Guidance

ESERO-UK Call Guidance

Published 14 October 2026

This requirement description sets out the purpose, strategic context, objectives, intended outcomes, mandatory scope, detailed delivery requirements, funding arrangements, application instructions and assessment process for the ESERO-UK grant competition. Applicants should read it alongside the application form, budget template, draft Grant Funding Agreement and published assessment criteria. 

1. Purpose

The UK Space Agency, a part of the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology (BIST), is committed to strengthening the space sector workforce by addressing current workforce challenges and nurturing the future space talent pipeline. The UK Space Agency’s Education and Future Workforce programme (EFW) provides opportunities to engage with space-related educational, enrichment and skills interventions at multiple life stages: across school, college, community, cultural and social settings to build and sustain interest, confidence, knowledge and competence to pursue space careers. 

In collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), the UK Space Agency is seeking a consortium to deliver ESERO-UK: a UK-wide space education and engagement programme that uses space as a context to support learning, develop skills and provide opportunities for young people to explore space science, technology and its applications and pursue careers in the space sector. The UK Space Agency is encouraging a consortium approach  to ensure ESERO-UK brings together the breadth of expertise, networks and delivery capacity needed to provide a coherent UK-wide programme across schools, colleges, cultural, community and social settings. 

Established in 2009, ESERO-UK has built a strong reputation and reach across the space education and engagement landscape. This grant will provide support to build on this foundation by strengthening ESERO-UK as a coherent, accessible and nationally recognised programme for space‑related education and engagement for young people aged 4-19 across schools, colleges, cultural, community and social settings, providing opportunities to engage at multiple touchpoints in their learning journey. The programme should be strongly focused on improving equitable access, particularly for young people who are under-represented in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) and space careers and should deliver clear value for public funding.  

The key dates for this grant call are as follows: 

Description	Date
Grant competition launch	14 October 2026
Market engagement webinar	28 October 2026
Application deadline	11:59 pm UK time, 20 January 2027
Application assessment period (including clarification questions and presentations for short-listed applicants)	January-February 2027
Successful applicant notified	24 February 2027
Grant start date	1 April 2027
Delivery commencement	From 1 April 2027, with full delivery anticipated by September 2027

The UK Space Agency intends to award up to £4.5 million over financial years 2027/28 to 2029/30 to deliver ESERO-UK. ESA also expects to provide up to €750,000, approximately £638,700, over the same period subject to separate contract negotiations between ESA and the successful applicant. The total co-funding envelope available for ESERO-UK is therefore approximately £5,138,700. 

2. Background  

The UK Space Workforce 

As outlined in the Modern Industrial Strategy’s Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan, space is a frontier industry where there is growing demand for space capabilities driven by increasing economic, national security, defence, and geopolitical interests ^{[footnote 1]}. In 2022/23, the UK space sector generated £18.6 billion income, and employed 55,550 people, and continues to grow ^{[footnote 2]}.  

However, the space sector faces issues with skills gaps and recruitment and retention challenges. According to the Space Sector Skills Survey 2023, 52% of space sector businesses report skills gaps in their current workforce, 80% of firms find recruitment difficult and 72% describe roles as difficult or very difficult to fill. These challenges are particularly acute for mid-level and senior level posts, and a quarter of firms identifying staffing skills and capacity as a key constraint to growth^{[footnote 3]}. The sector also lacks diversity: women, people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and Black people are under-represented in the space workforce3,^{[footnote 4]},^{[footnote 5]}. Around 75% of roles in the sector require a STEM background, so the sector must compete with other industries for a limited pool of STEM candidates against a backdrop of long-standing UK STEM skills gaps^{[footnote 6]}.  

The role of education & enrichment activities

A thriving and resilient UK space sector depends on a skilled, innovative and diverse workforce. While workforce challenges cannot be addressed through later-stage skills interventions alone, programmes such as ESERO-UK are an important strategic mechanism to strengthen the future talent pipeline by engaging children and young people early in their educational journey, and challenging stereotypes which limit career choices.  Through inspiring, inclusive and curriculum-linked space activities, ESERO-UK helps young people build science capital, develop confidence in STEM subjects and gain a broader understanding of the wide range of opportunities available across the space sector. By helping more young people to see a place for themselves in STEM and space, the programme supports informed future choices and contributes to creating a larger and more diverse pool of potential talent from which the sector can draw in the years ahead.

Space is also a powerful vehicle to support and enrich young people’s learning, skills, competence and aspirations in both STEM and non-STEM disciplines. This supports wider cross-government aims and initiatives, such as the Government’s Opportunity Mission^{[footnote 7]} and the Department for Education’s Youth Enrichment Framework ^{[footnote 8]}. It is also important to highlight the broad diversity of roles within the space sector, such as project management, law and regulations, with many important roles in both non-STEM and non-technical areas.

The UK Space Agency’s EFW programme as outlined in the UK Space Strategy ^{[footnote 9]} aims to tackle these challenges and has three main objectives:   

• Reduce space sector skills gaps, recruitment issues and retention issues 

• Improve equity, inclusion and diversity in the space workforce 

• Use the context of space to increase science capital, STEM uptake, and improve the perception of the value of space 

These objectives are delivered through three distinct but linked workstreams: Space to Inspire, Space to Learn, and Skills for Space.  

• Space to Inspire aims to engage young people and parents/carers and other influencers of young people in broad informal learning settings (e.g. cultural, community or social settings), particularly focusing on those that are not already interested in space. 

• Space to Learn aims to target engagement with young people in school- and college-based settings, empowering teachers to use space as a learning context, to highlight space careers and provide meaningful, enrichment opportunities for students. 

• Skills for Space targets those who are interested in pursuing a space career and partners with experts across industry, academia and government to address the space sector’s workforce challenges. 

There is no one-size-fits-all method to encourage young people to take up STEM qualifications and consider careers in the space sector. Young people’s interests, confidence and career perceptions are shaped over time and in different settings, thus, empowering them requires a multi-pronged approach that provides repeated, diverse opportunities and multiple touchpoints to engage young people throughout their lives, both in and out of school.  We also know that young people do not all start from the same level playing field. These differences matter because young people’s access to STEM-related experiences, role models and networks can influence their confidence, sense of belonging and perceptions of whether science and space pathways are available to them. Building “science capital” - the extent to which individuals feel STEM is accessible to them based on their knowledge, experiences, and social contacts (e.g. family, friends and others) - increases the likelihood of pursuing STEM careers^{[footnote 10]}. Careful consideration is therefore needed about what works for whom and when, including different interventions at different ages, and for different audiences, from young people, parents, educators, space professionals and the wider public. A coordinated space education and engagement programme, such as ESERO-UK, plays a critical role in providing access to a range of meaningful opportunities to use the context of space to support young people’s learning, encourage the uptake of STEM qualifications and the pursuit of careers in the space sector.  

