Colleges and sixth forms in England will once again be forced to absorb the cost of rising student numbers after ministers confirmed they will not fully fund this year’s in-year growth. The Department for Education said providers taking on additional 16 to 19 learners in 2025-26 will receive only around three-quarters of the funding expected based on previously published guidance. This is the same approach the government took last year due to an “unprecedented” number of extra students, with officials citing pressure on budgets as demand continues to grow. It comes a month after the DfE announced below-inflation per-student rate rise for the next academic year, with ministers accused of breaking a promise for a real-terms funding increase for 16 to 19 year olds made in last year’s white paper to ease demographic pressures. The DfE said today: “There has been another large increase in 16 to 19 funded students this year. This growth is positive for the many young people who have been able to take up opportunities for 16 to 19 education and represents a strong response by the sector. “However, because of the size and distribution of this growth in student numbers, it does create another year of very high in-year growth. We will fund all students through the lagged student number methodology in future allocations as normal. However, the current growth is significantly above the budget available for in-year payments, and so we cannot fully fund this growth. “We will provide approximately three-quarters of the funding expected based on arrangements published in August 2025.” Last month, the Association of Colleges said that colleges are currently teaching around 32,000 unfunded 16 to 19-year-olds due to the demographic bulge. Officials acknowledged that the in-year growth decision will be “disappointing” and encouraged colleges who have concerns about the impact of this change to contact their regional or the DfE’s customer help centre. Providers will start to receive growth payments from July 2026.