Digital Education Resource Archive

International Languages in Schools in Wales : Languages Matter : Talking Points : July 2025

Academic year 2023/24 : Initial teacher training performance profiles

Cookies on GOV.UK
We use some essential cookies to make this website
work.
We’d like to set additional cookies to understand how
you use GOV.UK, remember your settings and improve
government services.
We also use cookies set by other sites to help us deliver
content from their services.
  View cookies
Emergency Alerts  Test on Sunday 7 September, 3pm
Guidance
16 to 19 funding: in-year
growth for 2025 to 2026
Published 27 August 2025
Accept additional cookies Reject additional cookies
Menu
Home Education, training and skills Further and higher education, skills and vocational training
Further education funding 16 to 19 funding: in-year growth for 2025 to 2026
Department 
for Education
Print this page
In-year growth for 2025 to 2026
(16 to 19 funding)
Each year, we review the early data returns from institutions
delivering 16 to 19 education (including up to age 24 for those
with high needs) and award in-year growth where necessary,
subject to affordability.
This is our expected method for calculating in-year growth
awards for academic year 2025 to 2026.
We are planning to make in-year growth payments in academic
year 2025 to 2026. Based on our forecast of growth in student
numbers, we expect to be able to meet the costs of funding
institutions using the published method. We may need to amend
our approach to ensure affordability, particularly if we find the
number of additional students or the amount of in-year growth
payments is higher than forecast.
Accurate data returns
To assist us in coming to an early view on affordability, it is
important that institutions complete their data returns (school
census or individualised learner record) as accurately as
possible from September to November, to record student
numbers.
We plan to:
provide an update in February 2026
aim to notify all institutions with growth awards by the end of
Applies to England
Contents
In-year growth for 2025
to 2026 (16 to 19
funding)
Accurate data returns
Summary
Exceptional in-year
growth for student
numbers
Process
Exceptional in-year
growth for SPIs and
CFEs
Free meals in FE and
bursary in-year growth
Growth calculator
Growth for 2026 to
2027
March 2026
start to make payments in spring 2026
Summary
There are 3 strands to the in-year growth exercise:
exceptional in-year growth for student numbers
exceptional in-year growth for special post-16 institutions
(SPIs) and centrally funded exceptions (CFEs)
free meals in further education (FE) and bursary
All references to R04 in this guidance mean the R04 student
figure with a 1 November reference date applied.
This process is entirely data driven; we do not accept business
cases for any in-year growth, including data error. We also make
growth awards on the assumption that the in-year data used is
entirely accurate. If later data returns (usually the R14) show that
the in-year data return used for the growth award is inaccurate,
even by a single student, we will recover the relevant growth
funding. We usually make any recoveries once we have
reviewed the final R14 data. However, in exceptional cases, we
may make some changes during the year.
Exceptional in-year growth for
student numbers
The primary way in which we account for increases in student
numbers is through lagged funding. In-year growth funding is
exceptional and is intended only for those with significant
recruitment above their allocation, to provide a contribution to the
additional in-year costs. It does not fund increases in
programme size.
This process does not apply to independent learning providers
(ILPs), which have a separate reconciliation process. However,
we may apply similar adjustments for this process to ensure
growth payments are affordable within the budget available. This
process also does not apply to academies on estimates which
are subject to the pupil number adjustment.
Process
We expect the methodology for calculating 2025 to 2026 in-year
growth awards will follow a 5-step approach.   
The overall method to be used does not set a precedent for the
method used or thresholds in place in future years. Each year is
assessed independently with thresholds, marginal rates
dependent on levels of over-delivery and affordability.
calculate over-delivery (in numbers of students)1
from the over-delivery, calculate growth2
adjust for previous under-delivery3
apply the growth award minimum4
round to the nearest whole number5
Step 1: over-delivery
The method for calculating student number over-delivery
depends on the institution type.
For institutions that submit the individualised learner record (ILR)
(colleges, local authorities and higher education institutions),
over-delivery is the lower of:
2025 to 2026 R04 students multiplied by 2024 to 2025
R04:R14 ratio, less the 2025 to 2026 allocated students
2025 to 2026 R04 students less the 2024 to 2025 R04
students
For schools and academies submitting the school census:
2025 to 2026 autumn census students less the 2025 to 2026
allocated students
Step 2: growth calculation
There are 2 thresholds, and we will fund over-delivery at
different marginal rates for the over-delivery above each
threshold. The 2 thresholds are:
lower threshold – 7.5% of the 2025 to 2026 allocated student
number, with a minimum of 25 students and a maximum of
100 students
upper threshold – 15% of the 2025 to 2026 allocated student
number with a minimum of 50 students and a maximum of 200
students
We will not fund over-delivery below the lower threshold
because the primary way in which we account for increases in
student numbers is through lagged funding. We will fund 100%
of the over-delivery between the lower and upper thresholds.
We will fund 50% of the over-delivery above the upper
threshold.
Example:
An institution with an allocation of 2,000 students would
have a lower threshold of 100 students and an upper
threshold of 200 students. If the over-delivery is 250
students, we calculate the growth as follows:
over-delivery below the lower threshold is not funded,
therefore we do not fund the first 100 students
over-delivery between the lower and upper thresholds
is funded at 100%, therefore we fund the next 100
students in full
we fund 50% of the over-delivery above the upper
threshold, therefore we fund 25 of the final 50 students
Growth funding for this institution would be a total of 125
students.
Step 3: previous under-delivery
We will make a deduction for any under-delivery in 2024 to 2025
before finalising the growth award. If there was under-delivery in