The UK Space Agency, working in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA), funds the European Space Education Resource Office UK (ESERO‑UK) to provide a coordinated national approach to space education and engagement. The ESERO network is ESA’s primary mechanism for supporting education communities across Europe, providing access to ESA education programmes, resources and competitions. Established in 2009, ESERO‑UK has built strong credibility and trust among educators, delivery partners and international stakeholders. Alongside ESA-mandated activity, ESERO‑UK delivers a UK-focused offer that currently includes teacher professional development, curriculum-linked resources, access to space sector role models, national engagement activity, education quality awards and research placements. ESERO‑UK benefits young people primarily by equipping educators and other intermediaries to deliver high-quality space education and engagement (i.e. young people are the intended beneficiaries, but not usually the primary direct users).

A new era for ESERO-UK 

The UK Space Agency currently supports our EFW objectives through our Space to Learn (schools focused engagement) and Space to Inspire (broader social and cultural engagement) workstreams. This workstream delineation has helped foster specific policy and delivery expertise and has supported a balanced portfolio across young people’s learning journeys. However, there is significant overlap between the audiences, delivery settings and intended outcomes of Inspire and Learn activities. Bringing relevant activity together under ESERO-UK would reduce duplication, improve coherence and make it easier for schools, families, educators, facilitators and employers to identify and access space education and enrichment opportunities. In this grant, the UK Space Agency therefore wants to build on ESERO-UK’s education and engagement strengths by expanding the programme to provide a balanced offer across schools, colleges, cultural, community and social settings, enabling young people to engage with space through multiple touchpoints whenever and wherever they are ready to do so. 

3. Objectives 

The objectives for the ESERO‑UK programme are to:  

1. Support the future space sector skills pipeline by supporting young people aged 4–19 to build interest, confidence, skills/competence and understanding of space, and to make informed choices about relevant subjects, qualifications, skills pathways and careers. 

2. Improve equity, inclusion and diversity in the future space workforce by increasing access to high-quality space education and enrichment opportunities for young people who are underrepresented in STEM and space careers, or who face barriers to participation and progression. 

3. Strengthen the capability and confidence of educators and other influencers to use space as a context for learning, enrichment and careers-related activity, so they can support young people’s learning, aspirations and career choices.

4. Outcomes 

The ESERO-UK programme should contribute to the outcomes listed below: 

 1. ESERO-UK provides a coherent, accessible, inclusive and trusted UK-wide programme through which young people, educators and families can access high-quality space education and enrichment opportunities, combining a clear national offer with delivery that reflects regional, local and community contexts. 

 2. Young people who are under-represented in STEM and space careers, or who face barriers to participation in enrichment activity are able to access meaningful space-related learning and enrichment opportunities. 

 3. Young people develop greater confidence, skills and competence through inclusive, high-quality space-related learning and enrichment, supporting their wider learning and future choices. 

 4. Young people have broader awareness of the range of space-related roles and pathways, including STEM, non-STEM, non-technical, academic and vocational routes, and have more inclusive perceptions of who can participate and succeed in STEM and space. 

 5. Young people have increased understanding of space science, technology and applications, and can recognise the relevance and benefits of space to everyday life, society and the economy. 

 6. Young people have meaningful opportunities to engage with space across multiple touchpoints in school, college, cultural, community and social settings, and are supported to build their interest in space through sustained and progressive engagement opportunities appropriate to their age, stage and prior experience. 

 7. Teachers and educators in formal and informal learning settings can easily navigate and access high-quality space education opportunities and have increased confidence, knowledge and capability to use space as a context for learning, enrichment and careers-related activity. 

 8. Parents, carers, families and other influencers are better able to support young people’s interest, confidence and choices in relation to STEM, space and future pathways. 

 9. Space sector employers and professionals have clearer and more meaningful routes to contribute to education, enrichment and careers-related activity.

Equity and inclusion should be treated as cross-cutting across all outcomes. Applicants should demonstrate not only how they will improve access for under-represented and underserved groups, but how activity will be designed, delivered and evaluated to support inclusive participation, confidence, belonging and progression. 

5. Scope  

The scope below sets out the five mandatory ESERO-UK core activities (see Figure below) that applicants must deliver through the grant: ESERO-UK management; ESERO-UK promotion; teacher and educator training and support; didactic resources and learning activities; competitions and challenges; and inspirational and careers-related engagement. These activities reflect requirements associated with ESERO-UK’s participation in the ESA ESERO network and are also required by the UK Space Agency because they support programme objectives and outcomes set out above.

Applicants should therefore plan to deliver all core activities and use these six core activities as the basis for structuring their proposed work packages, delivery plan and budget. Flexibility is available in how applicants design, phase, integrate and target activity, provided the full scope is delivered and the approach supports the UK Space Agency’s objectives, ESA requirements and agreed performance measures. The UK Space Agency’s cross-cutting delivery principles for equity and inclusion should shape how these activities are designed, targeted, delivered, monitored and improved. 

Figure: ESERO-UK core activities - Diagram showing ESERO-UK management overseeing five areas of activity: ESERO-UK promotion; teacher and educator training and support; didactic resources and learning activities; ESA competitions and challenges; and inspirational and careers-related engagement.

5.1. Mandatory ESERO-UK core activities 

1. ESERO-UK management (Work package 1)

Applicants should demonstrate how they will manage ESERO-UK as a coherent, UK-wide space education and engagement programme, while supporting delivery at regional, local and community level across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. 

This should include: 

• Developing an initial delivery plan for the full grant period, including mobilisation and implementation phases, with proposed milestones, deliverables, resources and dependencies. The detailed delivery plan will be refined and agreed with the UK Space Agency and ESA during mobilisation. 

• Putting in place robust and proportionate governance, decision-making, financial management, risk management, safeguarding, data protection, equality, accessibility and quality assurance arrangements. 

• Reporting regularly to the UK Space Agency and ESA on delivery progress, spend, risks, outputs, outcomes, reach, inclusion and agreed performance indicators. 

• Embedding monitoring, evaluation and learning throughout delivery to understand what is working, for whom, in which settings and why; and using evidence and feedback to improve delivery over time and support future programme design. 

• Establishing appropriate national partnerships and presence in relevant education and engagement networks in order to support and deliver the ESERO objectives nationally. 

• Monitoring educational trends, needs, and curriculum developments and reflecting such evolution in the delivered activities.

2. ESERO-UK promotion (Work package 2)

Applicants must demonstrate how they will build and maintain ESERO-UK as a coherent, visible and trusted UK-wide programme which offers and promotes the value of using space as a context for learning, in STEM and broader subjects where appropriate. 

This should include: 

  - A clear public-facing ESERO-UK offer by maintaining an ESERO-UK website and associated communications channels. 

   - Promoting ESERO-UK opportunities, resources, projects and activities. 

   - Participation in relevant education conferences, events and networks. 

   - Signposting to ESA education opportunities and resources. 

   - Maintaining ESERO visual identity and branding requirements. 

   - Ensuring educators and stakeholders can easily identify and access the ESERO-UK offer. 

3. Teacher and educator training and support (Work package 3)

Applicants should demonstrate how they will provide high-quality professional development and support for teachers and educators across formal, non-formal and informal learning settings (including schools and colleges, cultural, community and social settings). Activity should support educators to use space as a context to support learning primarily in STEM subjects, and broader subjects where appropriate. 

This should include: 

• Delivering continuous professional development (CPD), training and support for teachers and educators. 

