Guidance

DfE funded adult skills fund: funding rates and formula 2025 to 2026

Updated 30 April 2025

Applies to England

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Introduction and purpose of the document

1: This document sets out the principles and features of our funding system for the 2025 to 2026 funding year (1 August to 31 July) for Department for Education (DfE) funded adult skills fund (ASF) delivery. We may make changes to these principles and features during the funding year.

2: This document describes how we calculate ‘formula-funded’ earnings for DfE funded ASF and learning support. We define ‘formula-funded’ activity as that recorded under Funding Model 38 (‘adult skills fund’ for aims started on or after 1 August 2024) or Funding Model 35 (‘adult skills’ for aims started prior to 1 August 2024).

3: All learning aims that started before 1 August 2024 and continue into the year 2025 to 2026 should continue being recorded in the ILR using Funding Model 35 (‘adult skills’). We will continue to use the funding calculation from 2023 to 2024 for these learning aims.

4: This document does not include or describe:

5: To understand how our funding system works, read this document together with the:

Understanding our terminology

6: The term ‘we’ or ‘us’ refers to the Department for Education (DfE).

7: When we refer to ‘you’ or ‘providers’, this includes colleges, higher education institutions, training organisations, local authorities and employers that receive funding from us to deliver education and training.

What’s new in funding rates and formula for 2025 to 2026?

8: All eligible free courses for jobs (FCFJ) learners, irrespective of age or when they started their learning, are now funded through your FCFJ funding lines.

9: The Prince’s Trust programme is now known as the King’s Trust although the qualification titles have not changed. The funding rates for the qualifications and programmes remain the same as in 2024 to 2025.

10: The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) closed on 1 April 2025. All activity has moved to the DfE. Where we previously wrote ESFA adult skills fund, we will now write DfE adult skills fund.

Devolution of the adult skills fund

11: The government agreed a series of devolution deals between central government and local areas in England. Throughout this guidance we refer to these as Strategic Authorities as described in the English Devolution White paper. The Strategic Authorities (SAs) have the responsibility to ensure eligible learners who reside in their area have appropriate education and training.

12: Providers with funding for devolved delivery from a SA will use the ILR again in the 2025 to 2026 funding year. The Source of Funding (SOF) codes identify the SA whose contract is funding these devolved learners.

13: We will provide funding reports for devolved delivery using our funding calculation. The detailed occupancy report will include the appropriate funding line type for the SA using the SOF field from the ILR collection. This report may form the basis on which the SA funds you, which could differ in amount or delivery methodology than that we use. Each SA will use their own systems and processes to pay you.

14: Please refer to the ILR specification and the provider support manual for further details on recording devolved delivery.

The data we use to calculate funding

15: You give us information about learners and their learning using the ILR and the earnings adjustment statement (EAS). Our funding system uses this information to work out the funding you have earned for delivering this learning.

Our funding system features

16: Our funding system has the following four features, which are set out in more detail throughout this document:

  • the funding formula, including uplifts to the rates to account for the extra costs that you may experience when delivering learning to some types of learners and in some locations, or where there are skills shortages.

  • the funding rates for learning aims and work placements.

  • the earnings method, linked to delivery and achievement/completion.

  • support funding where extra help is needed for learners to achieve.

Our funding formula

Calculation

17: The funding formula is below which is unchanged from last year:

Funding = rate x disadvantage uplift x area cost uplift

18: The basis for funding is the rate for the learning aim

19: We adjust the funding formula to allow for geographical differences in the relative cost of delivery and to enable additional support for learners living in more disadvantaged areas. For further information see the disadvantage uplift and area cost uplift sections.

20: In some cases, we expect learners and employers to share responsibility for investing in eligible provision. We expect them to part-fund the cost of learning, known as co-funding. For more information on co-funding, refer to the ‘government contribution charts’ in the funding rules.

Disadvantage uplift

21: The disadvantage uplift provides extra funding to support the most disadvantaged learners, recognising that they are sometimes more costly to recruit and retain. We apply this consistently across DfE ‘formula-funded’ adult skills fund provision.

22: To calculate the disadvantage uplift for new starts from 1 August 2021 we use the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) 2019 which is the latest IMD file available. This results in a funding increase for learners living in the most deprived areas of the country. We base the uplift on the learner’s postcode (based upon the ‘postcode prior to enrolment’ ILR field). If required the uplift factor is between 1.084 and 1.336, otherwise, we default the factor to 1.

23: The method we use to calculate disadvantage factors from the IMD value is as follows:

  • IMD 2019 gives a value of relative deprivation for every lower layer super output area (LSOA) in England
  • we apply the uplift to learners living in the 27% most deprived LSOAs
  • the disadvantage uplift factor for the least deprived LSOA within that 27% is 1.084
  • the disadvantage uplift factor for the most deprived LSOA is 1.336
  • for LSOAs with IMD scores between those two points, we calculate disadvantage factors using a linear relationship within the 27% between the least deprived IMD score (28.324) and the most deprived IMD score (92.735), and their corresponding disadvantage factor values (1.084 and 1.336)
  • for example, an increase of the IMD score value by 6.4411 (one tenth of the range from 27% to the most deprived) would correspond to an increase in disadvantage factor of 0.0252 (one tenth of the difference between 1.084 and 1.336)
  • once we have a disadvantage factor for an LSOA, we apply it to all postcodes within that LSOA, using postcode data published by the Office for National Statistics

24: The disadvantage uplift factor at the start of the learning aim will apply throughout the duration of the learning aim.

