Guidance

Employer support fund (ESF): guidance for providers and employers

Updated 23 June 2025

Applies to England

Funding from the employer support fund (ESF) is available to support the essential costs incurred by eligible employers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for placements starting on or between 23 April 2025 and 31 March 2026.

How the fund will be allocated

Up to £6.3 million is available to support the ESF for the 2025 to 2026 financial year. This consists of up to:

• £1.8 million to support employers of all sizes delivering industry placements in the Construction T Level route

• £4.5 million to support employers of all sizes offering industry placements for the Health T Level, and SMEs offering industry placements for all other T Levels

In order to qualify as an SME, an enterprise must have both:

• fewer than 250 staff

• less than or equal to £44 million in annual turnover or a balance sheet total of less than or equal to £38 million

Funding for Construction T Levels can only to be used on placements in the T Level Construction route and cannot be used for other T Levels. This funding supports the government’s construction skills package, announced in March 2025.

Funding for the Health T Level and available to SMEs delivering all other T Levels is strictly limited to these criteria and must not be used for T Levels in the Construction route.

Which providers are eligible

Funding will be allocated to providers that:

• have an agreement to provide 16 to 19 education

• are delivering T Levels to students in the 2024 to 2025 or 2025 to 2026 academic year

Eligible T Level providers will be provided with a funding allocation. They can then decide whether to opt in to the fund.

Providers that opt in are responsible for:

• deciding how to use this allocation to support the employers they work with in delivering placements

• ensuring spend in is line with both this guidance and the terms and conditions set out in their grant offer letter

They will receive allocations based on an estimate of the number of students and the assumed proportion of employers needing support.

The Department for Education (DfE) will pay providers every 2 months in arrears throughout the grant period, once a claim has been made through the online claims tool. Further guidance on the new tool will be published shortly.

Which employers are eligible

As stated, the fund is designed to support the essential costs – where placements could not otherwise take place – for:

• employers of all sizes delivering industry placements in the Construction T Level route
• employers of all sizes delivering industry placements for the Health T Level
• SMEs delivering industry placements for all other T Levels

What the fund is intended to be used for

The expectation is that the fund will support:

• employers in delivering high-quality placements that align with the principles set out on page 7 of the industry placements delivery guidance
• as many students as possible – the claim per student should not exceed £800 and we will scrutinise any that exceed this
• the scaling-up and expansion of placements
• the sustained use of equipment purchased through the fund for placements in subsequent years

It is intended to contribute towards essential costs, and it may not be sufficient to meet all requests made by employers. Providers will need to take strategic value-for-money decisions to maximise the impact of the fund, balancing the needs of various employers. They should consider this when deciding how to allocate their funding.  

Arm’s-length bodies (ALBs) that offer health placements, such as NHS Blood and Transplant, are eligible to claim from the fund. All other government departments, agencies and public bodies cannot claim.

Examples of eligible costs

The fund should be used for:

• administrative costs, such as setting up:
  • processes and procedures
  • organisational systems
  • a physical workspace to support delivery
• tangible costs, such as:
  • equipment
  • insurance
  • security passes
  • software licensing
  • employer transport costs
  • materials and supplies directly related to the industry placement
  • training, such as specialised courses or certifications for students, or any necessary training required by the employer to support the placement – for example, safeguarding courses for staff

Further examples and articles about the fund will be published in due course on our support websites for providers and employers.

Clarification on specific costs

Student transport

Funding is already available to support student travel costs through the:

• £550 per student industry placement funding

• 16 to 19 bursary funding

Student transport costs can only be supported via the ESF if:

• they exceed what can be covered by these existing funding routes
• the student is not able to self-fund

Staff hours and pay

These claims can cover the cost of staff time involved in setting up, supporting and evaluating student performance during their placements. This is particularly relevant if staff are supporting large cohorts of students. However, we expect employers to absorb these costs where possible.

Provider payment

We will allow a provider to make payments and to claim from an ESF allocation on behalf of an employer if they submit a signed declaration form from the employer confirming that the expense is essential. The proof of purchase for any claim must be uploaded to the online claims tool.

Funding can be used for employer costs associated with any delivery approaches set out in the T Level industry placement delivery guidance.

Providers already receive funding to support the delivery of T Levels and the setting up and management of industry placements. The ESF should therefore not be used to cover a provider’s own costs. Using the fund for this would represent double funding.

How to claim from the fund

Employers must sign a declaration form outlining their costs and confirming they are valid. Providers are responsible for ensuring all claims are legitimate. Both providers and employers must retain receipts.

Providers must upload claims supported by receipts to the online claims tool by:

• 30 September
• 30 November
• 31 January
• 31 March (final deadline – no claims will be accepted after this date)

We will process these claims and pay providers in the month following each claim window. For example, if a provider submits a claim by 30 September, DfE will process and make the payment in October.

Providers can then distribute the funds to employers based on validated claims, typically via BACS. Providers will need to obtain the employer’s bank details for this purpose.

There is no limit on the number of students an employer can host or the number of claims an employer can make. However, all claims must clearly state how many students are supported by each claim.

There is no maximum funding limit on the total claim any one employer can make.

We will conduct spot checks on all claims to verify that the information provided to DfE is correct. If required, we may contact a provider, employer or both as part of that quality assurance.

At the end of the financial year, we will ask providers to confirm all the claims that they have sent to DfE via an annex Gii statement of grant usage.

Change in circumstances

If an industry placement ends unexpectedly, employers are not required to automatically repay the funding. Providers and employers should discuss the situation and agree on the appropriate action. In some cases, when an employer stops offering a placement but has already claimed funding, the provider may choose to approach the employer for a refund.

Evaluation

DfE will monitor and review ESF claims data. This will help us understand the impact of the fund in supporting T Level industry placements. We may ask providers and employers to provide extra information when it closes in March 2026 to inform our evaluation.

Contact

For any queries about the ESF, email Employer.SUPPORTFUND@education.gov.uk.