• Supporting both pre-service and in-service educators. 

• Linking training to ESA missions, programmes, resources and relevant national space activities. 

• Promoting innovative pedagogical approaches, including enquiry-based, project-based and interdisciplinary learning. 

• Contributing to the ESERO network learning, collaboration and exchange of good practice. 

• Supporting educators to develop confidence in using contemporary science, technology and space examples within learning and careers related activity. 

4. Didactic resources and learning activities (including competitions and challenges) (Work package 4)

Develop, adapt, promote and support access to high-quality space education resources and learning activities which use space as a context to support STEM learning, and broader subjects where appropriate. 

This should include: 

• Curriculum-linked learning resources and teaching materials. 

• Resources suitable for formal, non-formal and informal learning environments. 

• Adaptation and promotion of ESA and wider ESERO network resources where appropriate. 

• Support for hands-on, project-based and interdisciplinary STEM learning. 

• Quality assurance, testing and dissemination of learning resources. 

• Ensuring resources are accessible, sustainable and available at scale. 

• Supporting educators to embed space-related learning within wider STEM provision. 

Facilitate UK participation in ESA education projects and competitions, and national challenges. 

This should include: 

• Coordinating and promoting participation in ESA interdisciplinary projects and competitions including CanSat*, Mission X, Astro Pi, Moon Camp and Climate Detectives. 

• Adapting activity where appropriate to UK educational contexts. 

• Providing educator support, guidance and training associated with participation. 

• Promoting participation and widening access. 

• Supporting participants through mentoring, judging and expert engagement where appropriate. 

• Organising regional or national events where required. 

• *For CanSat, the coordination role includes administering the competition in the UK, including the regional and final CanSat launches and celebration events. 

5. Inspirational and careers-related engagement (Work package 5)

Applicants should demonstrate how ESERO-UK will support the long-term development of a skilled, diverse and resilient future space workforce by providing inspirational and careers-related activity which helps young people understand the opportunities available through STEM and the space sector. 

This should include: 

• Increasing awareness of the breadth of careers and pathways connected to the space sector and supporting progression into space-related learning, training and career pathways. 

• Working with industry, academia and other partners. 

• Delivering inspirational events and high impact/large scale awareness activities. 

• Supporting diversity and inclusion through inspirational and careers activity. 

• Creating opportunities for young people, educators and families to engage with the space sector through employer engagement and role model encounters. 

• Promoting understanding of the societal value and applications of space.

5.2 The UK Space Agency’s cross-cutting delivery principles 

Improving equitable access 

Improving equitable access should be embedded throughout all aspects of ESERO-UK. 

This should include: 

• Identifying and understanding barriers to participation and progression; 

• Reaching underrepresented and underserved groups; 

• Improving geographic reach and accessibility; 

• Designing inclusive activities, resources and communications; 

• Supporting participation by audiences with lower access to STEM enrichment opportunities; and 

• Collecting and analysing participation, reach and inclusion data to inform continuous improvement. 

Improving impact through innovation 

Innovation should be embedded across ESERO-UK to improve reach, quality, accessibility, relevance and impact. Applicants are encouraged to propose fresh, ambitious approaches rather than simply replicating the existing ESERO-UK model. 

Applicants should show how they will build on what works, identify where delivery could be improved or better targeted, and test new or adapted approaches in a proportionate and evidence-informed way. Innovation should be purposeful, deliverable, inclusive, aligned with the UK Space Agency and ESA priorities, and demonstrate clear value for public funding. 

This should include: 

• Where fresh approaches could improve delivery, reach, inclusion, educator support, engagement or impact; 

• How the proposal builds on proven practice while avoiding unnecessary duplication; 

• Specific examples of proposed innovation in delivery, partnerships, communications, resources, data, evaluation or use of technology; 

• How new approaches will be tested, refined, scaled, adapted or stopped; 

• How risk, quality, safeguarding, accessibility and deliverability will be managed; 

• How innovation will support value for money and long-term sustainability; and 

• How learning will be shared with the UK Space Agency, ESA, the consortium and wider ESERO network. 

5.3 Out of scope 

The grant is not intended to fund activity that does not clearly contribute to the ESERO-UK objectives and outcomes or that would duplicate, replace or cut across responsibilities or other established provision without clear added value. The examples below are illustrative rather than exhaustive. ESERO-UK is not expected to:  

• Duplicate or provide a coordinating function across the STEM and space education and engagement landscape beyond the funded ESERO‑UK programme and relevant UK Space Agency/ESA offers. 

• Operate primarily as a directly young-person-facing programme. ESERO-UK should benefit young people primarily by equipping educators and other intermediaries to deliver space education and engagement (i.e. young people are the intended beneficiaries, but not the primary direct users/delivery channel). However, direct engagement with young people is acceptable where it is delivered through, or in support of, educators, partners, settings, competitions, events or enrichment infrastructure. 

• Act as a general STEM programme without a clear space context. 

• Subsidise employer recruitment where the primary benefit is to the employer rather than to young people, educators or the objectives of ESERO-UK. 

• Duplicate statutory curriculum delivery, formal teaching responsibilities, school improvement activity or statutory careers guidance. 

 - Fund activity aimed at post-19 learners, higher education students, graduates, adult learners or the existing space workforce unless it directly supports engagement with young people aged 4-19. 

• Fund commercial product development, income-generating services or proprietary platforms where the primary purpose is commercial gain rather than delivery of the ESERO‑UK objectives and outcomes.

5.4. Expected Scale of Delivery

The UK Space Agency expects the programme to operate at a national scale and deliver significant reach and impact across the UK each year.

As an indication of the scale of activity expected, UK Space Agency is seeking delivery that includes:

• engagement with around 1,000–2,000 educators through professional development activity;

• direct participation by more than 10,000 young people in challenges, competitions and related activities;

• engagement with hundreds of thousands of young people through careers, enrichment and inspiration activity;

• educational resources capable of reaching hundreds of thousands of learners through educator use; and

• mobilisation of a substantial network of space sector volunteers, ambassadors and role models to support delivery.

Applicants must demonstrate how their proposed programme will achieve this expected scale of delivery.

6. Detailed Requirements 

All successful proposals must meet the UK Space Agency’s eligibility criteria for grant funding : Find information on applying for grants from the UK Space Agency. This section sets out the detailed requirements applicants must meet to deliver ESERO-UK.

6.1. Organisational Requirements 

The UK Space Agency is seeking applications from a consortium comprising a lead delivery partner and one or more project partners.  

The lead delivery partner will act as the single accountable body to UK Space Agency and will be responsible for: 

• submitting the application and entering into the Grant Funding Agreement on behalf of the consortium; 

• acting as the principal point of contact for UK Space Agency and ESA and managing communications on behalf of the consortium; 

• translating UK Space Agency and ESA requirements into a coherent delivery plan and coordinating delivery across all work packages and project partners; 

• maintaining effective consortium governance, decision-making, information-sharing and change-control arrangements; 

• overseeing programme performance, milestones, deliverables, risks, finances and use of grant funding; 

• assuring the quality, consistency, accessibility and safeguarding of activity delivered across the consortium; 

• ensuring compliance with the Grant Funding Agreement and applicable legal and regulatory requirements; 

• undertaking appropriate due diligence and oversight of project partners; 

• maintaining a coherent UK-wide ESERO-UK offer; and 

• providing accurate and timely reporting on behalf of the consortium. 