25: SAs may wish to set different disadvantage factors to DfE for their adult skills funded delivery each year. For FCFJ we calculate funding using DfE’s disadvantage factors, even when funded by a SA.

26: The disadvantage uplift factors are available at uplift factors and postcode files, this includes the SA factors. For more information about how the SAs set their factors, please contact the relevant SA.

Area cost uplift

27: The area cost uplift reflects the higher cost of delivering training provision in some parts of the country, such as London and the South East. We apply this consistently across DfE’s ‘formula-funded’ adult skills fund provision.

28: If this applies, the uplift factor is between 1.01 and 1.20, otherwise we default the factor to 1. We base the uplift on the ‘delivery location postcode’ recorded in the ILR. As the delivery location of distance and e-learning provision is not set, we default the area uplift factor to 1. Annex 2 contains details of areas where we provide an area cost increase. The area cost uplift factors are available at uplift factors and postcode files.

29: The area cost uplift factor at the start of the learning aim will apply throughout the duration of the learning aim. The area cost factors in annex 2 are unchanged from last year.

Financial contributions

30: If a learner meets the criteria for full funding (refer to the ‘Provision and individuals we fund’ section of the DfE funded adult skills fund: funding rules for more information), you can claim the full rate for the qualification. For co-funded learners, we expect the learner or employer to contribute so we reduce the funding by 50% of the unweighted rate of the learning aim as shown in find a learning aim (FALA).

31: We reduce the funding using the unweighted rate because a learner should not contribute more for the same size of the learning aim just because that learning aim is more costly to deliver. This means that the government will contribute more towards learning aims with higher operational and delivery costs, such as engineering.

Recognition of prior learning

32: If you record data in the ‘funding adjustment for prior learning’ field on the ILR, we change the funding formula to reflect this. However, it does not change the fixed monthly learning support funding.

33: If the learning aim does not use the restart indicator, we reduce the achievement/completion funding, as well as the monthly instalments. This is because we assume the learner has earned some achievement/completion within the prior learning.

34: If the learning aim uses the restart indicator, we reduce the monthly instalments, but the achievement/completion funding stays at 20% of the full funding rate.

Other funding adjustments

35: Where you have agreement with us to adjust DfE funding upwards for other reasons apart from prior learning, you must record it in the ‘other funding adjustment’ field in the ILR. You must not use this ILR field for DfE upward revisions if you do not have an agreement in place with us and we will monitor its use. However, you can use this to reduce funding without our agreement.

36: The ‘other funding adjustment’ factor increases or decreases the funding for that learning, including the achievement/completion funding; however, it does not change learning support funding.

37: If there is also a factor for prior learning recorded, we multiply the ‘funding adjustment for prior learning’ factor by the ‘other funding adjustment’ factor and apply it to the appropriate funding.

Our funding rates

Principles

38: The list of regulated qualifications approved for public funding are on FALA, which we update regularly. For information about what is eligible for public funding, refer to qualifications eligible for public funding.

39: Because rates can change between academic years and during the year (because of policy change or changes to the learning aim), we fund each learning aim at the rate that applies when the learner starts that learning aim. This principle is the same for a new start in the current funding year and a continuing learner from previous years. This rate will apply for the full duration of the learning aim and does not change between funding years.

40: The amount you earn recognises the relative value and costs of delivering provision in different sectors and subjects, and we set the rates using the following criteria:

  • funded guided learning hours (GLH)
  • hourly rates that recognise the relative costs of delivering training in different sectors and subjects and provides a boost for training in those sectors identified as having greatest skills needs. Sector uplifts are based on the Sector Subject Area (SSA) that awarding organisations decide. The Register of Regulated Qualifications and the Quality Assurance Agency websites record the SSAs. Some components of qualifications can have multiple SSAs. Where this happens, we set the SSA.

41: We have some exceptions that do not use the criteria above. In these instances, we set rates for some policy areas and specific learning aims, such as work experience and HGV medical and certificates of competence.

42: We add an uplift to the rate for all learners on FCFJ, more details can be found from paragraph 69.

43: We refer to rates as ‘unweighted’ when calculated using the base rate of £6.00 per hour. Once we have calculated the rate using the appropriate skills funding band, we refer to it as the ‘weighted rate’. After we apply the uplifts, we refer to the ‘aim value’ (as noted in the ‘main occupancy report’). For more information on funding reports, see the funding reports section.

44: All rates shown on FALA are fully funded rates for learners aged 19 and above. We adjust these rates through the funding formula according to our policy (for example, if the government contributes only part of the full rate).

