Correspondence

DfE Update further education: 4 February 2026

Published 4 February 2026

Applies to England

1. Action: Care to Learn and 16 to 19 Bursary Fund, defined vulnerable groups element, funding claim form

Funding claim forms for Care to Learn scheme and the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund defined vulnerable groups element are now live. You must submit your claim by 5pm on Wednesday 11 February 2026.

You can use this window to send any new funding claims that you did not make in the first claim window. You cannot change claims you have already submitted.

Adjustments can only be made in the third window later in the year.

The only exception is when we contacted you about a first window claim and agreed that you can resubmit it in this window.

We will not accept late claims. Any claims that miss the closing date must be submitted in the final window.

Guidance to help you complete your submission is available and includes a link to the form.

2. Action: Submit your mid-year funding claim for adult funding for 2025 to 2026

The mid-year funding claim window for adult funding will open at 9am on Monday 9 February 2026.

16 to 19 funding is no longer included in the funding claims process as we have removed the requirement to sign the final funding claim in the Manage your education and skills funding service.

Submit your adult mid-year funding claim by 5pm on Friday 20 February 2026. The claim form will be available on submit learner data. The funding claims user guide is available to help you complete the form. 

You will need to submit a claim if you receive funds through these contracts:  

• grant funded - adult skills fund (ASF)
• grant funded - free courses for jobs offer (FCFJ)
• grant funded - advanced learner loans bursary (ALLB)

We will review claims to ensure they are substantiated by the data you have submitted in your individual learning record (ILR) and present value for money.

Once you have submitted your adult mid-year funding claim on submit learner data, you will also be able to view it on Manage your education and skills funding.

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

3. Action: Return your number of further education (FE) teachers as part of the snapshot data collection

The snapshot data collection opened on Monday 2 February and will close on Monday 16 February. Returns are submitted through the submit learner data (SLD) service.

Providers should return their total full-time equivalent (FTE) figure for teaching staff on permanent or fixed-term contracts employed by them on the third Monday in January. This number will be collected for the 2023 to 2024, 2024 to 2025 and the 2025 to 2026 academic years.

This collection is for FE colleges and sixth form colleges, including former sixth form colleges who have converted to academies (providers in scope were contacted on 22nd January 2026). Full guidance on how to make the return is detailed on the collection screens on the SLD Service.

By completing the collection, this will allow us to monitor and identify changes in teacher numbers closer to real-time, informing policy development and funding decisions at an earlier stage.

If you have queries about this collection, contact the Customer Help Portal.

4. Information: Apprenticeship non-levy procured allocations from 3 February 2026

This week we will be extending apprenticeship non-levy procured contracts to cover financial year 2026 to 2027.

These allocations will include funding to cover the carry in cost of learners who started on or before 31 March 2021.

From 1 April 2021, all new apprenticeship starts are funded through the apprenticeship service.

Allocations will be issued in a digital format on Manage your education and skills funding.

You need one of the following roles to view your allocation statement:

• contract authoriser
• contract manager
• contract user
• data returns and claims authoriser

We aim to upload contract extensions to manage your education and skills funding by early March. Training providers must ensure they have signed the contract extension before the current contract expires on 31 March 2026.

Business case requests

Section 5 in our allocation technical guidance 2026 to 2027 explains when and how to raise a business case using the digital form.

If you have questions after reading our guidance, or if there is anything else you need help with, you can find more support in get help with DfE services.

5. Information: Access free support through Internships Work

There are only a few months left to access free support through Internships Work, the fully funded programme that has strengthened supported internships across England since 2022 and provides a structured route into paid employment for young adults with additional needs.  

The programme ends in March, although Internships Work online resources will remain available.

Until then, providers can book employer engagement training through SEND Employment Forums, complete a self-assessment using the quality framework with an optional peer review, and register for the 24 February online conference showcasing successes and learning from pilots involving young people without education, health and care plans (EHCPs).

We can confirm that supported interns are in fulltime education and are not required or expected to be paid. They are exempt from National Minimum Wage regulations and supported internships are outside the scope of the Employment Rights Act 2025 and the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

Employers must follow supported internship guidance, maintain strong safeguarding and ethical standards, and meet all relevant education and workplace safety requirements.

6. Information: New foundation apprenticeship toolkit now available

A new toolkit is available to help training providers engage employers and promote foundation apprenticeships.

Foundation apprenticeships are level 2 programmes designed for young people aged 16 to 21, or aged 22 to 24 with an education, health and care plan (EHCP), in care or who have been in care.

They combine on the job experience with off the job learning across construction, engineering and manufacturing, health and social care and digital.

The toolkit brings key information together in one place and includes resources to support your employer engagement activity.

It provides an overview of the programme, explains the benefits for providers, employers and learners, and includes examples of progression pathways into more specialised or higher apprenticeships.

Complete the foundation apprenticeships: training provider toolkit form for more information.