In-year growth for 2023 to 2024
Information about in-year growth funding for 2023 to 2024.
Applies to England
Subject to affordability, each year we review the early data returns from institutions delivering 16 to 19 education (including up to 24 for those with high needs), and award in-year growth. For academic year 2023 to 2024 only we are publishing the rules for calculating in-year growth awards early, providing a guarantee that growth will be funded based on the rules below and giving certainty to providers to aid with their financial planning.
There are 3 strands to the in-year growth exercise:
- exceptional in-year growth for student numbers
- exceptional in-year growth for specialist post-16 institutions (SPIs) and centrally funded exceptions (CFEs)
- free meals in FE and bursary
All references to R04 in this guidance mean the R04 student figure with a 1 November reference date applied.
Exceptional in-year growth for student numbers
The primary way in which we account for increases in student numbers is through lagged funding. In-year growth funding is exceptional and is intended only for those with significant recruitment above their allocation, to provide a contribution to the additional in-year costs. It does not fund increases in programme size.
This process does not apply to independent learning providers (ILPs) for whom there is a separate reconciliation process.
This process is entirely data driven; we do not accept business cases for exceptional in-year growth. We make growth awards on the assumption that the in-year data used is materially accurate. If later data returns (usually the R14) show that the in-year data returns are inaccurate, we will recover some or all the in-year growth award.
The methodology for calculating 2023 to 2024 in-year growth awards will remain unchanged from 2022 to 2023, with the exception of the reintroduction of the deduction for under-delivery in the previous year. This element of the calculation was removed last year as a one-off change related to volatility in recruitment due to COVID-19.
However, the overall method to be used this year does not set a precedent for the method used or thresholds in place in future years. Each year is assessed independently with thresholds and marginal rates dependent on levels of over-delivery and affordability.
The calculation of growth awards for 2023 to 2024 is a 4-step process:
- calculate over-delivery (in numbers of students)
- from the over-delivery, calculate growth
- adjust for previous under-delivery
- apply the growth award minimum
Step 1. Over-delivery
The method for calculating student number over-delivery depends on the institution type.
For institutions that submit the individualised learner record (colleges, local authorities and higher education institutions), over-delivery is the lower of:
- 2023 to 2024 R04 students multiplied by 2022 to 2023 R04:R14 ratio, less the 2023 to 2024 allocated students
- 2023 to 2024 R04 students less the 2022 to 2023 R04 students
For schools and academies submitting the school census:
- 2023 to 2024 autumn census students less the 2023 to 2024 allocated students
Step 2. Growth calculation
There are 2 thresholds, and we will fund over-delivery at different marginal rates for the over-delivery above each threshold. The 2 thresholds are:
- lower threshold - 7.5% of the 2023 to 2024 allocated student number, with a minimum of 25 students and a maximum of 100 students
- upper threshold - 15% of the 2023 to 2024 allocated student number with a minimum of 50 students and a maximum of 200 students
We will not fund over-delivery below the lower threshold because the primary way in which we account for increases in student numbers is through lagged funding. We will fund the over-delivery between the lower and upper thresholds at 100% of the average funding per student. We will fund the over-delivery above the upper threshold at 50% of the average funding per student.
Example:
An institution with an allocation of 2,000 students would have a lower threshold of 100 students and an upper threshold of 200 students. If the over-delivery is 250 students, we calculate the growth as follows:
- over-delivery below the lower threshold is not funded, therefore we do not fund the first 100 students
- over-delivery between the lower and upper thresholds is funded at 100%, therefore we fund the next 100 students in full
- over-delivery above the upper threshold is funded at 50%, therefore we fund 50 students at 50%, i.e. 25 students
Growth funding for this institution would be a total of 125 students.
Step 3. Previous under-delivery
We will make a deduction for any under-delivery in 2022 to 2023 before finalising the growth award. If there was under-delivery in 2022 to 2023, we will deduct half of this figure from the growth award.
Step 4. Minimum growth award
If the figure after step 3 is less than 10 students, we do not make a growth award.
Exceptional in-year growth for specialist post-16 institutions (SPIs) and centrally funded exceptions (CFEs)
This process is entirely data driven; we do not accept business cases. We make growth awards on the assumption that the in-year data used is materially accurate. If later data returns (usually the R14) show that the in-year data returns are inaccurate, we will recover some or all the in-year growth award.