2024 to 2025, we will deduct half of this figure from the growth
award.
Step 4: minimum growth award
If the figure after step 3 is less than 10 students, we do not
make a growth award.
Step 5: rounding
We round your student number growth award to the nearest
whole number. The final student number growth award is added
to the student number in your allocation statement; we then
recalculate your total funding and upload a revised allocation
statement for academic year 2025 to 2026 to Document
exchange.
We will show this in the student numbers section, exceptional
variations to lagged student number line in your allocation
statement.
Exceptional in-year growth for
SPIs and CFEs
Element 1 growth for SPIs
This section on element 1 growth applies
to SPIs only. CFEs should refer to the ‘exceptional in-year
growth for student numbers’ section.
The general principles for calculating programme funding
increases under the national 16 to 19 funding formula (element 1
growth) are the same as set out above. However, we calculate
over-delivery as:
2025 to 2026 R04 students less the 2025 to 2026 allocated
students
The thresholds are:
lower threshold – 7.5% of the 2025 to 2026 allocated student
number, with a minimum of 5 students
upper threshold – 15% of the 2025 to 2026 allocated student
number with a minimum of 10 students
Example:
An SPI with an allocation of 80 students would have a
lower threshold of 6 students and an upper threshold of
12 students. If the over-delivery is 20 students, we
calculate the growth as follows:
over-delivery below the lower threshold is not funded,
therefore we would not fund the first 6 students
over-delivery between the lower and upper thresholds
is funded at 100%, therefore we would fund the next 6
students at 100%
over-delivery above the upper threshold is funded at
50%, therefore we would fund 8 students at 50% (4
students)
Growth funding for this institution would be a total of 10
students.
We deduct half of the under-delivery in 2024 to 2025 as outlined
above, but there is no minimum growth award for element 1
growth for SPIs.
Element 2 growth for SPIs and CFEs
We calculate element 2 over delivery as:
2025 to 2026 R04 element 2 students less 2025 to 2026
allocated element 2 students
The threshold used to calculate growth awards depends on the
number of element 2 students funded in the 2025 to 2026
allocation. If over-delivery exceeds the threshold, we will fund all
over-delivery above the threshold at the full annual rate of
£6,000 per place. There are no deductions for previous under-
delivery.
1. SPIs/CFEs with a 2025 to 2026 allocation of up to and
including 50 high needs students
The threshold will be 5% of the allocated element 2 places. We
will fund high needs student places above the threshold at
£6,000 per place.
Example:
An SPI/CFE has an allocation of 40 element 2 places,
and records 50 in their ILR R04 return (an additional 10
high needs students). The threshold is calculated as 5%
of 40 which is 2. Therefore, we will provide additional
element 2 funding of £48,000 (8 × £6,000).
2. SPIs/CFEs with a 2025 to 2026 allocation of 51 or more
high needs students
For SPIs/CFEs with 51 or more students in their 2025 to 2026
allocation, the threshold will either be 10% of their allocation or
10 students, whichever is lower. Over-delivery above this
threshold will be funded at £6,000 per place.
Example:
An SPI/CFE has an allocation based on 72 high needs
students; therefore, the threshold is 7.2 (as 10% of 72 is
lower than 10). The SPI has recorded 90 high needs
students in their ILR R04, therefore over-delivery is 18
students. We calculate the growth as 18 minus 7.2 which
is 10.8, rounded to 11 students (as we round to the
nearest whole number). Therefore, we provide additional
funding of £66,000 (11 x £6,000).
Free meals in FE and bursary
in-year growth
Both bursary and free meals in FE allocations are linked to the
allocated student number, so an increased student number
allocation resulting from the exceptional in-year growth for
student numbers process may also result in increased bursary
and free meals allocations.
In addition, we will:
release additional bursary funding outside the main growth
process, where analysis of the data suggests that an
increased student number could put an institution’s bursary
allocation under considerable pressure. Additional bursary
funding will be awarded where student over-delivery is
expected to be 25 or more above the number already
allocated, but will be adjusted for bursary funding resulting
from exceptional in-year growth
release additional free meals in FE funding to ensure that
institutions have sufficient funding to support the students they
recorded as eligible for, and in receipt of free meals, in their
in-year data return. Additional free meals funding will be
awarded where there are more students recorded as being
eligible for and in receipt of free meals than those already
allocated plus any free meals award linked to the exceptional
in-year growth
Growth calculator
We have provided growth calculators to enable providers to get
an indication of their potential growth awards. Please read the
cover page of the calculator before using. There are 4 different
calculators depending on the provider type:
colleges and other providers submitting the ILR (except SPIs)
schools and academies
SPIs
CFEs (for element 2 only)
Payments
In most cases, providers will start to receive growth payments
from spring 2026 and we will profile these payments across the
remainder of the current academic year.
Growth for 2026 to 2027
We have not yet decided on in-year growth for 2026 to 2027.
Institutions should not assume that we will continue the 2025 to
2026 rules next year or that early notification of the rules will be
possible.
Back to top
Services and information
Benefits
Births, death, marriages and care
Business and self-employed
Childcare and parenting
Citizenship and living in the UK
Crime, justice and the law
Disabled people
Driving and transport
Education and learning
Employing people
Environment and countryside
Housing and local services
Money and tax
Government
activity
Departments
News
Guidance and regulation
Research and statistics
Policy papers and
consultations
Transparency
How government works
Get involved
Is this page useful?
Yes
No
Report a problem with this page
Passports, travel and living abroad
Visas and immigration
Working, jobs and pensions
Help  Privacy  Cookies  Accessibility statement  Contact  Terms and conditions
Rhestr o Wasanaethau Cymraeg  Government Digital Service
All content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0, except where
otherwise stated
© Crown copyright