45: All learners funded through the 16 to 19 Funding Model that turned 19 in their second or subsequent funding year of a single programme of study are funded through the 16 to 19 Funding Model.

46: Our rates do not change depending on how you deliver the learning (for example, by delivering it on-line compared to in the classroom). Where rates are based on GLH, the rate is always the funded GLH in FALA, regardless of how many hours you deliver the learning in.

Funding rates

47: We fund each GLH that is assigned to the qualification at an hourly rate, depending on the skills funding band assigned to the SSA of the qualification (see table 1). Each qualification is funded according to the specific GLH and SSA assigned to the qualification. Where a learning aim had a rate set in 2024 to 2025 (or earlier), and is continuing into 2025 to 2026, this rate remains unchanged for 2025 to 2026.

48: SAs are responsible for setting their own funding rates. Where they do so, these rates will form the basis of the funding calculation for provision funded by SAs and will be displayed in FALA.

49: Funding rates for individual qualifications are determined by multiplying the relevant hourly rate for the SSA of the qualification by the number of GLH as assigned by the awarding organisation and recorded on Ofqual’s register of regulated qualifications.

50: We use the GLH assigned by the awarding organisation and as recorded in Ofqual’s register. Where an awarding organisation amends the GLH for a qualification on Ofqual’s register, we may not automatically reflect this change in the associated funding rate. Therefore, there may be a difference between the GLH recorded on Ofqual’s register and the GLH we are using for the funding rate.

51: FALA shows the funded GLH in addition to the Ofqual GLH, so it is clear where there is a difference.

52: The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) regulates Access to Higher Education Diplomas. The GLH for these qualifications is set at 600 hours.

Skills funding bands

53: Each SSA at tier 2 level is assigned to one of the 5 funding bands, as shown in table 1. The funding bands for each SSA tier 2 are set out in annex 1.

54: We set all unweighted rates using the base rate of £6.00 per hour.

Table 1: adult skills funding rates by band

Adult skills funding band Base Low Medium High Specialist
hourly adult skills funding rate £6.00 £7.20 £8.40 £9.60 £12.00

55: Here is an example of how we set rates taking Learning aim reference 60008817 Diploma in Engineering with funded GLH of 360:

  • the unweighted rate is calculated by multiplying the funded GLH of 360 by the base rate of £6.00 – this gives an unweighted funding rate of £2,160.
  • the weighted rate is calculated by multiplying the funded GLH of 360 by £9.60 (which is the hourly adult skills funding rate for high funding band that engineering SSA is in). This gives a weighted funding rate of £3,456.

56: The following policy exceptions remain for these qualifications:

  • English GCSEs are funded within the low funding band, rather than the base funding rate band. This means they get a funding rate of £864 in line with the GLH of 120 and in line with the funding rate for maths GCSE.
  • functional skills in English entry level, level 1 and level 2 receive the current policy rate of £724.
  • functional skills in maths entry level are funded at the policy rate of £941, and level 1 and level 2 at £724.
  • we fund digital functional skills qualifications under a different SSA’s funding band. We treat these as if they are in the digital technology (users) SSA from 2024 to 2025. This means the funding rate for digital functional skills qualifications is £462 (the new hourly skills funding rate for digital technology (users) SSA is £8.40 and GLH for these qualifications is 55 hours).

57: If you offer English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) qualifications, you may need to deliver additional learning to individual learners that incurs additional costs above the qualification rate. Where additional hours are required, you can record these on the ILR using the ‘additional delivery hours’ field, as detailed in the ILR specification and the provider support manual.

58: The key steps for claiming top-up for an ESOL qualification that is planned to be delivered in 100 hours are:

  • identify the funded GLH of the ESOL qualification through FALA. For example, learning aim reference 60140070 Level 2 Award in ESOL Skills for Life (reading) has funded GLH of 60 and a skills funding rate of £360.
  • calculate the additional hours required. This is the 100 planned hours minus the funded GLH value of the ESOL qualification. In this example, the additional hours you need to record in the ILR are 100 minus 60 (40).
  • the funding calculation automatically calculates the additional funding as 40 x £6.00 = £240.
  • the overall rate is then the original rate (£360) plus the top-up amount (£240) which is £600.

Land-based qualifications

59: In adult provision, 3 SSAs include land-based qualifications:

  • agriculture (SSA T2 3.1)
  • horticulture and forestry (SSA T2 3.2)
  • animal care and veterinary science (SSA T2 3.3)

60: Funding for relevant land-based technical qualifications have the specialist funding band applied where all the following are met. If all 3 criteria are not met the provision will not be deemed specialist and will have the high funding band applied:

  • where providers have a ‘specialist status’ as set out in annex C of DfE funding guidance for young people.
  • where the qualifications within the 3 land-based SSAs do not meet any of the exceptions in the next paragraph.
  • where a specialist provider delivers a qualification at their land-based location that met specific and additional criteria within the 3 SSAs.

