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Guidance

Adult skills fund: funding rules

Sets out the rules that apply to Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) funded adult skills fund (ASF) provision for the funding year.

Updates to this page

From:
Department for Education and Department for Work and Pensions
Published:
30 April 2025
Last updated:
14 September 2026
Show all updates

  1. Added guidance on funding arrangements for learners who live in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

  2. Updated the section 'Individuals who are not eligible for funding' to add further details about people who are in the UK on a sponsorship visa.

  3. Added'Adult skills fund: funding and performance management rules 2026 to 2027'.

  4. We've updated the 'all funding agreements' under section 3, in the ASF funding and performance management rules 2025 to 2026 to reflect the changes to the new Ofsted inspection framework that started on 10 November 2025.

  5. We have updated the residency eligibility section to clarify the eligibility for dependants of individuals on a sponsorship visa.

  6. We have added the section about learners who live in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland back into version 2 of the ASF funding and performance management rules for 2025 to 2026. You will find it under the residency eligibility section.

  7. Under the residency eligibility section in the ASF funding and performance management rules for 2025 to 2026, we have clarified the definition of a sponsorship visa.

  8. We've updated our ASF funding and performance management rules for 2025 to 2026. You can see a full list of the changes in our 'what's new' section.

  9. First published.

Applies to England

Documents

Adult skills fund: funding and performance management rules 2026 to 2027

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Adult skills fund: funding and performance management rules 2025 to 2026

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Adult skills fund: funding and performance management rules 2024 to 2025

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Adult skills fund: level 3 qualifications flow charts

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Details

These documents set out the adult skills fund (ASF) for the relevant funding year.

The rules apply to all providers of education and training that receive DfE or DWP ASF from the relevant Secretary of State acting through the DfE.  

If you have any feedback or questions after reading our funding rules, or if there’s anything else you need help with, you can find more support on our customer help centre.

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