16 to 19 funding : in-year growth for 2025 to 2026

Joint targeted area inspections of the multi-agency response to child sexual abuse in the family environment

 
Skills England: 
Sector skills needs 
assessments 
Life Sciences 
June 2025 
2 
Contents 
 
Summary 3 
Priority jobs and skills 3 
Training routes into the sector 5 
Securing the future workforce 5 
Gaps in provision 6 
 
 
3 
Summary  
The UK life sciences sector holds enormous potential to drive economic growth while 
significantly improving health outcomes across the country. The sector generated over 
£100 billion in turnover in 2021/22, has a proven track record of excellence in developing 
COVID-19 vaccines and has introduced access to promising new vaccines targeting 
cancer.1,2,3  
In this briefing we use the Office for Life Sciences (OLS) definition of the life sciences 
sector, which consists of two core industries: biopharmaceutical businesses, which 
develop and produce pharmaceutical products, and medical technology businesses, 
which develop and produce medical devices and software.4 There is an integral link 
between the life sciences sector and the NHS. The NHS workforce is covered within the 
health and social care briefing.  
At the time of writing, definitions of the eight Industrial Strategy growth-driving sectors are 
still in development. Our analysis uses the best available definitions and evidence, 
setting out what we already know and where further work is needed to understand the 
skills landscape within these sectors. The forthcoming Industrial Strategy Sector Plans 
will set out analysis of the highest growth potential subsectors. 
Priority jobs and skills 
UK life sciences is a growing sector. It employed 304,200 people in 2021/22 and has 
seen an overall upward trend since 2008/09.5 There was a sharper increase of 15% 
between 2018/19 and 2021/22, partly driven by increased demand during the COVID-19 
pandemic. It is not possible to determine how much of this increase was driven by the 
pandemic, but the sharper upward trend began in the pre-pandemic period of 2018/19 to 
2019/20.  
Different Life Science industries are growing at different rates.6 Between 2018/19 and 
2021/22, the biopharmaceuticals service and supply sector saw the largest increase in 
employment both proportionally (29%) and in absolute numbers (17,900 employees). 
However, core medical technology businesses remained the largest employer and 
accounted for 39% of employment in life sciences in 2021/22. These businesses employ 
high-level specialist skills which span traditional science and emerging technologies. 
 