61: Specialist funding rate will apply to all technical level 2 and 3 qualifications, except for the following:

  • qualifications where employment is a pre-requisite. This is because the training aspects requiring specialist equipment can take place on the employer’s premises. Note that qualifications linked to occupational regulation and/or a certificate of competence are an exception to this and are funded at the specialist funding rate.
  • qualifications within animal care and veterinary science SSA which are solely focussed on domestic animal care.
  • floristry qualifications within horticulture and forestry SSA as they do not require specialist provision.
  • qualifications related to forest schools.
  • qualifications related to garden design and planning.

Work placement for 19 to 24 year olds

62: We identify work placement learning aims through FALA using category code ‘Adult Skills Fund - Work Placement (code 74).

63: The work placement hours referred to in the learning aim title represent the length of the placement. You should choose the learning aim reference with the appropriate hours for the work placement. Each rate is intended to reflect the administration and support costs associated with those hours.

64: The minimum total length of work placement we fund for a single learner is 70 hours.

65: The maximum total length of work placement(s) we fund for a single learner is 240 hours. For more information, please refer to the DfE funded adult skills fund: funding rules.

66: The learning aims for work placement are shown in table 2 below:

Table 2: Adult skills funding rates by band

Learning aim reference Learning aim title Funding rate
Z0030000 Adult Skills Fund – Work Placement 70-80 hours £450
Z0030001 Adult Skills Fund – Work Placement 81-160 hours £724
Z0030002 Adult Skills Fund – Work Placement 161-240 hours £1,265

67: For work placement aims, we do not hold back 20% of the rate for achievement/completion. Instead, we apportion all the funding for the aim as monthly instalments.

68: There are some additional funding eligibility criteria for work placement learning aims which are described in the DfE funded adult skills fund: funding rules.

Level 3 free courses for jobs offer

69: Additional funding is available through free courses for jobs (FCFJ) for adults who meet the eligibility criteria and are studying a level 3 qualification from the list of approved FCFJ qualifications. Eligibility is described in detail in the DfE funded adult skills fund: funding rules. We fund this learning as we fund other ASF delivery, with the following exceptions:

  • learners eligible for this offer are fully funded for their FCFJ learning aim.
  • we increase the weighted rate by £600 for eligible aims in category code 45 (‘National Skills Fund Level 3 Free Courses for Jobs rate 1’) or by £150 for eligible aims in category code 46 (‘National Skills Fund Level 3 Free Courses for Jobs rate 2’).
  • we increase the £150 or £600 by the area cost uplift and/or disadvantage uplift if applicable to that learning aim.

70: You should use the Learning Delivery and Monitoring (LDM) code 378 (Adult Level 3 offer) for all FCFJ aims for both 19 to 23 and 24+ learners. This will ensure you earn funding for the £150 or £600 uplifts.

71: All learners irrespective of age are now funded through your FCFJ funding line. This applies to both new starts in 2025 to 2026 and those who started prior to 1 August 2025.

72: You should only use LDM code 382 when recording learners continuing their learning from funding year 2023 to 2024 who met the low wage eligibility criteria. SAs can also set their own wage threshold (below which adults with an existing Level 3 can access FCFJ). You must not use LDM code 382 for any starts on or after 1 August 2024.

73: SAs have some limited flexibility to use their ASF FCFJ allocation to fund additional qualifications which are not part of the national offer. The SAs are responsible for notifying you about any qualifications where this flexibility applies. For these qualifications however, the funding calculation will not increase the weighted rate by £150 or £600.

King’s Trust team programme (formerly known as the Prince’s Trust)

74: The programme rate is the same as last year at £3,204. This programme rate is the same for both employed and unemployed learners.

75: You will earn the funding rate for the award or certificate in ‘Employment, Teamwork and Community Skills’. The qualifications you can use are in table 3. You must also record the learners on the ILR using the LDM code 331.

Table 3: Qualifications for the programme 2025 to 2026.

Qualification Title Learning Aim Reference
Certificate in Employment, Teamwork and Community Skills 60023995
Certificate in Employment, Teamwork and Community Skills (Entry 3) 60027629
Award in Employment, Teamwork and Community Skills 60032121
Award in Employment, Teamwork and Community Skills 60032868
Award in Employment, Teamwork and Community Skills (Entry 3) 60033344
Certificate in Employment, Teamwork and Community Skills 60027307

76: If the funding rate is lower than the programme rate, you can claim additional funding from the qualification rate up to the value of the programme rate. To claim this additional funding, you must use the EAS adjustment type called ‘The Kings Trust’. We will monitor the amounts being claimed.

77: Table 4 shows the qualification funding rates, the maximum programme rate and the maximum additional funding you can claim where appropriate.

Table 4: The rates for the programme for starts on or after 1 August 2025.

Award Certificate
  Fully-funded Co-funded Fully- funded Co-funded
Funding rate for aim £444 £222 £1,512 £756
Maximum programme cost for all learners £3,204 £1,602 £3,204 £1,602
Maximum additional funding for all learners £2,760 £1,380 £1,692 £846

HGV driver training

78: The level 2 learning aims that prepare learners for the HGV licence are Ofqual regulated qualifications. These are funded in the same way as other regulated learning aims and can be found on FALA with category code 50.

