Transparency data

16 to 19 funding allocations: 2017 to 2018 academic year

Published 16 October 2017

1. Introduction

This publication covers funding allocations made to 16 to 19 institutions funded by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). We publish the 16 to 19 funding allocations annually and previously published allocations are also available.

We issued explanatory notes and video briefings to help institutions interpret changes to the funding system and allocation statements.

The 2017 to 2018 academic year covers the period from 1 September 2017 to 31 August 2018 for academies; and from 1 August 2017 to 31 July 2018 for all other institutions.

2. Changes in 2017 to 2018

Our letter to the sector of 21 December set out the main policy and funding rates for 2017 to 2018.

3. Main changes

• in previous years, we have calculated disadvantage block 2 funding using matched administrative data with a 3 year lag. From 2017 to 2018 onwards we will be using information collected in the individualised learner record (ILR) enabling us to use data from the same year (2 year lag) as other factors. For 2017 to 2018, we are mitigating the impact on institutions where the block 2 funding as a result of using their data is reduced, by moving half way towards the ILR-driven factor. Where the impact is an increase in funding, we are using the ILR-driven factor
• we included the funding amounts for all 19+ continuing students in 16 to 19 allocation statements for the first time this year. Up to 2016 to 2017, this funding was already included in 16 to 19 allocations for sixth form colleges, schools and academies, but was allocated separately to FE colleges and independent learning providers by the Skills Funding Agency (SFA). Where this provision was formerly funded by the SFA, the relevant amounts have been transferred based on institutions’ individualised learner record (ILR) data for 2016 to 2017 and we show the figures separately in the allocations publication. We will embed this funding into the 16 to 19 funding allocations on a lagged basis in future years and we will not show it separately in this publication in future

4. Changes in 2016 to 2017

• formula protection funding (FPF) was introduced from 2013 to 2014 for institutions subject to significant decreases in funding as a result of the introduction of funding per student in that year. We announced that it will be phased out over the next 6 academic years so the final year in which any FPF will be payable will be 2020 to 2021
• for institutions in receipt of FPF in 2015 to 2016 we said we would recalculate FPF for 2016 to 2017 to take account of funding changes previously announced for that year, specifically the large programme uplift and the increase in the specialist programme cost weight
• the specialist programme cost weight for land based provision delivered by institutions with recognised specialist resources increased from 1.6 to 1.75 as announced in July 2014
• we implemented the large programme uplift which reflects the fact that some study programmes are necessarily much larger than 600 hours. It is only available for high quality study programmes providing students with substantial stretch and challenge
• we map deprivation data from the indices of multiple deprivation (IMD) to each student’s home postcode to determine whether disadvantage funding should be allocated. This year we updated the indices to IMD 2015 from IMD 2010 which have been used previously. IMD 2015 is the latest version of this index, released in September 2015
• we applied the condition of funding for maths and/or English and published the details on how this is applied. Any student that does not have a maths and/or English GCSE at grades A*-C, is not enrolled on either an approved maths and English GCSE or stepping stone in academic year 2014 to 2015, and is not recorded as exempt has an impact on the 2016 to 2017 allocation

4.1 Changes in 2015 to 2016

The main changes in 2015 to 2016 were:

• the cessation of transitional protection funding. Transitional protection funding was introduced in 2011 to 2012 for 4 years and ensured that, following changes in policy, institutions did not lose more than an agreed amount in cash terms per student compared with the 2010 to 2011 baseline. 2014 to 2015 was the final year of transitional protection funding which was represented within the total programme funding column
• changes in how the Residential Student Support scheme is administered meant that in 2015 to 2016 we calculated it as part of an institution’s allocation and so it was included in the published dataset for the first time

4.2 Changes in 2014 to 2015

The main changes in 2014 to 2015 were:

• a change to the funding rate for those aged 18 and over. Further information on this change was set out in a letter to the sector issued in December 2013 and subsequent mitigation measures for 2014 to 2015 only were announced on 13 March 2014
• for special schools and academies, both the programme and high needs funding was combined into a single flat rate of £10,000 per student
  • in the 2013 to 2014 published data, element one (programme funding) appeared within the programme funding column and element 2 (a flat rate of £6,000) appeared in its own column
  • on the 2014 to 2015 and 2015 to 2016 published datasets the single flat rate of £10,000 per student appears within the high needs funding column at special schools and academies
  • for other institutions, high needs funding was shown in the same way as in 2013 to 2014
• allocations made for the new free meals scheme were also included in the 2014 to 2015 dataset

4.3 Changes in 2013 to 2014

Since 2013 to 2014 we have calculated post-16 funding using the published post-16 funding formula based on lagged data.

There are some significant differences between this methodology and that used historically including:

• students following programmes of less than 2 weeks in duration are no longer funded
• high cost additional learner support was replaced with a flat-rate allocation of £6,000 which was topped up based on individual student need by local authorities who have the commissioning and funding responsibility for high needs students
• 2013 to 2014 was the first year in which allocations were made to independent specialist providers and special schools and academies

Due to changes made across academic years, the published allocations data is not directly comparable with similar datasets published in prior years.

