Government must confirm 2026/27 in-year grant funding for colleges, says AoC

Julian Gravatt, Deputy Chief Executive, Association of Colleges, said: "We welcome the Department for Education capital funding announcement which will help colleges upgrade their facilities to cater for thousands of additional 16 to 18-year-olds in 2027 and 2028. The DfE capital funds supplement the money already distributed to mayoral strategic authorities (MSAs) and county councils with devolution deals. 

"Colleges will make use of these funds to prepare young people for careers in construction, engineering, health and other important sectors and this, in turn, will help companies fill vacancies while supporting the national drive for more houses, better infrastructure and a more prosperous country.

"Although this announcement of more capital funding is welcome, there is a more immediate issue for the Department for Education to address. 

"The population is still growing, and with fewer jobs and apprenticeship places for young people, the proportion of those staying in education after the age of 16 continues to rise. The number of 16 to 18-year-olds in education grew by 5% in 2024/25 and 4% in 2025/26 and is expected to grow again in autumn 2026.

"The DfE pays colleges and schools on a lagged basis for the number of students recruited in the previous academic year, and therefore doesn't fund any extra students recruited. An AoC survey in March found that colleges expect to enrol at least 22,000 more 16-18 students in autumn 2026. 

"For the last fifteen years, there has been an extra in-year grant for those with exceptional growth to provide partial funding for extra costs. But right now, just a few weeks before the start of term, there is no clarity on whether there will be any extra funding in 2026/27, and without which, some colleges fear they will have to turn people away."