Adult skills funding 2026-27: rule changes you need to know

Construction safety card costs, free maths and English courses for apprentices, visa documentation requirements and frozen funding rates have all been confirmed in new adult skills fund rules.

Funding regulations published by the Department for Work and Pensions have approved several changes to the 2026-27 adult skills fund (ASF) funding and performance management rules for non-devolved areas.

The ASF is worth around £1.4 billion annually and pays for skills, employability and wellbeing courses for more than one million adults each year.

From August, the ASF earnings threshold for learners taking level 2 and 3 courses and free courses for jobs programmes will rise from £25,750 to £26,800.

The rule changes are the first since adult skills policy transferred from the Department for Education to the DWP, although the DfE continues to implement the ASF on the DWP’s behalf.

Here are the key changes:

CSCS cards

The costs of Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) cards and associated health and safety qualifications will be covered for the first time.

The move mirrors the policy of several mayoral areas with devolved adult education policy, such as the Greater London Authority, that already cover the costs of construction safety cards, although eligibility rules vary by area.

It means eligible learners enrolled on a level 2 or 3 qualification within the building and construction sectors will have their CSCS card and health and safety test costs covered.

According to the Construction Industry Training Board, the standard CSCS card application fee is £36 and the health and safety test fee is £23.50.

Other qualifications with an “associated alliance scheme” can also be funded, the new rules confirm.

Maths and English

Adult apprentices who do not hold a grade 4 GCSE or equivalent will be funded to study English and maths up to level 2.

This follows the government’s decision to scrap the apprenticeship completion rule requiring learners to achieve English and maths to GCSE level last year, in a bid to boost apprenticeship uptake.

The ASF will only apply where an apprentice’s employer does not agree to fund English and/or maths.

Visa paperwork tweak

For the first time, providers will be required to show documentary evidence that a learner “intends to, and is likely to be eligible to” renew their visa if it runs out before the end of their course.

Existing rules give providers discretion to fund learners if they have a “high degree of confidence” that the learner intends to renew their visa.

When approached for comment, the DWP declined to clarify what evidence would be required but emphasised that the rule update was a small technical change.

Funding expert Steve Hewitt warned that providers would be “more likely to turn these learners away” over fears of losing funding if they are audited.

The regulation change is more stringent than tweaks flagged by senior DWP civil servant Tracey Cox in March.

Apprenticeship funding rules currently say learners are only eligible for funding if their visa ends after their end-point assessment date.

Frozen rates

Base funding rates for ASF courses will remain frozen for a third year.

The freeze extends the effective real-terms funding cut for ASF courses, which, according to the Bank of England’s inflation calculator, is equivalent to a six per cent reduction in value since 2023.

The DWP will also continue to use an index of multiple deprivation from 2019 to calculate its disadvantage uplift rate.

Free courses for jobs

The free courses for jobs (FCFJ) offer, which means adult learners earning below £26,800 a year are eligible for a funded level 3 qualification, has been expanded to more level 2 qualifications.

Specific level 2 qualifications for engineering and manufacturing have been added to the DfE’s list of funded qualifications, following the addition of construction courses last year.

Existing FCFJ level 3 qualifications are offered for accounting and finance, digital, health and social care, and public services.