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Guidance

Employer support fund: construction and T Level industry placements

Employer declaration form for providers and employers applying to the employer support fund (ESF) for the 2026 to 2027 financial year.

Updates to this page

From:
Department for Education
Published:
9 February 2023
Last updated:
21 May 2026
Show all updates

  1. Updated the 'ESF: employer declaration form' and added link to updated guidance.

  2. Updated 'ESF: guidance for providers and employers' with information on using invoices as receipts when claiming staff hours and pay.

  3. Updated 'ESF: guidance for providers and employers' with information on the online claims tool.

  4. Updated the guidance with 'Deadlines for making claims and their corresponding payment dates' and clarified that the online claims tool will be available in early September 2025. Added the ‘ESF: employer declaration form’.

  5. Updated the guidance about the claim amount per student in the section 'What the fund is intended to be used for'.

  6. Updated the guidance for the 2025 to 2026 financial year.

  7. Added a link to the data tracking tool.

  8. Updated the employer support fund guidance for providers with more details about how the funding will work, what it can be used for and how to validate employer claims. Added the 'Employer support fund: funding rules'.

  9. First published.

Applies to England

Documents

ESF: employer declaration form

MS Word Document, 405 KB

Details

The employer support fund (ESF) provides financial support to employers offering construction industry placements and T Level industry placements.

Providers receive an allocation to reimburse employers for essential costs linked to industry placements. This is in addition to the funding providers already receive.

To claim from the fund, employers must: 

  • sign the employer declaration form to confirm their costs are accurate and valid
  • keep copies of all receipts 
  • email the completed employer declaration form and original receipts (in a non-editable format) to the provider

Providers may submit claims and make payments on behalf of an employer if they have:

  • a signed employer declaration form confirming the costs are essential
  • proof of purchase for each claim which must be uploaded to the online claims tool

Further guidance is available in the Industry placements for level 2 and 3 construction qualifications guidance.

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