DfE Update further education: 11 March 2026
Published 11 March 2026
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2026
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfe-update-11-march-2026/dfe-update-further-education-11-march-2026
1. Information: 16 to 19 funding for academic year 2026 to 2027
We have published details on how 16 to 19 funding will work for academic year 2026 to 2027 and confirmed the timeline for delivering allocations.
We aim to issue the majority of allocations by the end of March 2026, with the remainder being issued in April. Go to the 16 to 19 education and skills funding collection for links to all our pages.
We are:
- increasing the national funding rate for students aged 16 and 17 and students aged 18 and over with high needs in band 5 to £5,133 and increasing other funding bands proportionately
- including a 5% targeted uplift for T Levels for academic year 2026 to 2027
- providing £165 million for the post-16 National Insurance contributions grant for financial year 2026 to 2027
We are uploading the allocation calculation toolkit files to Document exchange. Your Document exchange user will receive an email alert when your toolkit is available.
Read our 16 to 19 funding: allocation calculation toolkit guides where you will find supporting guidance and example files for academic year 2026 to 2027 to understand how to use them.
If you have any questions after reading our guidance, please contact our customer help centre.
2. Information: Free meals in further education allocations for academic year 2026 to 2027
Your 16 to 19 free meals in further education funding allocation is based on the current meal rate of £2.61 per student as a confirmation that as a minimum the rates will remain the same as in the previous year to support planning. You will see this rate in your 16 to 19 funding allocation statement this year.
As with all programmes, funding is kept under review, and any subsequent updates will be communicated separately in due course.
From September 2026, all households receiving Universal Credit, regardless of income, will be entitled to free school meals.
We will issue clear operational guidance in due course.