The figures published are intended to give a picture of the annual allocations to institutions, and may differ from the monthly amounts shown in an institution’s individual funding agreement, particularly in relation to the conversion of schools to academy status. For example, if a school converted to become an academy in September, two thirds of their bursary fund allocation will already have been paid via the local authority in August, and the remaining third will be paid to the academy in April. In these published figures, to give a true picture of the overall bursary payments, the full annual bursary allocation is shown against the academy. For definitive figures on monthly payments institutions should refer to the amounts in their annual funding agreement rather than those shown in this publication.

5. Scope of the published data

The publication provides 16 to 19 allocations data for institutions that are funded by the ESFA for 2017 to 2018.

Education funded by the ESFA through the published 16 to 19 funding formula and high needs post-16 place funding is included. The data does not therefore include funding allocated for non-mainstream activity such as youth contract, or funding for provision not funded by the ESFA.

The 16 to 19 funding formula includes funding for education for students up to the age of 19, or up to the age of 25 for those young people who have been issued an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan by their local authority. We report students aged 19 to 25 with an EHC plan alongside other students funded through the 16 to 19 budget.

Further information is available on the high needs funding arrangements for 2017 to 2018, including the definitions of a high needs student.

Students aged 19 who are completing a programme which they began aged 16 to 18 (19+ continuing learners) are also included in the data. As indicated above, some of this provision was funded by the Skills Funding Agency up to 2016 to 2017 so was not included in the equivalent publications to this in previous years. In those cases the amount of funding for 19+ continuing students is shown separately in the tables.

We publish separately the funding allocation data for students aged 16 to 18 on apprenticeships and most students who are aged 19 or over (other than as stated above). The Department for Education also publishes national participation figures for young people aged 16 to 18 annually, as well as a quarterly release of NEET (not in education, employment or training) figures based on results from the labour force survey (LFS).

The data shows the full academic year allocation as at September 2017. The institution category reflected in the published data is correct as at September 2017. Schools that converted to academies in September will therefore be shown as an academy. Other published allocations such as pre-16 academies show the institution category as it was at the end of the last financial year. Further information on post-16 funding is available in the funding guidance.

6. The 16 to 19 Bursary Fund

The 16 to 19 Bursary Fund was introduced in 2011 to 2012. It is money the government has given to local authorities, schools, colleges and other education and training providers (institutions) to give to disadvantaged students. Its purpose is to provide financial support to help students overcome specific barriers to participation, so they can remain in education. Institutions are given allocations for discretionary bursaries and draw down funds for vulnerable bursaries from us via the Student Bursary Support Service). Further information on the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund is available in the scheme guide.

7. Free meals in further education

In 2014 to 2015 academic year, additional funding for free meals for 16 to 19 students attending further education funded institutions was introduced to provide parity with those young people attending school sixth forms. Prior to 2014 to 2015, institutions had been supporting the cost of meals for students who needed them on a discretionary basis from the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund. We adjust discretionary bursary allocations to take account of this double funding.

In 2016 to 2017, we removed the ring fence between the discretionary bursary allocation and the free meals in further education allocation. This flexibility in use of the funds remains in place.

Free meals in further education funding allocations, for most institutions, are based on lagged numbers, so 2017 to 2018 allocations are based on 2015 to 2016 full year data and the institution’s funded student number for 2017 to 2018. We use the number of students assessed as eligible for, and in receipt of, free meals in 2015 to 2016 as a percentage of the total number of students aged 16 to 19 reported in that academic year’s full year data. This establishes the number of students we might reasonably expect to be eligible for free meals support.

Fundable free meals students are apportioned across the funding bands, using the same methodology as for mainstream allocations. Two funding rates are applied, 1 for full-time students and 1 for part-time students, equivalent to £2.41 per student per meal.

Further information about free meals is available in the scheme guide.

8. Residential Bursary Fund

The Residential Bursary Fund (RBF) provides financial help towards the costs of accommodation for students attending one of the designated institutions delivering specialist provision. This is provision that students need to be resident to participate in because it is not available locally and/or because it needs students to be available at unsociable hours on a regular basis. RBF enables young people to gain a substantial qualification in a specialist subject that they would not be able to get at a non-specialist institution.

RBF provides a contribution towards residential costs. Institutions are guided to target the funding at students they assess face the most significant financial barriers to participation.

RBF allocations for 2017 to 2018 are generated based on either the average actual RBF spend over the 3 previous years; or the amount of RBF allocated in 2016 to 2017.

Further information is available in the scheme guide.

9. Residential Student Support allocations

The Residential Support Scheme (RSS) is designed for the exceptional situations where the substantial Level 2 or Level 3 qualification the student needs to pursue to achieve their desired career or higher education goal cannot be accessed locally to their home. Students supported by RSS are primarily those that live rurally and have limited access to a wide range of 16 to 18 further education provision.

RSS allocations are generated using information on eligible student numbers submitted by institutions. The methodology takes account of the number of eligible students who received RSS support in the previous year and who are expected to return in 2017 to 2018, with additional funding added to enable institutions to support eligible new students in the academic year.

More information is available in the scheme guide.

10. Dance and Drama Awards

The Dance and Drama Awards (DaDA) scheme offers income assessed support for tuition fees and living costs at a number of high quality private dance and drama institutions in England. DaDA funding is intended to provide a contribution to the costs of participating for talented individuals who want to become professional actors and dancers.

We calculate allocations based on historical trends in take up by income bands, using management information returned by institutions.

More information is available in the scheme guide.

11. Further information

We have published further information about the remit of the ESFA for our customers. If you have a query about the data or this publication, please contact us.