Around £11 million of cash to bolster higher technical education provision has been withheld in the Department for Education’s coffers, officials have admitted.
In March the DfE announced that 63 providers had won a slice of the £32 million higher technical education skills injection fund, designed to help providers invest in equipment, resources and training for delivering the qualifications.
But in an update this week, the DfE said that just £21 million through the skills injection fund is supporting around 85 providers this financial year, focusing on levelling up areas.
The DfE said that the number of organisations to receive funding was different as some had applied as a consortium, but confirmed there was an £11 million underspend which will remain in the DfE’s central pot.