The lead delivery partner will remain accountable to the UK Space Agency for the performance of the consortium, compliance with the Grant Funding Agreement and proper use of grant funding, including where delivery responsibilities or funding are delegated to project partners. 

The application must include: 

• details of all consortium partners, including their organisational background, proposed role, responsibilities and contribution to delivery; 

• a structure diagram showing the roles and relationships between the consortium parties and identifying the legal entity responsible for the grant obligations and liabilities; 

• proposed governance and management arrangements, including decision-making, reporting, information sharing, financial management, risk management and dispute resolution; 

• evidence that the lead delivery partner has the capability, capacity and governance arrangements required to manage a UK-wide, multi-year programme of this scale and complexity; and 

• a letter of support from each project partner confirming its commitment to participate, proposed role and contribution, and authorisation for the lead delivery partner to submit the application and act on its behalf in relation to the grant competition. 

A completed Collaboration Agreement is not required at application stage. However, the successful consortium must have signed Collaboration Agreements between the lead delivery partner and project partners in place within six weeks of entering into the Grant Funding Agreement. As a minimum, these agreements must set out the parties’ roles and responsibilities, governance and decision-making arrangements, financial and reporting responsibilities, arrangements for managing performance, risks, disputes and changes, and the flow-down of applicable Grant Funding Agreement terms and conditions. Applicants are strongly encouraged to begin discussions at an early stage, as unresolved consortium arrangements may delay mobilisation and delivery. 

The lead delivery partner is responsible for agreeing and maintaining suitable Collaboration Agreements with all project partners. UK Space Agency will not review or advise on the preparation of these agreements.

6.2. Financial requirements 

Grant funding is offered on a cost recovery basis only. This means grant funding can only be used to cover the cost of delivering the agreed activity or goal as set out in the project plan. Any surplus funds not spent will be lost to the project unless there are alternative arrangements agreed. 

Applicants cannot receive any funding from other grants or contracts to undertake the same activities. 

Funding cannot be rolled over between financial years without explicit consent from the UK Space Agency. 

All partners must have a separate, project specific accounting code or bank account for project funds to enable a clear audit trail. 

Invoices 

The UK Space Agency will only pay on receipt of evidence of actual costs incurred and therefore we expect invoices may differ from forecasts. Should actual costs incurred be greater than the value of the milestone value, these costs will be borne by the Grant Recipient, unless the additional expenditure has been agreed with the UK Space Agency ahead of the costs being incurred and a Grant Change Note (GCN) has been executed. 

Pay Costs 

Staffing costs for staff working directly on the project must be calculated on a cost recovery basis only and broken down by pay costs and overheads separately. We need to establish the day rate for the role or roles of each person working on the project. In your budget spreadsheet, this should be broken down with one budget line per person (i.e. please do not aggregate staff and claim a single day rate covering all individuals). You can include direct staff in this tab (such as engineers, scientists and project managers) as well as any indirect back-office staff who are identified to be directly supporting the project activities (such as budgeting, project reporting and recruiting). If you are unable to specify personnel at the point of application, the UK Space Agency will accept an average grade based on the band or job family – noting that actual costs claimed subsequently must reflect actual pay of the individuals allocated to the project. 

Pay costs are calculated based on PAYE records. They should include gross salary, employer National Insurance (NI) contributions and employer pension contributions and any non-discretionary package costs. Pay costs must not include: 

• any profit margins 

• commercial charge-out rates 

*allowances for discretionary bonuses and benefits-in-kind 

• business development 

• travel and subsistence (eligible project costs can be claimed outside of pay costs) 

• apprenticeship levy 

• dividends 

• time not spent working directly on the project (for example sick, annual leave, non-productive time or training days and maternity pay) 

• use of blended labour rates inclusive of overheads 

• forecasted pay increases 

• overtime or time off in lieu (TOIL) 

These pay rates will be subject to checks during the pre-award stage to ensure that day rates reflect actual costs. High payroll costs will be challenged and evidence (such as payslips) must be provided to justify the rate is on a cost recovery basis only. Applicants should be aware they may be required to supply employee information in the event of a formal audit or assurance review on costs being claimed for individuals. 

When making grant claims against labour costs, actual costs claimed must be supported with timesheets of those individuals who have worked on the project. 

In the budget breakdown provided, you are asked to provide a pay cost per day. Using actual gross monthly payroll costs, please assume 260 working days in the year, less annual leave and public holiday entitlements. 

Please note that the pay costs submitted in your provided budget breakdown will apply for the full duration of the project and the UK Space Agency will not approve any requests to uplift pay rates, even if actual pay increases during the life of the project. For the avoidance of doubt, if actual pay increases, any increase will be borne by the recipient as an increased match funding contribution and any requests to re-allocate or increase grant funding to increase pay costs will be rejected (unless the specific funding call guidance specifies otherwise). 

Micro companies, sole traders and partnerships not operating a PAYE scheme 

If you do not currently operate a company PAYE scheme and are working directly on the project, you can include your labour as an eligible cost. This should be in line with the Innovate UK rules and is subject to the following conditions: 

• our labour costs must be calculated using a maximum of eight hours per day (up to £22 per hour), up to 40 hours per week 

• your costs must be recorded through the business accounts 

• your project time must be supported by timesheets and project records 

Subcontractors 

You can claim costs relating to work carried out by third-party organisations that are not part of the project team. This work must be essential to the success of your project, involve expertise that does not exist within the project team and involve skills that it is not practical to develop in-house for your project. 

You should name the subcontractor (where known) and describe what the subcontractor will be doing and where the work will be undertaken. Their role and engagement will need to be fully justified within the application. In accordance with the grant funding agreement, subcontractors should be selected through a process which ensures value for money. 

Any work supplied by associated companies should be charged at cost and exclude any profit element. 

Where subcontractors are non-UK based, please justify why you are unable to use a UK alternative. Lead organisations retain responsibility for carrying out due diligence on any subcontractors. 

Where subcontractors have not been appointed at the application stage, the UK Space Agency will expect to sign off on their appointment prior to contracts being signed and will include this as a condition within the grant funding agreement.  

Overheads 

The UK Space Agency offers four options for overhead costs: 

1. No overheads, which can be used if you are not incurring or claiming grant for your overheads. 

2. 20% of labour costs allows you to claim 20% of your labour costs as overhead. This includes both direct and indirect overhead. Selecting this option allows us to review a successful grant application much faster as no further documentation is needed. 

3. Academic institutions can submit overheads as part of their 80% full economic cost, which must be supported by a copy of your most recent approved TRAC methodology or suitable evidence to verify the legitimacy of the overheads request. 

4. The calculate overheads option asks you to complete calculations for claiming direct and indirect overheads. Any value claimed under this method will need to be reviewed by our project finance team if your application is successful, so we can assess the appropriateness of the overhead value being claimed. Please follow guidance in your specific funding call relating to how to submit calculated overheads. 

