Correspondence

DfE Update local authorities: 24 June 2026

Published 24 June 2026

Applies to England

Action: Submit Care to Learn and 16 to 19 Bursary Fund for defined vulnerable groups funding claims

The third submission window is now open for academic year 2025 to 2026. Use our Care to Learn and 16 to 19 Bursary Fund for defined vulnerable groups guidance when completing the form. 

You must submit new funding claims using our form on or before Wednesday 1 July 2026 for the:

• Care to Learn scheme 

• 16 to 19 Bursary Fund for defined vulnerable groups 

You can also use this window to submit late claims for both schemes or adjust previous claims.  

Local authorities are responsible for submitting defined vulnerable group bursary claims on behalf of maintained special schools and for eligible students they place in independent provision. 

Submit end of year data 

If you claimed Care to Learn funding in the first or second submission window, then you must also submit end of year data using the same digital form as your funding claims on or before Wednesday 1 July 2026. We will recover funding in full if you do not provide this data. 

You do not have to submit end of year data for 16 to 19 bursary fund for defined vulnerable groups. 

Information: Pupil premium allocations for 2026 to 2027 financial year – confirmed allocations

We have published the confirmed allocations for pupil premium for 2026 to 2027 financial year. These allocations include pupil referral units and alternative provision academies that complete the January 2026 census.

Quarter 1 payments will be made to local authorities on Tuesday 30 June 2026.

Information: Post-16 school census interactive tool

We’ve updated our post-16 census tool  to support the return of accurate post-16 school census data. Accurate data is essential. Errors in your return could have a negative effect on your funding allocation.

This tool will help you understand how:

• your data is used to calculate your post-16 funding
• common data errors affect your funding

Business managers and staff responsible for the autumn return will find this useful.

We recommend looking at the information on how core aim choice affects retention and programme cost weighting. Previously, we’ve corrected errors to avoid negative effects on funding. We will not do this for autumn 2026 data. We will use this data for 2027 to 2028 allocations.

You will also be able to check how we will use your data in the post-16 funding reports that will be available in COLLECT during the autumn census return.

If you have any questions, use the Customer Help Centre.

Information: Year-end forecast funding claim for funding year 2025 to 2026 – indicative reconciliation statement(s)

Following submission of your year-end forecast funding claim we will upload your indicative year-end reconciliation statement(s) through Manage your education and skills funding in July for the following grant funding streams:

• Adult Skills Fund (adult skills and tailored learning)
• Free Courses for Jobs
• Advanced Learner Loans bursary

These statements are indicative and based on your recent year-end forecast claim and R10 ILR data return, so that you are aware of the indicative reconciliation position before we publish your final reconciliation statements in November 2026.

Where appropriate, we will show any post-16 monitoring errors within your indicative reconciliation statement. This is so you are aware of the potential impact before final claim reconciliation statements.

If you have any queries, contact us through our Customer Help Portal.

Information: Updated subcontracting funding rules for post-16 education and training 2026 to 2027 guidance

We have updated the subcontracting funding rules for post-16 education and training 2026 to 2027 to reflect:

• updates to the academic year dates
• clarity around the 16 to 19 funding stream when applying for whole programme or distance learning exemptions

These updates apply to all providers in scope of the subcontracting funding rules for the 2026 to 2027 funding year. We advise you to read the full guidance for further details and contact your DfE case manager or the Customer Help Centre if you need further support.

Information: 16 to 19 education (non-apprenticeship) market entry guidance

We have updated the 16 to 19 education (non-apprenticeship) market entry guidance to clarify that local authority gap cases will be used for intelligence and to inform strategic planning. This may not lead to immediate approval of new provision, market entry or additional funding.

Information: Early Years Free School Meal expansion grant 

We published details of the Early Years Free School Meals expansion grant on 24 June 2026. The grant supports the expansion of free school meals (FSM) in eligible early years settings from September 2026. Eligible settings include maintained schools, academies, free schools and maintained nursery schools. 

To support local authorities in distributing this funding, we have published: 

• Methodology 

• conditions of grant  

• rates table 

• calculator tool  

We will use pupil part time equivalent (PTE) data from the January 2026 school census for all age groups to calculate allocations, weighted to reflect relative levels of FSM. We will announce local authority allocations in October 2026. However, local authorities can use the published calculator tool to determine their allocation in advance of this.  

Local authorities will receive a single payment in November 2026 to cover the 2026 to 2027 financial year.   

Information: Free training opportunities for school business professionals

We have partnered with the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) to offer free professional development opportunities focused on procurement.

Applications are now open for:

• CIPS–DfE Procurement Foundations Training (pilot)
• CIPS Procurement Fundamentals

The CIPS–DfE Procurement Foundations Training is a new, self-led online course aimed at staff in beginner or junior procurement roles, covering core principles, compliance, and best practice in a practical way. There are 400 places available and applications will close Friday 24 July. Training will start early October.

The CIPS Procurement Fundamentals training is a one-day (six-hour) online course covering essential procurement skills across four sessions:

• introduction
• planning and specification
• tendering
• implementation

It’s designed to be useful even if procurement is only part of your role.

Both opportunities are suitable for school business professionals who are generalists, as well as those new to procurement or working in more junior procurement roles, whether in individual schools, academies, or central trust teams.

Read the Buying for Schools blog to find out more and see how to enrol on either course.

Feedback:  Tell us about your experience of our funding service

If you receive education and skills funding, we want to hear about your experience.

Please complete this 5 to 10 minute survey by Wednesday 22 July 2026.

We aspire to run an excellent education and skills funding service that gives providers as much certainty as possible.

 The survey runs once a year and asks whether we deliver:

• certainty on what we pay you and when
• clarity on how to comply with funding rules
• services that are accessible and easy to use
• answers when you have funding-related queries

We will keep your personal data confidential, and your feedback will help us to improve the service.

Feedback: Help us improve the 16 to 19 business case process

We are improving our 16 to 19 business case process. If you have experience completing or submitting these business cases, we would like to speak with you to learn what works well, and also what challenges you face as education providers.

We will be running a series of online interviews between Wednesday 8 and Tuesday 14 July. Sessions will take place through Microsoft Teams and will last up to 45 minutes.

If you would like to take part, complete our short sign up form and a researcher will be in touch to book a session with you.

Events and webinars: Power Hour – Budget Assumptions

Thursday 9 July 2026, 3pm to 4pm. Register via Eventbrite