Colleges facing cuts to their national adult education budget allocations due to underdelivery during Covid will have their funding reviewed, the government has announced.
The special review of ESFA-funded AEB allocations for 2023/24 is planned for colleges and other grant-funded providers that have experienced a significant boost in delivery this year following drops in adult learner numbers over the previous two years.
Recruitment of adult learners took a fall in 2020 and 2021 amid the pandemic and associated lockdowns, forcing many colleges and other providers to underperform against their annual grant funding allocations.
The Education and Skills Funding Agency released individual AEB budgets for 2023/24 at the end of March, but multiple colleges found their allocations have been reduced compared to recent years.
