£125 million funding boost for sixth forms and colleges

The government has announced increased funding rates worth an additional £125 million for schools, colleges and other providers delivering education to 16- to 19-year-olds next year (2023 to 2024).

The funding will mean young people will continue to have access to the courses and qualifications they need to build successful careers, such as T Levels and A levels.

The funding announced  will see the national funding rate for students aged 16 and 17 and students aged 18 and over with high needs increased by 2.2% to £4,642. In addition, funding will continue to be provided for an extra 40 hours per student to support them catching up on time lost due to the pandemic.

There is an increase in funding rates for engineering, construction, and digital subjects to help education providers with the additional costs of recruiting and retaining great teachers so young people benefit from excellent teaching.
The funding is part of the £1.6 billion for further education announced at Spending Review in 2021. It is in addition to the extra £291m announced for 16 to 19 education in 2021 to 2022 and the £400m increase in funding that the government provided in 2020 to 2021.

Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education Robert Halfon said: "Our ambition is to transform young people’s life chances by giving them the chance to climb the education and skills ladder of opportunity.

"That is why we are investing in resources and skills qualifications that will offer more learning for students and access to high-quality qualifications including T Levels, A Levels and technical qualifications."