Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the further education funding model on workforce planning.

We use the 16 to 19 funding formula to calculate an allocation of funding to each institution, each academic year for 16-19-year-olds. We calculate the basic funding for institutions using lagged student volumes and funding rates, which depend on the size of their students’ study programmes or T Levels.

The department issues allocations to institutions each spring setting out how much 16 to 19 funding they will receive in the coming academic year, which can help with planning.

The Adult Skills Fund engages adults aged 19 and above and provides the skills and learning they need to equip them for work, an apprenticeship or further learning. The recent move of adult skills to the Department for Work and Pensions provides an opportunity to strengthen the bonds between the Adult Skills Fund and progression into the labour market and will help ensure that the skills and employment systems are more fully aligned.

Further education providers are able to use this funding to support workforce and other costs.