Funding Information

Public funding for leadership and management qualifications varies enormously across the UK and in other countries, changing all the time. The information below is designed to help you identify the main sources of funding in the UK and where to look for further details.

England

There are two main routes for funding leadership and management development in England.

The Higher Education Funding Council for England funds universities and other HE Institutions, and those FE colleges offering HE provision, for their under-graduate provision (Bachelor and Foundation Degrees). Funding is based on an agreed number of full time equivalent students (FTEs), and may be used to support both full time and part time students.
The Learning and Skills Council funds all other post-16 provision, including FE colleges (and a few HE Institutions), Work-Based Learning providers (of NVQ and Apprenticeship programmes, mainly for younger learners) and Train to Gain providers. This is provided on a grant (FE) or contract (private providers) basis, with the amounts available listed on the Learning Aims Database.

For further information, follow the links below:

Northern Ireland

Universities and FE colleges in Northern Ireland are funded by the Department for Employment and Learning. Colleges’ funding is based on a Student Powered Unit of Resource (SPUR) which measures student volumes and also the different vocational areas, to reflect the different costs associated with them. Funding undergraduate programmes in the three Universities, two University Colleges and six FE colleges is undertaken by the Department as well.

The Department also supports a number of skills development programmes, including leadership and management development. Details of these are available on the Department’s website.

Scotland

There are two main streams of funding in Scotland:

Scottish Funding Council - for Universities and Colleges only, via a formula based primarily on their volume of activity (called Weighted Student Units of Measurement or WSUMs)
Scottish Enterprise - for work based learning etc. They fund Skillseekers (SVQ programmes) and Modern Apprenticeships, plus Training for Work, designed for unemployed people older than 25

Other programmes, devised locally in line with the strategies of the 12 Local Enterprise Companies or Highlands and Islands Enterprise. These include things like workforce development grants to fund training that meets local objectives.

Wales

Funding for FE Colleges and Work Based Learning Providers (Apprenticeships, Modern Skills Diploma and Skill Build) based on the National Planning and Funding System (NPFS), whereby funding is linked to approved plans for provision. The volume of activity is measured by Credit Equivalent Units that are based on the time that a programme takes to deliver, adjusted to reflect a range of factors (such as Welsh medium delivery, educational deprivation levels, age of learners and rurality).

More information can be found in our guidance for Centres on funding in Wales (Word document).