79: The HGV medical and certificates of professional competence (licence) have their own rates that allow eligible learners to be reimbursed for the cost. The HGV medical has category code 51. The certificates of professional competence (licence) have category code 52.

80: The HGV medical and certificates of professional competence do not attract disadvantage or area cost uplifts and we do not hold back funding for achievement /completion.

Our earnings method

Principles

81: The following principles apply to our approach to your earnings:

  • funding is distributed over the duration of the course, starting from the date the learner started.
  • you earn funding for what you deliver, when you deliver it.
  • funding is directly linked to achievement or completion depending on your type of contract and when the learning aim started.
  • for aims funded through a grant contract, and started on or after 1 August 2024, funding is directly linked to the learner completing the learning aim or gaining employment.
  • for aims funded through a grant contract, and started prior to 1 August 2024, funding is directly linked to the learner achieving the learning aim or gaining employment.
  • for all aims funded through a procured contract, funding is directly linked to the learner completing their learning aim and achieving the learning aim (or gaining employment for job outcomes).

Qualifying period for funding

82: If a learner is in learning for at least the qualifying period, we count them as a ‘funding start’. We calculate this from the ILR ‘learning start date’. The different qualifying periods are shown in table 5:

Table 5: The qualifying period for funding

Planned length of the learning aim Qualifying period
168 days or more 42 days
14 to 167 days 14 days
Fewer than 14 days 1 day

83: We treat learners as having qualified until a learning actual end date is recorded, at which point we calculate the actual length of the learning aim.

84: If a learner achieves/completes their learning aim in a shorter period than the qualifying period, then we treat them as having qualified.

85: If a learner generates on-programme earnings for passing a census date, then in a subsequent ILR return you record a learning actual end date (without an achievement/completion outcome) that does not meet the qualifying period, we will recover the funding for that learning aim.

Distribution of funding over time

86: If you are grant-funded, then we will pay you an amount each month based upon the monthly profile in your contract and your allocation value. We then reconcile your funding after the final R14 ILR submission window using your earnings (‘earnings’ are what you have earned through the ILR and EAS submissions you send us). Therefore, for grant-funded providers, your month by month earnings that we calculate will not affect your monthly payments. Rather, it is the overall earnings over the academic year that feed into the reconciliation process.

87: If you are funded through a procured contract, then we will pay you each month in arrears based upon your earnings through your ILR and EAS data. The amount we pay each month may not match your earnings because of capping or because you have an outstanding debt with us.

88: We calculate your earnings each month using the same process and system, regardless of the contract you have with us. We show you these figures through your Funding reports (see the Funding reports section for more information).

89: We base your earnings on monthly instalments plus an achievement/completion element. The achievement/completion element does not apply to HGV medicals, HGV certificates of competence or work placements.

90: We hold back 20% of the weighted rate for each learning aim, which we will only generate when the learner achieves/completes their learning aim. You earn all achievement/completion elements on the learning actual end date recorded on the ILR.

91: We calculate the monthly instalments once we have removed the achievement/completion element (20%). We spread out these instalments over the number of planned months for the learning aim, with a double payment in the first month. The instalment calculation uses the formula ‘n+1’, where ‘n’ is the number of planned months. The formula recognises the upfront costs associated with enrolling a learner on a learning aim.

92: You earn the instalments if the learner is in learning on each census date (the last calendar day of every month). The planned number of months is calculated from the ‘learning start date’ and the ‘learning planned end date’ in the ILR.

93: If the learner leaves early, the monthly instalments stop. However, for eligible learners, we will pay you a job outcome payment which will be half of the achievement/completion element. If the learner then goes on to achieve/complete the learning aim, you will earn the outstanding monthly instalments and the rest of the achievement/completion element. For more information on job outcomes, refer to the DfE funded adult skills fund: funding rules.

94: If a learner leaves before the census date of the first month of learning and the aim has already passed the qualifying period for funding, you will earn the payment relating to this month.

95: Figures 1 and 2 show an example of the earnings method for a learner starting a course in September, with a planned end date in June, and completing/achieving in June. It shows how you earn funding for a course with a total cost of £1,000 over the period of learning: nine monthly on-programme payments (OPP) of £80, plus an additional monthly OPP of £80 in the first month and an achievement/completion payment of £200.

Figure 1: Example of the earnings methodology for aims starting on or after 1 August 2024 and funded from a grant-funded contract

Figure 2: Example of the earnings methodology for all aims funded from a procured contract and aims continuing from 2023 to 2024 funded from a non-procured contract

Recording late data in the ILR

96: If a learner is continuing learning at the final R14 collection at the end of the year, but you record in the subsequent ILR year that they left before 1 August, you may have earned funding that you need to pay back.