Full overhead recovery or full absorption costing is not eligible (except for Public Sector Research Establishments, where it is specified in a specific funding call they are eligible to  apply). 

VAT Rules  

Grants are not a payment for a service, they are provided without expectation of any return to the UK Space Agency. Grant funding is therefore outside the scope of VAT so you cannot charge output VAT on top of your submitted costs. 

However, organisations that are not registered for VAT can include VAT incurred within their costs. Academic participants and industry partners can legitimately claim irrecoverable VAT incurred as part of their costs. 

Ineligible expenditure 

Ineligible expenditure includes: 

• payment that supports for lobbying or activity intended to influence or attempt to influence Parliament, Government or political parties, or attempting to influence the awarding or renewal of contracts and grants, or attempting to influence legislative or regulatory action 

• using grant funding to petition for additional funding 

• input VAT reclaimable by the Grant Recipient from HMRC 

• payments for activities of a political or exclusively religious nature  

• goods or services that the Grant Recipient has a statutory duty to provide  

• payments reimbursed or to be reimbursed by other public or private sector grants  

• contributions in kind (i.e. a contribution in goods or services, as opposed to money)  

• depreciation, amortisation or impairment of fixed assets owned by the Grant Recipient 

• the acquisition or improvement of fixed assets by the Grant Recipient (unless the grant is explicitly for capital use – this will be stipulated in the Grant Offer Letter) 

• interest payments (including service charge payments for finance leases) 

• gifts to individuals  

• entertaining (entertaining for this purpose means anything that would be a taxable benefit to the person being entertained, according to current UK tax regulations) 

• statutory fines, criminal fines or penalties; or liabilities incurred before the issue of this funding agreement unless agreed in writing by UK Space Agency 

• employee paid benefits and bonuses 

• costs incurred in the preparation of the independent assurance report where required within the grant funding agreement (for grants above the value of £250,000) 

• alcohol 

Eligible expenditure 

Eligible expenditure includes: 

• personnel costs; researchers, technicians and other supporting staff to the extent employed on the project 

• costs of equipment and instruments, to the extent employed on the project 

• costs of buildings and land, to the extent and for the duration period used for the project 

• costs of conducting research and of external consultancy and contractual research or other knowledge assets, including patents bought or licensed from outside sources 

• travel and subsistence, subject to the requirements set out in section 5.3 below 

• subcontractor costs, as set out in section 5.4 

• workshop or laboratory usage costs (including details of how cost rates have been calculated) 

• training costs, where these are specific to and necessary for the project 

• preparation of technical reports, where these go beyond the level expected for standard project management (for example, a detailed technical report outlining the development towards a key technical milestone rather than a brief summary that documents how much time was spent achieving this) 

• patent filing costs for new intellectual property for small and medium enterprises, who can claim a maximum of £7,500 per SME partner towards the filing costs of new IP (this does not include legal costs relating to the filing of trademarks or related expenditure, which is considered a marketing cost and therefore ineligible) 

• regulatory compliance costs where they can be justified and shown to be necessary to deliver the project 

• any other project operating costs and project overheads; including costs of materials, supplies and similar products, incurred directly as a result of the project 

• costs incurred in the delivery of education and outreach activity 

Travel and Subsistence 

You can claim reasonable travel and subsistence costs for those individuals identified as labour costs. Costs must be necessarily incurred exclusively for the progression of your project. Travel costs must be at economy and best value for money rates. You should provide details and the purpose for the expenditure, including the number of staff involved. 

If for any reason these limits below cannot be adhered to (e.g. to accommodate a reasonable adjustment or medical grounds), you must seek prior written approval from the UK Space Agency. No claims for alcohol will be accepted. The UK Space Agency reserves the right to not settle claims which have breached these guidelines or limits below. All expenditure must be supported by actual, itemised receipts (including screenshots of the relevant rates for international claims). 

Domestic Limits: 

• Accommodation (London): £180 per night 

• Accommodation (UK destinations excepting London): £118 per night 

• Subsistence between 5 and 10 hours away from normal office location: Up to £7 

• Subsistence between 10 and 12 hours away from normal office location: Up to £15 

• Subsistence over 12 hours away from normal office location: Up to £40 

International hotels and subsistence are subject to the rates set out in HMRC’s guidance for employees travelling outside the UK: Expenses rates for employees travelling outside the UK - GOV.UK 

Tolls, Ferry Costs, Parking and congestion charge: Receipted costs for ferries, and tolls bridges and roads unavoidably incurred during your business journey may be claimed. Reasonable parking charges may be claimed. Receipted congestion charges unavoidably incurred on your business journey may be claimed. 

Ineligible travel and subsistence costs include: 

• Purchase of fuel 

• First-class or business class travel (except to accommodate a reasonable adjustment or medical grounds where prior authorisation has been given) 

• Entertainment or marketing 

• Visas 

• Unreasonable food costs above the limits set out 

These lists are not exhaustive. Applicants are advised that all budgets will be scrutinised at submission to ensure costs only include eligible expenditure, and the UK Space Agency may request updated budgets where these are necessary for an application to progress to the next stage. No application will be excluded solely on the basis of ineligible costs being included in an initial submission. 

6.3. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and monitoring 

Final KPIs, metrics and monitoring data will be agreed during mobilisation and formalised in the Grant Funding Agreement. 

Indicative measures may include:

Outcome area	Examples of measures
Programme coherence and delivery assurance	- Delivery milestones clearly articulated and met on time - Timely accurate reporting to the UK Space Agency and ESA - Evidence of effective consortium governance - Stakeholder feedback on visibility, credibility and accessibility
Equity, inclusion and impact	- Number and profile of young people, educators and settings reached - Geographic reach across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - Participation by priority audiences and underserved locations - Proportion of repeat, sustained or progressive engagements
Young people’s learning, confidence and identification of the relevance of space	- Reported changes in young people’s interest, confidence, skills or competence before/after activity
Careers, pathways and perceptions	- Reported changes in awareness of space-related roles and pathways - Reported changes in awareness of STEM, non-STEM, technical, non-technical, academic and vocational routes - Evidence of more inclusive perceptions of who can participate in STEM and space - Feedback on careers-related resources and activities
Educator/influencer capability	- Number of teachers, educators and influencers engaged - CPD participation and completion - Reported educator confidence and capability before/after support - Feedback on use and re-use of ESERO-UK resources - Evidence of educators embedding space-related learning or enrichment in their settings
Employer engagement	- Evidence of meaningful partner/employer contribution

7. Key Dates 

Indicative key dates for the ESERO-UK grant are set out below: 

Description	Date
Grant competition launch	14 October 2026
Market engagement webinar	28 October 2026
Application deadline	11:59 pm UK time, 20 January 2027
Application assessment period (including clarification questions and presentations for short-listed applicants	January-February 2027
Successful applicant notified	24 February 2027
Grant start date	1 April 2027
Delivery commencement	From 1 April 2027, with full delivery anticipated by September 2027
Grant end date	March 2030

To join the market engagement webinar please use this link:   

ESERO-UK grant call webinar Meeting-Join Microsoft Teams

8. Funding available 

UK Space Agency funding 

UK Space Agency Financial year	UK Space Agency funding
2027/28	£1,500,000
2028/29	£1,500,000
2029/30	£1,500,000

ESA funding  

ESA Financial year	ESA funding	Comment
2027 (May/June -December)	€190,000	Total confirmed but slight variations possible
2028 (January – December)	€250,000	Confirmed
2029 (January – December)	€250,000	Confirmed Indicative pending confirmation in CMin2028*
2030 (January – December)	€60,000	Indicative pending confirmation in CMin2028*

*CMin28 refers to ESA’s Council meeting at Ministerial level, expected to take place in 2028, at which ESA Member States will agree funding commitments for the next programme period.

