Sixth form colleges and designated institutions will be able to apply to become one of 19 new ‘technical excellence colleges’ next year, under plans for wave two of the TEC programme.
The government confirmed today it will hand out a share of £175 million to 19 TECs over four years from April 2026 to boost training high-demand sectors such as defence, digital, clean energy and advanced manufacturing.
The second wave of the Department for Education’s (DfE) programme will also dole out £283 million to mayors and local leaders to boost construction course numbers and expand college capacity in their areas.
Wave two will add to the ten FE colleges that became construction TECs back in August in a bid to train 40,000 construction workers by 2029.
After sector feedback, DfE expanded eligibility to sixth form colleges and designated institutions after acknowledging that some large sixth forms have comparable provision to general FE colleges.
Colleges will also be able to hold more than one TEC status under “dual designation” but this would be a rare occurrence and not standard practice, officials confirmed.
Applications are now open to create five defence TECs, five digital and technologies TECs, five clean energy industries TECs and four advanced manufacturing TECs.
Under new guidance for wave two of the programme, TECs will act as a “hub of excellence” in one of the four in-demand sectors and share and scale up their “model of innovative teaching and curricula excellence” across the sector.
Through a “hub and spoke” model, TECs will be expected to support other FE “spoke” providers such as FE colleges, independent training providers and university technical colleges by sharing resources and expertise.
DfE also will expect TECs to establish networks with other providers across the country in subsector areas where there are similar sector needs. For example, an advanced manufacturing TEC should work with the automotive subsector and a defence TEC should collaborate with the maritime capabilities’ subsector.
“Colleges appointed as TECs will support other providers that deliver provision in their sector, so that the opportunities and benefits that TECs create are spread across regions and learners,” DfE stated.
Skills minister Jacqui Smith said: “Learning a trade opens doors to a brilliant career and a secure future, and trade workers are crucial to our mission to turbocharge economic growth.
“We’re making sure every young person who wants to become a builder, engineer or technician can get that opportunity.
“Our plan for national renewal gives young people the skills they need to get on in life while delivering the homes and infrastructure our country desperately needs.”
Funding
The 19 successful TECs will receive an average of £9 million over four years, delivered through capital and revenue funding.
£175 million has been committed over a four-year period, broken down into £137 million capital and £38 million revenue funding and delivered jointly by DfE, Ministry of Defence, and the Department for Business and Trade.
After the TECs have been selected, they will be asked to submit “high-quality costed delivery plans” in summer 2026 along with capital and revenue costs.
They will also have to show support from employers, industry bodies, and strategic authorities relevant to the proposals set out in their delivery plans.
“TECs should also seek match funding or other commitments from employers,” the guidance added.
Around £2 million of revenue cash will be distributed equally per TEC over three years and will go towards TEC hubs developing, scaling and sharing specialist curricula and training with other partner providers.
Meanwhile, capital funding will be awarded for TECs to procure specialist equipment and upgrade their facilities.
Criteria
Budding TECs in wave two are required to meet a swathe of similar essential eligibility criteria as the construction TECs in wave one such as be a further education college part of the statutory FE sector in England.
But DfE has opened up applications to sixth form colleges and designated institutions for the first time after hearing feedback that some large sixth forms have comparable provision to general FE colleges.
Schools, academies and independent training providers are still not eligible to apply to become a TEC, but DfE are encouraging close collaboration with TECs to share expertise.
Depending on which of the four wave two sectors a college applies for, providers will have to meet sector-specific criteria.
These are:
- Demonstrating employer partnerships
- Alignment with sector priority occupations
- Alignment with one or more of the Industrial Strategy priority city regions and clusters and associated subsectors
- Level 4 + plus provision and Office for Students registration
Like wave one, applicants will be expected to have a finalised financial health grade of ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ for the year 2023-24 as assessed by DfE.
Wave two criteria added that once new grades for 2024-25 are finalised in April 2026, DfE will need to confirm that a TECs grade has remained ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’.
“Any college who receives a ‘requires improvement’ or ‘inadequate’ financial health grade for the year 2024 to 2025 will subsequently be deemed ineligible to become a TEC prior to appointment,” the criteria added.
TECs are expected to be Ofsted rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ in overall effectiveness. Colleges who have an Ofsted rating of ‘requires improvement’ may apply if they can “demonstrate through a recent monitoring visit report that they have made significant progress against all areas requiring improvement”.
The new criteria added that under Ofsted’s new framework, which has removed single word judgments with report cards, DfE understood that only a small number of colleges will be inspected under the new framework during the bidding process.
For those colleges, it will not apply a single word judgment and will instead consider the new report cards on a case-by-case basis as part of the assessment process.
Colleges also must have an achievement rate above 84 per cent based on 2023-24 figures or an apprenticeship achievement rate above 61 per cent according to the latest data.
Any exemptions from the eligibility criteria will be “rare” and will be considered typically where a single criterion cannot be met due to a “known” issue outside the applicant’s control.
DfE will also consider “dual designation” in exceptional circumstances. Colleges who already hold a TEC status or wish to apply to multiple TECs will have to complete two applications and indicate they wish to hold dual designation.
“Colleges seeking to be considered for more than one sector must provide compelling evidence of their capacity, infrastructure, and expertise to deliver at scale across each area, without compromising quality or impact,” DfE said.
Applications are open until February 16, 2026.
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