97: For example, at R14 in the 2024 to 2025 ILR you record a learner as starting on 1 June 2025, having a planned end date after 31 July 2025 and their completion status is ‘continuing’. In the 2025 to 2026 ILR you record them as having left on 18 July 2025. In this scenario, they will have earned monthly on-programme payments in June and July 2025 from the 2024 to 2025 ILR, therefore the July payment will need to be paid back. You should pay this funding back through the EAS recording a negative figure in the ‘Authorised claims’ adjustment type. You do not need our permission to make negative adjustments/repayments, only positive ones. However, please let us know the details behind the adjustments as described in Financial assurance: monitoring post-16 funding

98: For more information on recording late data in the ILR, please refer to the section: ‘the impact of incomplete information’ in the ILR provider support manual.

Support funding

Learning support

99: You can access this funding through the DfE funded adult skills fund, and you record this against a learner’s learning aim in the ILR.

100: If you are claiming learning support for a learner who is studying an apprenticeship learning aim and a non-apprenticeship learning aim in the same month, we will attribute the funding to the appropriate apprenticeships budget.

101: If you record learning support against a learning aim in the ILR, you will earn a fixed monthly rate of £150. We expect the total you earn from the monthly rate to be enough to cover your costs. If the cost of providing support to a learner exceeds the total earned from the fixed monthly rate, you can claim this excess through the EAS.

102: For learning aims with a planned length of less than one calendar month, we have changed our funding calculation so that, in most cases, you should no longer need to use the EAS to claim the learning support. However, if you see that this funding has not been reflected in your funding reports, and we expect this to be in exceptional cases only, then please claim the learning support through the EAS.

103: If learning support is more than £19,000, you can claim exceptional learning support above £19,000 using the cost form; you do not claim the amount above £19,000 through the EAS. The EAS can only be used for claiming the amount up to £19,000 (subtracting what you may have earned through the ILR). For more information, refer to the DfE funded adult skills fund: funding rules.

Learner support

104: Learner support is available to provide financial support for learners with a specific financial hardship preventing them from taking part, or continuing, in learning.

105: Learner support is not formula-funded so you cannot claim it through the ILR. How you claim learner support depends on the contract type the learner requiring support is funded under:

  • if the learner support relates to learning delivered under a grant-funded contract, you must complete a mid-year funding forecast, a year-end and final funding claim to receive funding for learner support.
  • if the learner support relates to learning delivered under a procured AEB contract, you must claim the support through the EAS.

106: For further information, please see the EAS and funding claims guidance.

Procured DfE funded ASF provision

107: If you have a contract with us from the most recent AEB procurement (for delivery from August 2023), you must use the LDM code 388 (‘Adult Education Budget procurement 2023’) for all learning aims in this contract that started for delivery from 1 August 2023. This LDM code distinguishes between our procured and grant-funded contracts so we can identify which contract will pay for provision. Failure to record this code correctly may result in ILR errors or no payments.

108: Table 6 below shows the LDMs you should use to indicate which contract you wish to use to pay for different types of adult delivery, and when they are valid.

Table 6: LDM codes for recording the contract

Type of Learning All learning aims
ASF non-procured No LDM
AEB procured learning, in the procurement which started delivery from August 2023 LDM 388
Non-procured provision within FCFJ LDM 378
Procured provision within FCFJ, in the procurement which started delivery from August 2023 LDM 378 and 388

Funding reports

109: We will continue to provide funding reports to show you what funding we have calculated for you. These will range from headline funding reports, to detailed reports at learner and learning aim level, like the funding summary reports and occupancy reports we provided last year. We will publish more detailed guidance in the funding reports guidance.

110: You will receive a set of reports when you submit your ILR data that will indicate how much you have earned. There will be two main reports for formula-funded adult skills fund provision that we fund:

  • occupancy report – this report gives the most detailed information at learner and learning aim level
  • funding summary report – this report gives you the aggregated information by month and for each funding line type (subcategories within the budget)

111: All learning aims that started before 1 August 2024 and continue into the year 2025 to 2026 should remain being recorded in the ILR using Funding Model 35 (‘adult skills’). We will continue to use the funding calculation from 2023 to 2024 for these learning aims. We will merge the information from the calculations for Funding Model 35 and Funding Model 38 into a single updated occupancy report, and similarly, the funding summary report will contain information from both calculations. We will publish more detailed guidance in the funding reports guidance.

