16 to 19 funding: information for 2026 to 2027

Purpose

This guide explains 16 to 19 funding for academic year 2026 to 2027.

Changes for 2026 to 2027

July 2026 update: 8 July

We have increased rates to reflect the additional July investment. You can see the changes in the following sections:

• national funding rates
• T Level rates
• disadvantage funding
• components 2 and 3 of the Post-16 National Insurance contributions (NICs) grant

For the NICs grant we aim to:

• update the allocations spreadsheet by September 2026
• make updated payments from September 2026 (October 2026 for academies)
• amend the name of this grant to the Post-16 budget support grant (P16BSG) from April 2027

July 2026 update: 1 July

We are announcing an investment of around £120 million for colleges and other further education providers in financial year 2026 to 2027, rising to £365 million in financial year 2027 to 2028. This funding will address immediate recruitment and retention needs, boosting opportunity for learners and driving skills for growth.  

Additional funding of around £49 million in financial year 2026 to 2027, rising to around £170 million in 2027 to 2028, will also be included within relevant 16 to 19 allocations to support post-16 provision in schools and academies. This funding comes from within the overall schools funding envelope the government has announced alongside the schoolteacher pay awards for the next 2 academic years.

This combined investment will be delivered by increasing:

• 16 to 19 national funding rates
• T Level rates
• the disadvantage rate related to low prior attainment
• the rate supporting students in care and care leavers

We will also be increasing component 2 and component 3 of the Post-16 National Insurance contributions (NICs) grant. These are the elements of the post-16 NICs grant which support:

• colleges with their non 16 to 19 education delivery
• local authorities with adult centrally employed teachers

This overall investment will drive forward high-quality delivery for 16 to 19 funded students and help support public sector providers with a wider range of post-16 provision.

To reflect the wider coverage of the NICs grant, this will be renamed the post-16 budget support grant (P16BSG).

We are also announcing that employer contributions to the Teacher Pensions Scheme will reduce from April 2027. This reflects a reduction in costs to the sector and we will therefore reduce the payments through the teachers’ pension scheme employer contribution grants (TPSECG) for:

• further education providers
• maintained schools and academies with 16 to 19 provision

There will be no overall reduction in the sector’s spending power from the pensions changes as the reduced funding will be balanced by reduced costs.

We will provide details of rates and P16BSG shortly. We aim to:

• update 16 to 19 allocations and issue revised funding statements in September
• begin to make updated payments from October

March 2026 update

We’ve set out the changes in the following sections:

• national funding rate
• T Level national funding rate
• high value courses premium for construction
• large programme uplift

National funding rate for students funded via the 16 to 19 funding formula

We have increased the national funding rate for students aged 16 and 17 and students aged 18 and over with high needs in band 5 to £5,133 and have increased other funding bands proportionately.

Table 1: national funding rate for students funded via the 16 to 19 funding formula

Band (study programmes)	Annual planned hours	Students	National funding rate per student
5	580+ hours	16 and 17 year olds and students aged 18 and over with high needs	£5,133£5,256
4a	485+ hours	students aged 18 and over who are not high needs	£4,246£4,348
4b	485 to 579 hours	16 and 17 year olds and students aged 18 and over with high needs	£4,246£4,348
3	385 to 484 hours	all students	£3,453£3,536
2	300 to 384 hours	all students	£2,730£2,796
1	up to 299 hours	all students	£5,133£5,256 proportion of band 5

National funding rates for T Levels

Table 2 shows the funding rate per student for the 2 year T Level programme. This includes a targeted 5% uplift to T Levels for academic year 2026 to 2027. Read T Levels funding guide 2026 to 2027 to see which T Levels have the uplift.

The funding rate per student for 1 year of the T Level programme is half the amount shown in table 2, at the rate in the relevant academic year.

