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Thirty-two thousand more students enrolled in colleges this year than the DfE had a budget for. This week the department confirmed those students remain unfunded. Colleges carry the cost. The growth funding shortfall Wednesday's update says colleges will get 75% of the expected growth payment. That sounds like most of it. It isn't close. David Hughes at the AoC ran the numbers publicly. Fully covering 32,000 extra students costs roughly £220 million. The formula normally d

Date | 10th April 2026 Buried between a capital funding announcement and a rapidly approaching bid deadline, there's a Court of Appeal ruling this week that could quietly reshape how colleges are taxed. Finance directors already know about it. Everyone else should. What Colchester Institute just won Colchester Institute beat HMRC at the Court of Appeal last week in a VAT dispute dating back to a 2008 building project. The court ruled that grant-funded education counts as "bu

Date | 2 April 2026 There's something about the start of a new financial year that concentrates the mind. April 1st brought more than just fresh budgets this time around; it landed a raft of policy changes that colleges, sixth forms and training providers have been bracing for since last autumn's white paper. So let's unpack what's actually changed and what it means for the people doing the work. Apprenticeship units are finally live After months of consultation and a fair am

Date | 20th March 2026 The Children's Commissioner doesn't often turn her lens on FE colleges. When she does, it's worth stopping to read it carefully. Published this week, her report gives the first proper national picture of what the college sector is actually dealing with, and some of the figures are striking even for people who've spent years in it. Ninety per cent said it, and a third said it's worse than that Ninety per cent of college leaders say funding limits their a