Annex 1: List of SSAs with adult skills funding bands and hourly rates

1: Health, public services and care

SSA tier 2 SSA tier 2 description Skills funding band Hourly skills funding rate
1.1 Medicine and dentistry Medium £8.40
1.2 Nursing and subjects and vocations allied to medicine Medium £8.40
1.3 Health and social care Medium £8.40
1.4 Public services Low £7.20
1.5 Child development and wellbeing Low £7.20

2: Science and mathematics

SSA tier 2 SSA tier 2 description Skills funding band Hourly skills funding rate
2.1 Science Medium £8.40
2.2 Mathematics and statistics Low £7.20

3: Agriculture, horticulture and animal care

SSA tier 2 SSA tier 2 description Skills funding band Hourly skills funding rate
3.1 Agriculture Specialist/High £12.00/£9.60
3.2 Horticulture and forestry Specialist/High £12.00/£9.60
3.3 Animal care and veterinary science Specialist/High £12.00/£9.60
3.4 Environmental conservation Medium £8.40

4: Engineering and manufacturing technologies

SSA tier 2 SSA tier 2 description Skills funding band Hourly skills funding rate
4.1 Engineering High £9.60
4.2 Manufacturing technologies High £9.60
4.3 Transportation operations and maintenance High £9.60

5: Construction, planning and the built environment

SSA tier 2 SSA tier 2 description Skills funding band Hourly skills funding rate
5.1 Architecture Medium £8.40
5.2 Building and construction High £9.60
5.3 Urban, rural and regional planning Medium £8.40

6: Digital technology

SSA tier 2 SSA tier 2 description Skills funding band Hourly skills funding rate
6.1 Digital technology (practitioners) Medium £8.40
6.2 Digital technology (users) Medium £8.40

7: Retail and commercial enterprise

SSA tier 2 SSA tier 2 description Skills funding band Hourly skills funding rate
7.1 Retailing and wholesaling Low £7.20
7.2 Warehousing and distribution Low £7.20
7.3 Service enterprises Low £7,20
7.4 Hospitality and catering Medium £8,40

8: Leisure, travel and tourism

SSA tier 2 SSA tier 2 description Skills funding band Hourly skills funding rate
8.1 Sport, leisure and recreation Low £7.20
8.2 Travel and tourism Base £6.00

9: Arts, media and publishing

SSA tier 2 SSA tier 2 description Skills funding band Hourly skills funding rate
9.1 Performing arts Low £7.20
9.2 Crafts, creative arts and design Medium £8.40
9.3 Media and communication Low £7.20
9.4 Publishing and information services Low £7.20

10: History, philosophy and theology

SSA tier 2 SSA tier 2 description Skills funding band Hourly skills funding rate
10.1 History Base £6,00
10.2 Archaeology and archaeological sciences Low £7.20
10.3 Philosophy Base £6.00
10.4 Theology and religious studies Base £6.00

11: Social sciences

SSA tier 2 SSA tier 2 description Skills funding band Hourly skills funding rate
11.1 Geography Low £7.20
11.2 Sociology and social policy Base £6.00
11.3 Politics Base £6.00
11.4 Economics Base £6.00
11.5 Anthropology Base £6.00

12: Languages, literature and culture

SSA tier 2 SSA tier 2 description Skills funding band Hourly skills funding rate
12.1 Languages, literature and culture of the British Isles Base £6.00
12.2 Other languages, literature and culture Base £6.00
12.3 Linguistics Base £6.00

13: Education and training

SSA tier 2 SSA tier 2 description Skills funding band Hourly skills funding rate
13.1 Teaching and lecturing Low £7.20
13.2 Direct learning support Low £7.20

14: Preparation for life and work

SSA tier 2 SSA tier 2 description Skills funding band Hourly skills funding rate
14.1 Foundations for learning and life Base £6.00
14.2 Preparation for work Base £6.00

15: Business, administration and law

SSA tier 2 SSA tier 2 description Skills funding band Hourly skills funding rate
15.1 Accounting and finance Low £7.20
15.2 Administration Base £6.00
15.3 Business management Low £7.20
15.4 Marketing and sales Base £6.00
15.5 Law and legal services Base £6.00

Annex 2: Area cost uplifts by region

London A – 1.20

  • Camden
  • City of London
  • Greenwich
  • Islington
  • Kensington and Chelsea
  • Lambeth
  • Southwark
  • Westminster
  • Wandsworth
  • Hackney
  • Tower Hamlets
  • Lewisham
  • Newham
  • Haringey
  • Hammersmith and Fulham

London B – 1.12

  • Barking and Dagenham
  • Bexley
  • Havering
  • Redbridge
  • Barnet
  • Enfield
  • Waltham Forest
  • Bromley
  • Croydon
  • Kingston upon Thames
  • Merton
  • Richmond upon Thames
  • Sutton
  • Brent
  • Ealing
  • Harrow
  • Hounslow
  • Hillingdon

Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire non-fringe – 1.03

  • Central Bedfordshire
  • North Hertfordshire
  • Stevenage
  • Bedford
  • Luton

Berkshire, Surrey and West Sussex fringe – 1.12

  • Bracknell Forest
  • Runnymede
  • Reigate and Banstead
  • Crawley
  • Slough
  • Tandridge
  • Elmbridge
  • Spelthorne
  • Waverley
  • Epsom and Ewell
  • Surrey Heath
  • Windsor and Maidenhead
  • Guildford
  • Woking
  • Mole Valley

