DfE assurance work on post-16 funding
Guidance on DfE's post-16 funding assurance process for further education and new apprenticeship providers.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) closed on 31 March 2025. All activity has moved to the Department for Education (DfE). You should continue to follow this guidance.
This guidance is for DfE-funded:
- further education providers
- new apprenticeship providers
It includes:
- information on what to expect if you are chosen for an audit
- step by step processes to help you collect evidence
- controls and processes you should have in place to avoid non-compliance
The following process flow diagrams may not be suitable for users of assistive technology:
- Funding assurance review
- Evidence requirements for apprenticeships funding
Users should instead refer to the accompanying HTML versions which are accessible:
- Funding assurance review: step by step process
- Evidence requirements for apprenticeships funding: step by step process 2024 to 2025
Use ILR data: provider data self-assessment toolkit (PDSAT) for information on PDSAT and reports to help FE providers make accurate ILR data returns.
Updates to this page
-
Updated 'Post-16 funding assurance review guidance'. The document lists the updates in 'What has changed'.
Update history
2026-01-30 16:36
Updated the ‘Internal control questions’ spreadsheet – added a missing value to cell F2 on the 16-19 tab.
2025-06-19 17:02
Updated ‘Post-16 funding assurance review guidance’. The document lists the updates in ‘What has changed’.
2025-06-05 16:31
Added ‘Common findings from assurance work on post-16 education providers: 2023 to 2024 assurance year’, ‘Apprenticeship: new training provider or employer control questions’, ‘Evidence requirements for apprenticeships funding: step by step process 2024 to 2025’ and ‘Internal control questions’. Updated ‘Post-16 funding assurance review guidance’ and ‘Funding assurance review: step by step process’ to remove reference to ESFA and improve accessibility.
2024-09-04 10:08
Added ‘ESFA Post-16 funding assurance review guidance’, ‘Funding assurance review: step by step process’, ‘Evidence requirements for apprenticeships funding: step by step process 2023 to 2024’ and ‘Apprenticeship: New training provider or employer control questions’.
2023-10-25 14:21
We’ve published information on ESFA’s funding assurance work in 2022-23 relating to the funding assurance reviews of providers’ 2021/22 post-16 funding claims.