Element 1 growth for SPIs
This section on element 1 growth applies to SPIs only. CFEs should refer to the “exceptional in-year growth for student numbers section” above.
The general principles for calculating programme funding increases under the national 16 to 19 funding formula (element 1 growth) are the same as set out above. However, we calculate over-delivery as:
- 2023 to 2024 R04 students less the 2023 to 2024 allocated students
The thresholds are:
- lower threshold - 7.5% of the 2023 to 2024 allocated student number, with a minimum of 5 students
- upper threshold - 15% of the 2023 to 2024 allocated student number with a minimum of 10 students
Example:
An SPI with an allocation of 80 students would have a lower threshold of 6 students and an upper threshold of 12 students. If the over-delivery is 20 students, we calculate the growth as follows:
- over-delivery below the lower threshold is not funded, therefore we would not fund the first 6 students
- over-delivery between the lower and upper thresholds is funded at 100%, therefore we would fund the next 6 students at 100%
- over-delivery above the upper threshold is funded at 50%, therefore we would fund 8 students at 50%, i.e. 4 students
Growth funding for this institution would be a total of 10 students.
We deduct half of the under-delivery in 2022 to 2023 as outlined above, but there is no minimum growth award for element 1 growth for SPIs.
Element 2 growth for SPIs and CFEs
We calculate element 2 over delivery as:
- 2023 to 2024 R04 element 2 students less 2023 to 2024 allocated element 2 students
The threshold used to calculate growth awards depends on the number of element 2 students funded in the 2023 to 2024 allocation. If over-delivery exceeds the threshold, we will fund all over-delivery above the threshold at the full annual rate of £6,000 per place. There are no deductions for previous under-delivery.
1. SPIs/CFEs with a 2023 to 2024 allocation of up to and including 50 high needs students
The threshold will be 5% of the allocated element 2 places. We will fund high needs student places above the threshold at £6,000 per place.
Example:
An SPI/CFE has an allocation of 40 element 2 places, and records 50 in their ILR R04 return (an additional 10 high needs students). The threshold is calculated as 5% of 40 which is 2. Therefore, we will provide additional element 2 funding of £48,000 (8 × £6,000).
2. SPIs/CFEs with a 2023 to 2024 allocation of 51 or more high needs students
For SPIs/CFEs with 51 or more students in their 2023 to 2024 allocation, the threshold will either be 10% of their allocation or 10 students, whichever is lower. Over-delivery above this threshold will be funded at £6,000 per place.
Example:
An SPI/CFE has an allocation based on 72 high needs students; therefore, the threshold is 7.2 (as 10% of 72 is lower than 10). They have recorded 90 high needs students in their ILR R04, therefore over-delivery is 18 students. We calculate the growth as 18 minus 7.2 which is 10.8, rounded to 11 students (as we round to the nearest whole number). Therefore, we provide additional funding of £66,000 (11 x £6,000).
Free meals in further education (FE) and bursary in-year growth
Both bursary and free meals in FE allocations are linked to the allocated student number, so an increased student number allocation resulting from the exceptional in-year growth for student numbers process may also result in increased bursary and free meals allocations.
In addition, we will:
- release additional bursary funding outside the main growth process, where analysis of the data suggests that an increased student number could put an institution’s bursary allocation under considerable pressure. Additional bursary funding will be awarded where student over-delivery is expected to be 25 or more above the number already allocated plus any exceptional in-year growth award.
- release additional free meals in FE funding to ensure that institutions have sufficient funding to support the students they recorded as eligible for, and in receipt of free meals, in their in-year data return. Additional free meals funding will be awarded where there are more students recorded as being eligible for and in receipt of free meals than those already allocated plus any free meals award linked to the exceptional in-year growth
As with all other strands of in-year growth, we make these growth awards on the assumption that the in-year data used is materially accurate. If later data returns (usually the R14) show that the in-year data returns are inaccurate, we will recover some or all of the bursary and/or free meals in FE growth award.
Growth calculator
An is available which will allow you to input your institution’s figures and will calculate the potential growth award. There is a separate tab for SPIs and centrally funded exceptions (element 2 only).
Payments
In most cases, growth payments will start to be received from spring 2024 and will be profiled across the remainder of the current academic year.
Growth for 2024 to 2025
We have not yet made a decision on in-year growth for 2024 to 2025. Institutions should not assume that we will continue the 2023 to 2024 rules next year or that early notification of the rules will be possible.