1 BioScience and health technology sector statistics 2021 to 2022, Office for Life Sciences (2024) 
2 The story behind the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine success, UKRI (2024) 
3 Thousands of NHS patients to access trials of personalised cancer ‘vaccines’, NHS (2024) 
4 These industries can be split into two further categories: businesses delivering core activities and those 
delivering specialist service and supply chains. In this report we include both types of business in our 
definition of life sciences. 
5BioScience and health technology sector statistics 2021 to 2022, Office for Life Sciences (2024). Data 
collection began in 2008/09 and at the time of publishing is available up to 2021/22 
6 BioScience and health technology sector statistics 2021 to 2022, Office for Life Sciences (2024) 
4 
Employers in the life sciences sector identified four broad areas of priority skills need 
within the sector: 
• Skills associated with innovation and emerging technologies (including advanced 
digital and AI); 
• Specialist science and research; 
• Regulatory and quality assurance; 
• Transferable skills such as communication, leadership and entrepreneurship.  
These are predominantly advanced skills requiring a mix of technical training and 
transferable skills, for example in communication of complex scientific information. There 
is an increasing demand for interdisciplinary skills, particularly the combination of 
scientific skills with digital and technological skills. These will be vital for interdisciplinary 
careers such as automated manufacturing, bioprocessing, personalised medicine and 
digital health.  
The need for advanced digital skills that allow the sector to respond to and utilise new 
technologies was a strong theme in our engagement 7 with the life sciences sector. 
Recent employment trends illustrate the need for advanced and specialist digital skills; 
within the medical technology sector the digital health segment has been the segment 
with the highest employment since 2009/10, with substantial year-on-year increases 
between 2014/15 and 2021/22 (an overall percentage increase of 90%).8 Analysis of 
online job postings within the life sciences sector was carried out externally by the 
Futures’ Group.9 It found that jobs within ‘Information Technology and Computer Science’ 
were the most frequently advertised by life sciences companies between April 2023 and 
March 2024, accounting for approximately 13% of all online recruitment activity in the 
sector.  
The ‘golden-triangle’ of London, Oxford and Cambridge accounts for a significant 
proportion of life sciences employment. The South East has consistently been the UK 
region with the highest share of life sciences employment, accounting for 23% of total 
employment in the financial year ending 2022. The second highest region was East of 
England (14%), followed by London (11%), with the latter seeing a generally upward 
trend in its share since 2008/09.10 There are established and growing hubs in other 
 
7 During this engagement process and the drafting of this publication, Skills England was set up in shadow 
form within the Department for Education (DfE). Skills England - GOV.UK 
8 BioScience and health technology sector statistics 2021 to 2022, Office for Life Sciences (2024) 
9 Life Sciences 2035: Developing the Skills for Future Growth, Futures Group (2025); Based on 65,000 
online job postings from a list of approximately 5,800 life sciences businesses within the Office for Life 
Sciences Bioscience and Health Technology Sector Statistics 2021/22, supplemented by an additional 400 
companies contributed by Futures Group members. This approach may include some activity outside the 
sector from companies operating across multiple industries. Online job postings reflect advertised jobs but 
do not necessarily correspond to positions that are filled. 
10 BioScience and health technology sector statistics 2021 to 2022, Office for Life Sciences (2024)  
5 
locations and feedback from life sciences employers highlighted the importance of 
continuing to build a diverse, nationwide talent pipeline. 
Training routes into the sector 
Life sciences is a highly qualified sector, with multiple industries that employ a far higher 
percentage of people with a degree level qualifications compared to the UK workforce as 
a whole. For example, in June 2024 the ‘manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products’ 
industry employed an estimated 69% of people with degree level qualifications or higher, 
and the ‘manufacture of pharmaceutical preparations’ industry employed an estimated 
67%. This compares with an estimated 39% of employees in the UK workforce as a 
whole.11  
The UK is well positioned to meet this demand, with a high proportion of graduates 
(8.7%) completing degrees in the relevant subjects of natural sciences, mathematics and 
statistics relative to comparator countries, ranking second behind India in 2021. 
Graduate training alone is not always sufficient to meet sector skills needs. Employers 
highlighted a skills gap between graduate training and work-place readiness including in 
innovation and entrepreneurship as well as experience with novel technologies used by 
specialist businesses. Degree and master’s level apprenticeships (Levels 6 and 7) are 
valued by the sector as routes to filling these skills gaps, either as an alternative to 
university training or by building on existing qualifications. In 2023/24, 27% of starts in 
apprenticeships identified as core to the life science sector were at Level 6 or 7 (18% at 
Level 6 and 9% at Level 7).12 
The total number of starts in life science apprenticeships was 1,416, the highest yearly 
total recorded and an increase of 14% compared to the previous academic year. The 
largest total increase was for the Laboratory Technician (Level 3) apprenticeship, which 
increased from 341 starts in 2022/23 to 418 starts in 2023/24 (an increase of 23%).13  
Securing the future workforce 
The UK life sciences sector competes internationally for talent; professional qualifications 
embedded within apprenticeships align the UK with global benchmarks and help to 
attract global talent. Employers emphasised that maintaining the standard of UK training 
 