Berkshire non-fringe – 1.12

  • Reading
  • Wokingham
  • West Berkshire

Buckinghamshire non-fringe – 1.07

  • Aylesbury Vale
  • Milton Keynes
  • Wycombe

Hampshire and Isle of Wight – 1.02

  • Basingstoke and Deane
  • Hart
  • Rushmoor
  • East Hampshire
  • Havant
  • Southampton
  • Eastleigh
  • Isle of Wight
  • Test Valley
  • Fareham
  • New Forest
  • Winchester
  • Gosport
  • Portsmouth

Cambridgeshire – 1.02

  • Cambridge
  • Huntingdonshire
  • South Cambridgeshire
  • East Cambridgeshire
  • Peterborough
  • Fenland

Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire fringe – 1.10

  • Broxbourne
  • South Buckinghamshire
  • Watford
  • Chiltern
  • St Albans
  • Welwyn Hatfield
  • Dacorum
  • Three Rivers
  • East Hertfordshire
  • Hertsmere

Kent and Essex fringe – 1.06

  • Basildon
  • Harlow
  • Thurrock
  • Brentwood
  • Sevenoaks
  • Dartford
  • Epping Forest

Oxfordshire – 1.07

  • Cherwell
  • Vale of White Horse
  • West Oxfordshire
  • Oxford
  • South Oxfordshire

West Sussex non-fringe – 1.01

  • Adur
  • Arun
  • Worthing
  • Chichester
  • Horsham
  • Mid-Sussex

Annex 3: Recording DfE funded ASF funding – grant-funded provision

The tables below are a simple guide on how each element of funding is claimed and recorded under each of the ILR funding models.

Qualifications, units of qualifications, work placements, HGV medicals and HGV certificates of competence

Funding model 38 – adult skills fund
(starts from 1 August 2024)		 35 – adult skills
(started before 1 August 2024)
Qualification/learning aim Uses adult skills fund rate, if FCFJ adds on the £150/£600 uplift, and holds back 20% for completion* Uses matrix rate (if FCFJ adds on £150/£600 uplift) and holds back 20% for achievement*
Learning support £150 per month for each month required as recorded on ILR £150 per month for each month required as recorded on ILR
Learner support Include in learner support claim Include in learner support claim
Excess learning support Record on EAS Record on EAS
Kings’s Trust additional funding Record on EAS Record on EAS
Authorised claims Record on EAS Record on EAS
Exceptional learning support Claim any funding above the £19,000 on the cost form Claim any funding above the £19,000 on the cost form

* 20% not held back for work placements, HGV medicals or HGV certificates of competence.

Non-regulated learning aims (excluding work placements, HGV medicals and HGV certificates of competence)

Funding model 11 – tailored learning
(starts from 1 August 2024)		 35 – adult skills
(started before 1 August 2024)		 10 – community learning
(started before 1 August 2024)
Qualification/learning aim Include in tailored learning claim Uses matrix rate and holds back 20% for achievement Include in tailored learning claim
Learning support Include in tailored learning claim £150 per month for each month required as recorded on ILR Include in tailored learning claim
Learner support Include in tailored learning claim Include in tailored learning claim Include in tailored learning claim
Excess learning support Include in tailored learning claim Record on EAS Include in tailored learning claim
King’s Trust additional funding Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable
Authorised claims Not applicable Record on EAS Not applicable
Exceptional learning support Not applicable Claim any funding above the £19,000 on the cost form Not applicable

Annex 4: Recording DfE funded ASF funding – procured provision

The tables below are a simple guide on how each element of funding is claimed and recorded under each of the ILR funding models.

Qualifications, units of qualifications, work placements, HGV medicals and HGV certificates of competence

Funding model 38 – adult skills fund
(starts from 1 August 2024)		 35 – adult skills
(started before 1 August 2024)
Qualification/learning aim Uses adult skills fund rate (based on GLH and SSA) if FCFJ adds on the £150/£600 uplift, and holds back 20% for achievement* Uses matrix rate (if FCFJ adds on £150/£600 uplift) and holds back 20% for achievement*
Learning support £150 per month for each month required as recorded on ILR £150 per month for each month required as recorded on ILR
Learner support Record on EAS Record on EAS
Excess learning support Record on EAS Record on EAS
Kings’ Trust additional funding Record on EAS Record on EAS
Authorised claims Record on EAS Record on EAS
Exceptional learning support Claim any funding above the £19,000 on the cost form Claim any funding above the £19,000 on the cost form

* 20% not held back for work placements, HGV medicals or HGV certificates of competence.

Non regulated learning aims (excluding work placements, HGV medicals and HGV certificates of competence)

Funding model 11 – tailored learning
(starts from 1 August 2024)		 35 – adult skills
(started before 1 August 2024)		 10 – community learning
(started before 1 August 2024)
Qualification/learning aim N/A Uses matrix rate and holds back 20% for achievement N/A
Learning support N/A £150 per month for each month required as recorded on ILR N/A
Learner support N/A Record on EAS N/A
Excess learning support N/A Record on EAS N/A
King’s Trust additional funding N/A N/A N/A
Authorised claims N/A Record on EAS N/A
Exceptional learning support N/A Claim any funding above the £19,000 on the cost form N/A
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