£470m Government funding Boost for Further Education colleges

As part of the wider review into public sector pay, DfE have announced £470 million of additional funding for further education colleges, recognising their crucial role in driving growth in key sectors and helping them to recruit and retain teachers with specialist skills.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has written a letter to college leaders.

[To College Principals]

I am delighted to announce we will be investing £185 million in 2023-24 and £285 million in 2024-25 to drive forward skills delivery in the further education sector and power economic growth.

This funding will help FE colleges, sixth form colleges, and other FE providers to address key priorities and challenges as they see fit, including the recruitment and retention of staff. It will enable our colleges and other FE providers to continue to deliver high value technical, vocational and academic provision.  

This additional investment will be delivered via core 16 to 19 funding, including through boosting programme cost weightings for higher-cost subject areas as well as increasing the per-student funding rate.

This investment is additional to the £125 million we have already announced we will make available in financial year 2023-24 to boost the national 16 to 19 funding rate and subject-specific funding.   

We expect to revise allocations over the summer for the 2023/24 academic year and updated payments to start in the autumn. We will provide further updates in due course.

I am grateful for the vital role that FE Colleges, Sixth Form Colleges, and your teachers and support staff play in delivering world class education and the critical skills learners need to progress to good jobs or continue their journey in education. 

Yours,

The Right Honourable Gillian Keegan MP