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Guidance

Subcontracting post-16 education and training for the first time

How to seek written approval when subcontracting for the first time.

Updates to this page

From:
Department for Education
Published:
16 June 2021
Last updated:
30 March 2026
Show all updates

  1. Updated 'Subcontracting post-16 education and training for the first time'.

  2. Updated the contact details.

  3. Updated 'Subcontracting post-16 education and training for the first time' to include the adult skills fund and remove references to the adult education budget. Added the adult skills fund link to the 'Providers who must get approval' section and updated links in the 'How DfE will respond to your request' section.

  4. Page updated as the Department for Education has taken over responsibility for subcontracting post-16 education and training from the Education and Skills Funding Agency. The reforms to the subcontracting process have now been embedded, so we have added clarity on what lead providers are, what subcontracting is and how to make a request to subcontract for the first time.

  5. First published.

Applies to England

Documents

Subcontracting post-16 education and training for the first time

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Details

This guidance is for lead providers of post-16 education and training. These are training providers that have a contract or agreement to deliver education and training with the Department for Education (DfE).

You must get approval in writing before awarding a contract to a subcontractor, if you have not previously subcontracted DfE funded provision.

The guidance outlines the process which you need to go through and information you need to provide.

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