Table 2: national funding rate per student for T Levels 

Band
(T Levels)	Minimum planned hours for the programme 2 years	Average planned hours for the programme 2 years	National funding rate per student, per programme 2 years
9	1,730 hours	1,830 hours	£14,772£15,126
8 uplifted	1,580 hours	1,680 hours	£14,222£14,564
8	1,580 hours	1,680 hours	£13,544£13,870
7 uplifted	1,380 hours	1,530 hours	£12,932£13,242
7	1,380 hours	1,530 hours	£12,316£12,612
6 uplifted	1,180 hours	1,330 hours	£11,214£11,484
6	1,180 hours	1,330 hours	£10,680£10,936

We do fund some T Levels at band 5. Band 5 T Levels are those where the programmes are not large enough to require funding in band 6 or above. As with other T Levels, you must record the planned hours across the full 2-year programme. Our funding approach allows flexibility where those hours are distributed unevenly over the 2 years, for example due to industry placements falling mostly in one or other year.

Disadvantage funding

For academic year 2026 to 2027 funding allocations, we have increased the disadvantage block 1 rate to £624 for students who are in care or who have recently left care. 

We have also increased the disadvantage block 2 rates, which reflect the additional cost of teaching and supporting students who have low prior attainment to:

• £624 for bands 4 and 5 students
• £380 for bands 2 and 3 students
• £846 for T Level students

High value courses premium

In academic year 2026 to 2027, there is also high value courses premium (HVCP) for construction. This is additional funding to encourage and support delivery of selected level 2 and level 3 qualifications in sector subject area 5.2 (building and construction) to support an increase in skilled construction workers.

Large programme uplift

From academic year 2026 to 2027, the large programme uplift will only apply to the costs of specific larger than normal maths and high value A level programmes to support the progression of students into priority sectors.

Post-16 National Insurance contributions grant (NICs)

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(P16BSG).

Inclusive mainstream fund 2026 to 2027 

We have published details on the the 16 to 19 inclusive mainstream fund, which will bedistribute £83 million to settings delivering 16 to 19 provision, out of the overall inclusive mainstream fund worth over £500 million in financial year 2026 to 2027.

Other formula elements 

There are no planned changes to these elements of 16 to 19 funding this year:

• advanced maths premium
• core maths premium
• disadvantage funding – section 4.13
• English and maths funding
• maths and English condition of funding
• programme cost weightings

Teachers’ pension scheme employer contribution grants

We will pay the teachers’ pension scheme employer contribution grant  (TPSECG) for sixth forms and 16 to 19 schools funded via the 16 to 19 funding formula. As in previous years, we will pay the grant separately to core allocations in financial year 2026 to 2027. 

We will reflect the reduction in costs to the sector due to the reductions to employer contributions to the Teacher Pensions Scheme from April 2027 by reducing the funding rates from April 2027.

We will also pay the teachers’ pension scheme employer contribution grant for further education providers for academic year 2026 to 2027. We will include this grant in 16 to 19 allocations. Allocations are made on an academic year basis, with funding paid in 2 separate payments:

• September 2026 for the 8-month period from August 2026 to March 2027
• April 2027 for the 4-month period from April to July 2027

We will adjust the April 2027 payment to reflect the reduction in pension costs from April 2027 onwards.

Business cases and thresholds

Institutions must ensure that their data returns through the school census or the individualised learner record are accurate. Read Business cases for major data errors before submitting a business case.

As advised in academic year 2025 to 2026, this year, we will only accept business cases affecting academic year 2026 to 2027. We no longer accept business cases affecting previous years. Submit your business case within 20 working days of receiving your allocation statement. Non-term time does not count as working days, so the working day count will pause during these periods. We will not accept late business cases, so plan ahead to ensure your submission is on time.

As advised in the thresholds for business cases section of our academic year 2025 to 2026 guidance, from 2026 to 2027 we have changed how the threshold works. From 2026 to 2027, when we agree a case, we will deduct the threshold and only pay funding above that amount. Institutions will need to fund the first 5% or £100,000 of the error, whichever is lower. We have introduced this step to create fairness within the business case process.