11 Annual Population Survey Jul 2023-Jun 2024, ONS (2024)  
12 Skills England analysis of Apprenticeships 2023/24, DfE (2024) using apprenticeships listed in Life 
Sciences competitiveness indicators 2024, Office for Life Sciences (2024) 
13 Skills England analysis of Apprenticeships 2023/24, DfE (2024) using apprenticeships listed in Life 
Sciences competitiveness indicators 2024, Office for Life Sciences (2024) 
6 
is necessary not only to fill skills gaps but for the sector to continue to compete 
internationally and attract international investment.  
The needs of the sector link with the NHS workforce in key professions, such as clinical 
researchers, meaning the success of both sectors relies on aligning skills development.  
Employers highlighted the potential to continue to expand apprenticeship and other non-
traditional training routes to build the future workforce. Existing apprenticeship routes 
were considered well suited to the sector’s skills needs however it will be necessary to 
overcome cultural barriers. Despite the demand for practical, on-the-job training, 
apprenticeships continue to face a stigma within the life sciences sector, where academic 
qualifications are often viewed as the only viable path to a successful career.  
Gaps in provision 
• Access to training for small businesses: It was acknowledged that small and 
medium enterprises (SMEs) can struggle to invest in skills and training for their 
workforce, for example facing difficulty managing apprenticeships due to the 
administrative burden. Approximately 75% of life sciences sites belong to SMEs, 
employing 23% of the workforce.14 These businesses are considered critical to 
innovation in the sector, in areas like personalised medicine. 
• Bolt-on and stackable options: To address the need for quickly evolving, 
interdisciplinary skills our engagement suggested there is appetite for a more 
modular approach to training, to integrate foundational, digital, regulatory, and 
scientific skills. For example, a laboratory technician could undertake a focused 
module in data analytics to address immediate skill gaps rather than completing a 
multi-year course. Flexible and modular training could also help SMEs to invest in 
targeted upskilling without excessive resource strain.  
• Keeping pace with new innovation and technology: Processes and technologies in 
life sciences are quickly evolving. There was interest from the sector in shorter 
intensive training offers relating to emerging skills (such as AI), which could be 
more frequently updated. 
  
 
14 BioScience and health technology sector statistics 2021 to 2022, Office for Life Sciences (2024)  
7 
 
© Crown copyright 2025 
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0, 
except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit 
nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3.  
 
Where we have identified any third-party copyright information, you will need to obtain 
permission from the copyright holders concerned. 
 
About this publication: 
 
enquiries  https://www.gov.uk/contact-dfe   
download  www.gov.uk/government/publications  
Follow us on X: @educationgovuk 
Connect with us on Facebook: facebook.com/educationgovuk   


Skills England : Sector skills needs assessments : Life Sciences : June 2025

Evaluation of the Family Finding and Befriending and Mentoring programme : year 1 early findings report : September 2025

Reducing unnecessary social worker workload through workload and caseload management : Research report : September 2025

Antalek, Catherine

Castro-Kemp, Susana

Dixon, Fiona

Esposito, Rosanne

Hayton, Jessica

Herbert, Elisabeth

Kamenopoulou, Leda

Kolak, Joanna

Loyd, Daisy

Roberts, Amelia

Romualdez, Anna Melissa

Somerville, Matthew P.

Taha, Juhayna

Tunks, Frances

Cross-cutting themes in identifying, supporting and collaborating for children and young people with SEND: a rapid evidence review : Research report, September 2025

Teaching the Curriculum for Wales : September 2025

Homes for Ukraine : Guidance for councils (children and minors applying without parents or legal guardians) : Updated 7 July 2025

Not a member yet