Half of the funding pot for colleges restructuring following an area review recommendation has been spent with less than a year to go before the deadline for applying. 

The government has allocated over £300 million for colleges that need to make major changes following an area review recommendation and cannot fund it themselves.

Funding is available up to March 2019 and the Department for Education advice documents states that colleges should submit an application before September 2018 at the latest in order to make changes before the deadline.

The DfE has received 58 applications for the restructuring facility including 29 applications from 31 sixth form colleges who have or plan to convert to academy status, the majority of which have not been allocated any funding to support this conversion.

Funding runs out in less than a year

There have been 29 applications to support restructurings within the college sector.

Nineteen applications, which include funding to support restructuring, have been approved to date. From the restructuring facility, up to 19 colleges have been approved to receive compensatory VAT funding if the liability arises and funding has been provided for transition grants.

Former skills minister Nick Boles said in 2016 that once the money was spent, no more emergency funding will be made available.

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