Over one hundred colleges and training providers have been awarded funding under the government’s new Turing Scheme – but FE will only receive two-thirds of the promised cash owing to lack of demand.

The Department for Education has today revealed the winning bidders to the scheme, which includes 110 further and vocational education providers. Ninety-three are from England, two are from Wales, six from Scotland, and nine from Northern Ireland.

FE Week has also been told £22 million of the overall £110 million pot has been allocated to pay for FE and VET students to undertake work and study placements abroad.

Higher education institutions received just above £67 million from the scheme, and schools just under £7.5m.

This is despite one of the Turing Scheme’s delivery partners, Ecorys, telling FE Week in March the FE sector was in line for £35 million, meaning that 62 per cent of the estimate has been offered.

The Department for Education said all FE and VET providers received the full amount they bid for, adding that there was less demand from colleges and training providers than anticipated while there was greater-than-expected demand from universities.

Furthermore, just under 6,000 FE students will take part in the Turing Scheme this year, the DfE said today, which is 60 per cent of the 10,000 Ecorys had estimated.

The Turing Scheme has replaced the Erasmus+ programme the UK pulled out of last year.

Around 55 per cent of participants from the FE and vocational sector will be from disadvantaged backgrounds.

This trumps the estimated 48 per cent for the scheme overall, which includes participants from schools and universities.

 

Multiple successful colleges had not taken part in Erasmus

Education secretary Gavin Williamson said today the “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity to work and learn abroad had been “disproportionately enjoyed by those from the most privileged backgrounds” until now.

Turing
Gavin Williamson

The DfE claims a total of 40,000 individual placements will be supported through the scheme this year, which they say exceeds their own estimates.

A number of colleges which successfully bid for funding under the Turing Scheme did not take part in Erasmus, the DfE has said.

Association of Colleges chief executive David Hughes called it “encouraging to see colleges taking up all that Turing can offer – including colleges that are newer to international partnerships”.

 

Turing Scheme funding broken down

Placements on the Turing Scheme, named after the famous codebreaker Alan Turing, can last between two weeks and 12 months.

Colleges, schools and universities have been bidding for the funding since applications opened in March.

The bidding documents showed that, as well as taking up placements abroad, learners can also use the funding to partake of international skills competitions, which can last between one and ten days.

FE and VET applicants will receive up to £1,360 for travel costs and up to £109 per day for living costs.

Disadvantaged students will be funded at actual cost for additional travel expenses, including for visas, passports and health insurance. 

Learners with SEND will receive funding for up to 100 per cent of actual costs for support directly related to their additional needs.

Providers are also set to get £315 per participant to fund organisational support for their first 100 participants, and £180 per participant over that number.

The colleges and training providers awarded funding:

Organisation name Organisation country Region
American Institute for Foreign Study (U.K.) Limited England London
AP Cymru Limited Wales Wales
Asfar England London
Ashfield Boys High School Northern Ireland Northern Ireland
Atlantic Whale and Dolphin Foundation England East Midlands
Basingstoke College of Technology England South East
Bath College England South West
Belfast Met College Northern Ireland Northern Ireland
Bishop Auckland College England North East
Bishop Burton College England Yorkshire
Blue Stamp Travel England East Midlands
Borders College Scotland Scotland
Bradford College England Yorkshire
Bridgwater and Taunton College England South West
Brighton Third Sector Training Ltd. England South East
Burton and South Derbyshire College England East Midlands
Camborne Science and International Academy England South West
Capacity London Ltd England London
Capital City College Group England London
Cheshire College – South & West England North West
Cheshire Training Exchange England North West
City College Plymouth England South West
ColegauCymru / CollegesWales Ltd Wales Wales
Croydon College England South East
David Campbell Event Management Limited England North West
Discovery College YMCA England South West
Divad Training Ltd England London
DN Colleges Group England East Midlands
DSC Regen England London
Dungannon United Youth C.I.C Northern Ireland Northern Ireland
East Coast College England East of England
East Coast College England East of England
East Sussex College Group England South East
Eat That Frog C.I.C. England South West
Eco Chateau Training CIC England South East
Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival. Scotland Scotland
Erasmus Academy UK Ltd. England London
European Strategic Partnerships Ltd. England London
EuroTrain Platform England South East
Everything Possible CIC England Yorkshire
Exeter College England South West
FCV International Football Academy England East Midlands
Football Management Company (NI) Ltd Northern Ireland Northern Ireland
Gecko Programmes Ltd England West Midlands
Gecko Programmes Ltd England West Midlands
Genius Solutions Limited trading as Languages Training & Development (LT&D) England South East
Glasgow Clyde College Scotland Scotland
Glasgow Girls FC Scotland Scotland
Global Vision Initiative (formerly Vision 2020 Leadership Initiative) England North West
Gotoco England South East
Grampus Heritage and Training Ltd England North West
Greater Brighton Metropolitan College England South East
Haringey Sixth Form College England London
HSDC England South East
Ikkaido Ltd England South East
Invest in Sport Limited Northern Ireland Northern Ireland
IVOLO LTD England West Midlands
John Leggott College England East Midlands
KBM Media Solutions LTD England London
Lincoln College England East Midlands
Lionheart in the Community (LITC) England London
London Mobility Company 2000 Ltd. England London
London South East Colleges England South East
Luminate Education Group England Yorkshire
NCG (Colleges) England North East
New City College England London
New Collaborative Learning Trust England Yorkshire
New College Lanarkshire Scotland Scotland
New College Swindon England South West
New College Swindon England South West
North Liverpool Academy England North West
North West Regional College Northern Ireland Northern Ireland
Northfleet Technology College England South East
Nottingham College England East Midlands
Nova Payroll Management Services Ltd. t/a Pin Point Training England North East
Oldham College England North West
Park View Academy England North East
Petroc England South West
PGL Training (Plumbing) Limited England South West
RiSE International England London
RNN Group England Yorkshire
Royal Academy of Culinary Arts England London
Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) England London
SLCP Thunder CIC England London
South Devon College England South West
South Eastern Regional College Northern Ireland Northern Ireland
South West College Northern Ireland Northern Ireland
Southern Regional College Northern Ireland Northern Ireland
Stanmore College England South East
Strode College England South West
Student Athlete Network England East of England
T.E.E.P. (Training Education and European Project) England London
Tameside College England North West
The Bournemouth and Poole College England South West
The Canterbury Academy England South East
The Isle of Wight College England South East
The Language Alliance Limited England Yorkshire
The Sheffield College England Yorkshire
The TEC Partnership England East Midlands
The Trinity Catholic School England East Midlands
The White Horse Federation England South West
Twin Training International England London
UK Work Placement Ltd England North West
UK-Certified Knowledge Association England London
University College Birmingham England West Midlands
Volunteer International C.I.C. England London
Whitehead-Ross Education and Consulting Ltd. England South East
Wigan and Leigh College England North West
Wirral Metropolitan College England North West
Zone Out Partnership Scotland Scotland

 

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  1. Bill Blythe

    I hope DfE don’t take an implication from this that FE isn’t interested and the money should go to HE – we had 2020 Erasmus funding which we rolled over into 2021/2022 hence not needing to bid for as much of the Turing pot. Had we not had that funding, then our ask would have been much higher. It is also clear that the way in which they’ve split level 2 (schools route) and level 3 (FE and VET) with such different rules will naturally mean there is lower take up as it disadvantages FE colleges. There does appear to be a complete lack of understanding about the nature and volume of Level 2 provision in colleges.