The UK Space Agency intends to award up to £4.5 million over financial years 2027/28 to 2029/30 to deliver ESERO-UK. ESA also expects to provide up to €750,000, approximately £638,700, over the same period, subject to separate contract negotiations with the successful applicant following notification of the UK Space Agency grant award on 24 February. The total co-funding envelope available for ESERO-UK is therefore approximately £5,138,700 from April 2027 to March 2030.   

Applicants should submit proposals for the full UK Space Agency and ESA co-funded envelope, while recognising that UK Space Agency grant funding and ESA funding will be secured through separate processes. It should be noted that ESA contract negotiations may take 2-4 months. Due to ESA’s funding and programme cycles, the initial contractual period with ESA is expected to provide up to €440,000 (to be confirmed) and end in December 2028. ESA anticipates providing the remaining funding through an extension formalised by a Contract Change Note (CCN). To avoid a funding gap while the ESA contract is finalised, UK Space Agency may profile a greater proportion of its grant funding in the first quarter of delivery, subject to agreement through the Grant Funding Agreement. 

The grant may include provision for an extension period, subject to performance, funding availability and strategic requirements. Any such extension would be confirmed through a formal grant change variation to the Grant Funding Agreement. 

8.1. Payment 

Grant funding will be paid to the successful applicant subject to the achievement of agreed milestones and deliverables. Payments will not be made ahead of need and will generally be paid in arrears to the lead applicant. Payments will be made to the lead applicant. 

Payment frequency may include, for example: 

• Quarterly payments linked to delivery and reporting milestones    

• Staged payments aligned to mobilisation, early delivery and ongoing delivery phases 

The detailed payment profile, milestones and evidencing requirements will be agreed during mobilisation and set out in the Grant Funding Agreement. 

Where agreed objectives or milestones are not met, UK Space Agency may defer, reduce or withhold payments in line with the Grant Funding Agreement. 

9. Guidance for Preparing an Application 

9.1. Submission overview 

Only the lead organisation can submit an application. It is the lead organisation’s responsibility to ensure that all required information is complete and accurately submitted before the deadline on 11:59 pm UK time, 20 January 2027. 

Applications will be made using the Government’s Flexigrant portal.  Where a template is specified, this must be used unaltered and submitted. Should any mandatory section be omitted, or a template altered, the proposal will be rejected. 

Questions or clarifications can be directed to ESERO-UKgrantcall@DSIT.gov.uk.The UK Space Agency will not respond to questions asking for applications to be reviewed ahead of the submission deadline or clarification questions directed to any other email address.

Proposals for funding shall include the following items below:

Cover letter 

Applicants must include a cover letter containing: 

• A committing offer to the UK Space Agency. 

• The value of the grant funding requested. 

• A statement of acceptance of the standard UK Space Agency Terms and Conditions (T&Cs). The T&Cs are contained in the draft Grant Funding Agreement available in this call documentation. Material changes to the grant terms will not be considered. 

This mandatory cover letter must be uploaded as an attachment to the Flexigrant portal.

Application Form Part A (mandatory)

Application Form Part A is mandatory and is the main narrative form. Applicants must use to provide a project summary and answer the following application questions: 

• Question 1: How does your proposal align with the strategic goals of this this call, support wider UK government priorities? 

• Question 2: The spending of grant funding should deliver value for money to the UK taxpayer. How are the proposed costs to deliver the ESERO-UK programme necessary and proportionate? 

• Question 3: What will the impact of your proposed ESERO-UK programme be for young people, educators, families/influencers, delivery partners and the wider space education landscape? 

• Question 4: How does your proposal for the ESERO-UK programme and/or constituent projects demonstrate innovation? 

• Question 5: How will you ensure effective delivery of the ESERO-UK programme throughout the full duration of the grant period? 

Application form A is to be completed as a digital form on the Flexigrant portal.

Application Form Part B: Budget Spreadsheet 

Please use the mandatory budget spreadsheet to provide an indication of the costs you expect to incur on the project. These tables will be made available to any external assessors and will be scrutinised by the UK Space Agency to ensure all costs proposed represent eligible expenditure under grant funding terms and conditions. 

Please complete the following:

• Project Information tab: provide the key details of the proposed programme, including the lead organisation, project title, proposed start and end dates, total UK Space Agency grant funding requested and details of the consortium partners included in the budget. 

• Overheads tab: select the overhead option being used by each consortium organisation and provide the information required to calculate the overhead costs included in the application. Overheads must be calculated in accordance with the options and eligibility requirements set out in section 6.2. 

• Related Funding Information tab: please identify the activities and costs proposed for support through the indicative ESA funding. ESA funding is not being awarded through this UK Space Agency grant competition and will be subject to separate contract negotiations with ESA. Inclusion of costs in this tab does not constitute a commitment by ESA or the UK Space Agency to fund them. Applicants must ensure there is no duplication between the UK Space Agency grant budget and the indicative ESA-funded costs. The combined figures should reconcile to the indicative total programme budget described in the ESERO-UK Call (see Section 8 of the Call guidance)

• Work Package breakdown tab: please include a detailed breakdown of each proposed work package and the spend associated with each item. Grant funding is provided on a cost recovery basis and so no profit margins should be included on any item. For travel and subsistence please include as much detail as possible to detail any travel required, costs must always be in line with UK government guidelines (details can be found in the Information on Applying for UK Space Agency grants here.

• Milestone Table tab: grant funding is paid in arrears upon agreement of completed milestone deliverables. Please include details of your proposed milestone deliverables, the work packages these correspond to and how much grant funding is requested. 

• Milestone Details: provide further information for each proposed milestone, including the associated deliverables, completion criteria, evidence that will demonstrate achievement, planned completion date and the work package or work packages to which it relates. 

• Instruments and Equipment tab: please provide details of any instruments or equipment being used for the project, whether these are being purchased specifically for it or have an operational use beyond the end of the project.   

• Risk Register tab: identify the principal risks to mobilisation and delivery of the proposed programme, including their likelihood and impact, planned mitigations, responsible owner and any remaining risk following mitigation. 

• Schedule tab: provide a schedule covering the full grant period, showing the timing and sequencing of the proposed work packages, key activities, milestones and deliverables. The schedule should identify dependencies, mobilisation and implementation phases and the organisations responsible for delivery. A Gantt chart can also be uploaded separately as an attachment to the Flexigrant portal rather than in the Application Form Excel spreadsheet.

• Summary by Work Package: this tab will automatically populate. 

