-end funding claim window for adult funding opens at 9am on Monday 8 June 2026.

Please submit your adult year-end funding claim by 5pm on Friday 19 June 2026. The claim form will be available on. Thefunding claims user guidewill help you complete the form.

You will need to submit a claim if you receive funds through these contracts:

  • grant funded – adult skills fund
  • grant funded – free courses for jobs offer
  • grant funded – advanced learner loans bursary

We will review claims to ensure they are substantiated by the data submitted in your individualised learner record and present value for money.

Once you have submitted your adult year-end funding claim, you will also be able to view it on(MYESF).

16 to 19 funding is no longer included in the funding claims process. We have removed the requirement to sign the final funding claim in the MYESF .

If you have any queries, please contact us through our.

2. Action: Submit Care to Learn and 16 to 19 Bursary Fund for defined vulnerable groups funding claims

The third submission window is now open for academic year 2025 to 2026.UseourCare to Learn and 16 to 19 Bursary Fund for defined vulnerable groups guidancewhen completing the form.

You mustsubmitnew funding claims usingon or beforeWednesday1 July 2026for the:

You can also use this window tosubmitlate claims for both schemesoradjustpreviousclaims.

Local authoritiesare responsible forsubmittingdefined vulnerable group bursary claims on behalf ofmaintainedspecial schools and for eligible students they place in independent provision.

2.1 Submit end of year data

You mustsubmitend of year data using the same digital form as your funding claims on or beforeWednesday1 July 2026,if you claimed Care to Learn funding in the first or second digital form submission windows. We will recover funding in full if you do not provide this data.

You do not have tosubmitend of year data for 16 to 19 bursaryfundfor defined vulnerable groups.

3. Information: Delayed publication of the subcontracting funding rules for post-16 education and training (excluding apprenticeships)

We have delayed the publication of the subcontracting funding rules for post-16 education and training (excluding apprenticeships) for 1 August 2026 to 31 July 2027 due to a technical issue.

To allow time for completion, we have extended the deadline to submit exemption requests to Tuesday 30 June 2026.

We apologise for any inconvenience this causes. We are working to resolve the issue and will publish the rules as soon as possible.

Read the DfE subcontracting standard guidance for more information.

4. Information: Post-16 National Insurance contributions grant

We have published the conditions of grant and allocations for the Post-16 National Insurance contributions grant for financial year 2026 to 2027.

This funding supports eligible institutions with the increase in employer National Insurance contributions linked to post-16 education.

The guidance explains who is eligible, how we calculated allocations and how we will pay the grant.

If you have questions after reading the guidance, please contact us using our .

5. Information: 2026 to 2027 student financial support scheme guides published

We have recently published the academic year 2026 to 2027 guides for:

The student financial support scheme guides set out the funding rules for the different schemes.

We ask that you review the updated guides and remind yourselves of the funding rules which apply to ensure your processes accurately reflect them.

6. Information: Further education workforce data collection update

We have now published the Further education workforce data collection statistics for the 2024 to 2025 academic year.

If you have any queries about this, please refer to the “Contact us” section of the publication.

The 2025 to 2026 collection will open on Friday 31 July 2026. Providers must submit data on or before Friday 11 September 2026.

We would like to remind you that this is a mandatory statutory return for all providers. As the submission deadline cannot be extended, we encourage you to complete your return as early as possible to avoid any issues.

You can access the updated collection specification at the

We look forward to receiving your data returns. Thank you once again for your continued cooperation and support.

7. Information: Transfer of skills and apprenticeships responsibilities

Following a , responsibility for apprenticeships, adult further education, skills, training and careers and Skills England, moved from DfE to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

As part of the transition arrangements, some responsibilities will remain with DfE. DfE will continue to issue grants, payments and communications on behalf of both departments during this transition period.

Previous references to DfE on your remittance advice will now show DWP. You do not need to take any action. If you need support, contact us through the .

8. Feedback: Tell us about your experience oftheDfE Updatenewsletter

We have launchedafor colleagues in education settings and local authorities who read DfE Update. Your responses will help us understand how you use the newsletter, what you value most and how we can improve the content,formatand focus.

Whether you read DfE Update every week or occasionally, your views will directly inform how we develop the product to better meet your needs.

The DfE Update survey:

  • will close onTuesday 26 May 2026
  • takes around10 minutesto complete
  • keeps all personal dataconfidential

Thank you for taking the time to share your views.

9. Feedback: Help us improve adult funding information

We are improving how adult funding information is presented, specifically calculation information regarding allocation statements for Adult Skills Fund.

We would welcome your feedback on the design currently in development and encourage participation if your role involves accessing and using these documents.

Online feedback sessions will run from Friday 22 to Thursday 28 May 2026. Sessions will take place via Microsoft Teamsand will last up to 60 minutes.

Pleaseto take part. We will then contact you to confirm your session date and time.

Your feedback will help make adult funding information clearer, easier to access and more consistent.