New rules on adult skills training funding in England for 2024/2025 have been released by the Department for Education and Skills (DfE).
The updated guidance is in response to DfE consultation Skills for jobs: implementing a new further education funding and accountability system, which was published by the UK government in July 2023.
It sees the Adult Education Budget (AEB) replaced by the Department for Education’s (DfE) Adult Skills Fund (ASF), consolidating multiple funding streams to simplify adult skills funding. A central aim of the ASF is to support adult learners in non-devolved areas to acquire skills that lead to meaningful, sustained, and relevant employment or enable progression to further learning.
The ASF includes provision for Tailored Learning, designed to deliver wider outcomes beyond formal qualification, such as improving health and wellbeing, developing essential skills (English, ESOL, maths, digital), supporting parents/carers in facilitating their children’s learning, and strengthening community cohesion.
Funding is administered by the DfE via approved training providers—including further education colleges, independent training organisations, and local authorities. The range of learning programmes eligible for ASF funding is broad, covering basic skills through to higher-level professional training, including both regulated qualifications and non-regulated learning under the rules for Tailored Learning and Free Courses for Jobs.
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