• Summary by Organisation: this tab will automatically populate. 

• Calculated overheads tab: complete this tab only where an organisation is claiming a calculated overhead rate. The tab included in Application Form Part B may be used for one organisation; additional organisations using calculated overheads must complete Application Form Part C and upload it as a separate attachment in the Flexigrant portal. 

  • ESA funding tab: provide a separate breakdown of the delivery activities and costs proposed to be funded through the anticipated ESA contribution. Applicants should show the relevant calendar-year profile and explain how the ESA-funded activity complements the UK Space Agency-funded programme without duplicating costs. ESA funding remains subject to a separate contractual process with ESA.

Application form B is an Excel spreadsheet which is to be uploaded as an attachment to the Flexigrant portal.

Application Form Part C: Calculated overheads template 

Applicants opting to claim overheads on the basis of the UK Space Agency’s 20% of staff cost overhead rates do not need to complete this template.  The additional template is only required for applicants who choose the calculated overhead rates.  

A calculated overheads tab is included in Application form B and can be used for one organisation. If applicants have additional organisations which need to complete the calculated overheads sheet, please use Application Form Part C: Additional Overheads Template which should be uploaded as an attachment in the Flexigrant portal. Instructions for completing this template can be found in Section 11 below.

Curriculum vitae (CV) 

The lead applicant and each project partner are required to submit CVs for the key personnel proposed to undertake or oversee delivery of the programme. CVs will be used to assess whether the consortium has the relevant experience, expertise and capability to deliver its proposed activities and fulfil its respective roles. This is a mandatory requirement.  

CVs must be uploaded as an attachment to Flexigrant portal.

Letters of support 

All project partners must provide a letter of support to confirm their commitment to the project as formal partners this is a mandatory requirement.

Additional letters of support may also be provided from other stakeholders or international space agencies as appropriate. 

Letters of support must be uploaded as an attachment to Flexigrant portal.

Marked UP Grant Funding Agreement 

Where applicants wish to request changes to the Grant Funding Agreement, a marked up version of the Agreement must be uploaded as an attachment to Flexigrant portal.

9.2. Pre-award: For successful applicants only 

Successful project teams will be required to provide information to the UK Space Agency to support due diligence checks before a grant is awarded, in addition to completing the following documents: 

• Partner Assurance Statement for all partners 

• Delivery reporting, Annex 13 of the Grant Funding Agreement        

The UK Space Agency is not able to commit to grant funding until these checks are satisfied. Funding offers at this stage are conditional and may be withdrawn if insurmountable issues become apparent or queries are not resolved in a timely manner. 

9.3. Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)   

The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a tool to support your application is permitted. However, proposals must represent the applicants’ own original ideas and AI should not be used to substantially develop applications.  Applicants are fully responsible for the content of their application and should thoroughly review any AI generated material to ensure it is truthful, accurate, and, where applicable, correctly attributed and cited.  

Where AI tools are used, applicants are required to declare which tool was used and in what capacity. Additional checks will be undertaken as part of the UK Space Agency’s due diligence to ensure that the information provided is accurate.  

If plagiarism is identified (presenting AI-generated content or the ideas and experiences of others as your own) applications may be rejected.  

If substantive or undeclared use of AI is identified post-award, the UK Space Agency may take enforcement actions including but not limited to withholding funds, grant suspension or termination.  

The information you supply to AI tools may be commercially sensitive, and caution should be exercised when sharing organisational data, ensuring that you adhere to your organisation’s policy of AI use at all times.  

There have been cases which suggest that some AI models may act in a manner which is inconsistent with regulations or access files not requested by the user, presenting security risks. Responsibility for actions taken by AI models lies with the user; please bear in mind your duty of care as you proceed, seeking guidance from subject matter experts where needed. 

10. Assessment of Applications

10.1. Assessment criteria and scoring 

Applications must be received from applicants by 23:59(GMT) 20 January 2027. Applications will be assessed by the UK Space Agency with support from the European Space Agency. All assessors are required to sign appropriate confidentiality and conflict of interest agreements. The UK Space Agency will take reasonable steps to ensure that any identified conflict of interest is removed or mitigated as appropriate. 

The decision of the UK Space Agency is final in all cases. There is no course for appeal, but we endeavour to provide feedback on all applications in due course. Incomplete or late applications and altered templates will not be considered. 

A summary of the assessment process is below:  

• Only proposals received by the closing time and date will be considered. 

• Initial eligibility sift of proposals will remove any which do not meet the eligibility criteria. Details of the eligibility criteria can be found in the Information on Applying for UK Space Agency grants here 

• A scored, ranked and moderated list will be generated by the panel 

• The UK Space Agency may invite shortlisted applicants to participate in a presentation and question-and-answer session as part of the assessment process to make final funding decisions. 

• Final decisions will be authorised by the Panel Chair. 

• All applicants will be advised of the outcome and GFA signing will begin. 

• Due diligence will be conducted throughout the call process as set out in the later Due Diligence section. If due diligence results in irreconcilable differences, the grant will not be awarded. 

The assessment criteria are available here 

10.2. Presentation stage 

The purpose of the presentation stage is to allow applicants to elaborate on their proposal, demonstrate their understanding of the requirement, and respond to clarification questions from the assessment panel. Details of the format, duration and assessment criteria will be provided to shortlisted applicants in advance. The UK Space Agency reserves the right to take the outcome of the presentation stage into account when making funding recommendations. 

10.3. Due Diligence 

The UK Space Agency will carry out due diligence on grant applications as required using internal and, where necessary, external subject matter experts. The scope and degree of due diligence will be determined by the value, nature and complexity of your grant. All applications will be subject to basic credit checks such as Creditsafe.  

The lead applicant working with project partners (entities involved in delivery of the project under a flow down or collaboration agreement rather than a subcontractor) will assume all responsibility for partner due diligence       and will be required to submit a Partner Assurance Statement prior to Grant Funding Agreements being signed confirming that appropriate governance, technical oversight and financial management arrangements are in place. 

10.4. Confidentiality 

The procedure for handling and assessing the applications for project funding will be as follows:  

• Application is through Flexigrant and only applications submitted through Flexigrant will be considered. 

• Applications will be treated as Commercial in Confidence. 

• All external assessors will sign conflict of interest and confidentiality forms prior to receiving access to the applications to review proposals. 

• For those applications not recommended by the panel for funding, documentation will be retained by the UK Space Agency for reference in accordance with the UK Space Agency’s Records Management Policy. The proposals will not be visible to any others, and the names of any unsuccessful applicants will not be published. 

• The UK Space Agency is subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000. 

• Summary information about the project selected for funding will be published on the UK Space Agency website. 

• The UK Space Agency will monitor the funded project through project reports and the submission of project deliverables. The Agency requests that any confidential information is clearly marked Commercial in Confidence 

Full details of our privacy notice and how we handle your data is provided here 

11. Calculated Overheads Sheet Instructions 

Details on the four options to claim overheads can be found in the earlier ‘Financial Requirements’ section of the Call Guidance. The instructions laid out here are for applicants who choose the option for calculating custom overhead rates – for academic applicants submitting full economic costing (FEC), please include confirmation of your most recently accepted TRAC methodology or similar to allow the UK Space Agency to validate your overhead costs. 

