ESFA's procured Adult Skills Fund contracts expire on 1 August 2027. The DfE has confirmed there will be no national re-procurement for 2027/28. Instead, non-devolved ASF funding will transfer to local and combined authorities, which are already beginning their own commissioning processes.
1 October 2026
The Chancellor's 28 September announcement restores the Union Learning Fund at £15 million a year and expands apprenticeship brokerage services to all 14 Mayoral Strategic Authorities from Spring 2027. Full funding detail to follow at the Budget.
29 September 2026
ESFA has published final contract values for the 2024-25 funding year, covering Adult Skills Fund, apprenticeships, and Advanced Learner Loans.
26 September 2026
The planned removal of the R10 mid-year reconciliation has been delayed — R10 data will still be used to review under and over delivery in 2026-27. There is also a report rename that affects 16-19 providers.
24 September 2026
The FE workforce data collection closes this Friday with no further extensions, and the free school meals eligibility check deadline for the autumn census has been pushed to November.
23 September 2026
DfE has published the payment and allocation dates for post-16 settings for 2026-27. Here are the key dates for the most common funding streams.
21 September 2026
The teachers' pension scheme employer contribution rate drops from 28.6% to 17.6% on 1 April 2027. The DfE grant that compensates FE providers for above-baseline pension costs will fall in proportion — but so will actual costs.
21 September 2026
The final 2025-26 ILR return closes at 6pm on 22 October 2026 with no post-closure adjustments permitted. R12 QAR data is now available and an earlier data quality issue has been corrected.
20 September 2026
Two items from the DfE's 9 September Further Education Update that providers may have missed — changes to the financial assurance monitoring guidance and a delay to the apprenticeship subcontracting rules review.
19 September 2026
The DWP has withdrawn government funding from 16 apprenticeship standards. No new starts are permitted from September 2026, with provider-level start caps in place until December 17, 2026.
18 September 2026
What a privately funded apprenticeship is, when it comes up, what providers need to know, and how it differs from a standard funded programme.
17 September 2026
What's changed in apprenticeship funding for 2026-27, including new co-investment rates, the hiring payment, and apprenticeship units.
15 September 2026
30 August 2023
What is the National Skills Fund?
20 July 2021
How does apprenticeship funding work?
16 July 2021
14 July 2021
5 March 2021
24 February 2021
24 February 2021