Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase funding for skills-based education in Nuneaton constituency.

The government is committed to offering skills training to learners to help them acquire the necessary skills for employment or further training. The Adult Skills Fund (ASF), previously the Adult Education Budget (AEB), is worth £1.34 billion this academic year and fully funds or co-funds education and skills training for eligible adults aged 19 and over.

In 2024/25, as part of the AEB transition to the ASF, the department introduced five new funding rates, which has seen 78% of qualifications funded through the Education and Skills Funding Agency.

The department is investing in level 3 learning via the ‘free courses for jobs’ offer, which allows eligible learners to access a high value level 3 qualification for free. An additional funding uplift is paid by the department, at two different rates, for providers that offer a wide range of sector subjects.

The total ASF allocation for a provider in the Nuneaton constituency for the 2024/25 academic year is approximately £4.6 million. More information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/funding-allocations-to-training-providers-2024-to-2025.

Over £7.5 billion in 16 to 19 programme funding will be invested during the 2024/25 academic year as part of the department’s drive for all young people to access high quality education and training that meets their needs and helps them to thrive. My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced at Budget a further boost of £300 million in the 2025/26 financial year for further education (FE) to ensure young people are developing the skills they need to succeed and a further £300 million to support colleges to maintain, improve and ensure suitability of their estate.

Information on 16 to 19 funding allocations received by institutions in Nuneaton is available in the published allocations, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/funding-education-for-16-to-19-year-olds#published-allocations.

For the 2023/24 academic year, 16 to 19 funded institutions in the Nuneaton constituency were allocated £31.23 million in 16 to 19 funding. This includes high needs student funding, student support funding and funding for the FE teachers pension scheme employer contribution grant. For the 2024/25 academic year, they received £33.96 million. This is an increase of £2.73 million, or 8.7%.