Organisations opting for the 20% of labour cost overhead rates do not need to complete this template. 

For organisations who choose the calculated overheads option, the spreadsheet has two sections to complete: 

• indirect (administration) overheads 

• direct overheads (for those listed in the labour costs table) 

Once each section is completed, the ‘total overheads spreadsheet’ will calculate your total amount. 

Indirect (administration) overhead 

We class indirect overheads as those costs associated with back-office functions (such as finance, human resources, administration staff) whose primary function is to support the running of a business enterprise. Typically, these costs are not directly related to a particular product or service production.  

Indirect overhead costs are eligible for inclusion if they are incurred directly because of undertaking the project. They must be additional, which means over and above your ‘business as usual’ costs.  

Where you have already identified specific ‘indirect’ individuals working directly on the project, these should have been captured in the staff costs together with the overhead attributed to them.  

We have provided cost categories in the template. The following list provides our definition for each category. 

Board and senior management 

The proportion of salary costs based upon PAYE (gross salary, employer’s NI, company pension contribution, life insurance) of the board and senior management of the company. 

This should be where they are engaged in strategic or administrative tasks. Do not include those working directly on the project or who are customer-facing or operational.  

Administrative staff 

The salary costs based upon PAYE (gross salary, employer’s NI, company pension contribution, life insurance) of main administrative staff, such as receptionists and central administration. Do not include administrative staff employed to support sales, marketing, account management and profit-generating departments.  

Human resources staff 

The salary costs based upon PAYE (gross salary, employer’s NI, company pension contribution, life insurance) of human resource staff.  

Employed estates staff 

The salary costs based upon PAYE (gross salary, employer’s NI, company pension contribution, life insurance) of employed cleaning, maintenance, security and other estates staff.  

Finance department staff 

The salary costs based upon PAYE (gross salary, employer’s NI, company pension contribution, life insurance) of main finance department staff, such as payroll, accounts payable and receivable. Do not include staff employed to support sales, marketing or account management activities.  

Administrative support temporary or agency staff costs 

This should include fees paid for the provision of temporary staff in administration or support services as listed above. Do not include any staff that are operational, such as marketing, sales, engineering, quality assurance, research and development and supply chain.  

General office IT services 

This includes general IT services used across the whole organisation. Do not include IT costs where they relate purely to non-eligible staff or manufacturing, production or fee earning activities.  

General postage 

This includes postage and courier expenses for general administration needs. Do not include product delivery or any postage costs incurred through promotion, sales, marketing customer relationship or accounts management.  

Office supplies, printing and stationery costs 

General office stationery and supplies such as paper, business cards, corporate stationery, office equipment for support or admin staff listed above. Do not include specific costs associated with sales, marketing, product delivery, product literature or reports.  

Security and safety costs 

This includes costs associated with site and staff safety and security, including signage and health and safety costs.  

Building maintenance (administration office facilities only) 

This includes general repair and maintenance costs of administration facilities. Do not include repair and maintenance of manufacturing or production facilities and exceptional items such as new works or extensions, which are not eligible for inclusion in this section.  

Building rental (administration office facilities only) 

Where office space is leased, include the rental costs. Do not include rental costs relating to manufacturing or production facilities, or the cost of any deposits or penalties.  

Contracted site services (administration office facilities only) 

Costs of contracted services relating to administration facilities such as cleaning of offices. Do not include contracted service costs related to manufacturing or production facilities.  

Site property taxes (administration offices facilities only) 

Property taxes and charges relating to office space. Do not include manufacturing or production facility property taxes and charges.  

Utilities (administration office facilities only) 

Electricity, gas, water, waste disposal, telecoms costs relating to administration office facilities.  

The following is a step-by-step guide to help you fill in the relevant details to make your costs claim for indirect overhead.  

Column A 

Starting with your latest set of audited accounts, please input your details against the relevant cost category in column A. If you are a new company or this information is unavailable, please use internal management accounts or forecast data.  

Note that for the administration support staff costs section, the costs included here must be based upon PAYE (gross salary, NI, company pension contribution, life insurance). They should exclude discretionary package costs such as bonuses, awards, profit-related pay and dividends. In addition, please exclude any members working directly on the project who are customer-facing or those engaged in operational or production areas.  

Column B 

In this column you should state the percentage of the spend stated in column A is attributable to core administrative activity (business as usual excluding any other projects as well as this one). 

Column C 

In column C please state what percentage of these costs you would assess as being additional and directly attributable administration activity to the project you are undertaking. By additional we mean over and above business as usual.  

Column D 

Based upon the details you’ve given in the previous columns, column D will automatically calculate the costs you’ve stated as being attributable to this project.  

Column E 

In column E you will need to provide some description of the cost constituent parts.  

Once you have filled in this data you will see a percentage calculation (column F). This calculates what you consider as being eligible indirect overhead costs for your project (D) as a proportion of the annual audited figures (A). To save you time we use this calculated percentage and apply it to the remainder cost categories you have completed.  

Any administration costs that are ineligible in this section, but which directly relate to the project (for example based on invoices), should be claimed as direct costs within other sections of the finance form.  

Completion of the indirect overheads template will calculate an annual total which will be proportioned for the length of time you are working on the project. You will see a per annum, per month and a per project cost. The per project costs will form your total indirect overheads as a monetary value.  

Once you have filled out your indirect overhead information, choose the ‘return to the overheads section’ to take you back to the main overheads section. Here you will see a summary of your indirect overhead.  

Direct overhead 

We understand that in undertaking a project you may incur associated costs with those staff working directly on the project and listed in the staff costs table. We refer to these as direct overheads.  

Typical costs in this area could include:  

• direct staff provision of laptops (non-capital only) 

• desks 

• office (such as occupancy, facilities and utilities) 

• IT infrastructure and systems 

This section is provided in free format for you to list out such costs. 

Direct overhead costs must be directly attributable to the project you are undertaking and should not represent a full recovery methodology inclusive of redundant, spare capacity time or cost.  

You should detail the costs and include a description of each item together with the methodology or the basis of how the costs have been apportioned. This should include the calculations that support the claimable costs. This will help us to validate these costs if your project is successful.  

If your costs have been subject to an independent audit verification, we may ask you to provide this report to support our financial eligibility reviews.  

Please note that costs associated with laboratories or workshops should be included within the ‘other costs’ section of the application form.  

Once you have completed the direct overhead, you should select ‘return to the overhead section’. You will return to the main overhead tab where you will see a summary of your overhead claim for both direct and indirect overheads.

1. Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan, June 2025  ↩

2. Size and Health of the UK Space Industry 2024, August 2025  ↩

3. Space Sector Skills Survey 2023, September 2023  ↩

4. Demographics from the UK space sector, July 2025  ↩

5. The Space Economy: Act Now or Lose Out, November 2025  ↩

6. UK STEM skills pipeline, May 2025  ↩

7. Plan for Change, December 2024  ↩

8. Youth Enrichment Framework, June 2026  ↩

9. UK Space Strategy, September 2026  ↩

10. Archer and others, 2017 ↩