Subcontracting post-16 education and training for the first time
How to seek written approval when subcontracting for the first time.
- From:
- Department for Education
- Published
- 16 June 2021
- Last updated
-
184 June20242025 — See all updates
Applies to England
Documents
Details
This guidance is for lead providers of post-16 education and training. These are training providers that have a contract or agreement to deliver education and training with:
- with the Department for Education (DfE
)
the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA)
).
You must get approval in writing before awarding a contract to a subcontractor, if you have not previously subcontracted DfE or ESFA funded provision.
The guidance outlines the process which you need to go through and information you need to provide.
Updates to this page
Published 16 June 2021
Last updated 184 June 2024
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Update history
2026-03-30 13:32
Updated ‘Subcontracting post-16 education and training for the first time’.
2025-06-04 09:56
Updated the contact details.
2024-06-18 16:02
Updated ‘Subcontracting post-16 education and training for the first time’ to include the adult skills fund and remove references to the adult education budget. Added the adult skills fund link to the ‘Providers who must get approval’ section and updated links in the ‘How DfE will respond to your request’ section.
2023-09-06 10:00
Page updated as the Department for Education has taken over responsibility for subcontracting post-16 education and training from the Education and Skills Funding Agency. The reforms to the subcontracting process have now been embedded, so we have added clarity on what lead providers are, what subcontracting is and how to make a request to subcontract for the first time.
Details
This guidance is for lead providers of post-16 education and training. These are training providers that have a contract or agreement to deliver education and training with:
- with the Department for Education (DfE
) theEducationandSkillsFundingAgency(ESFA)
You must get approval in writing before awarding a contract to a subcontractor, if you have not previously subcontracted DfE or ESFA funded provision.
The guidance outlines the process which you need to go through and information you need to provide.
Updates to this page
Sign up for emails or print this page
Update history
2026-03-30 13:32
Updated ‘Subcontracting post-16 education and training for the first time’.
2025-06-04 09:56
Updated the contact details.
2024-06-18 16:02
Updated ‘Subcontracting post-16 education and training for the first time’ to include the adult skills fund and remove references to the adult education budget. Added the adult skills fund link to the ‘Providers who must get approval’ section and updated links in the ‘How DfE will respond to your request’ section.
2023-09-06 10:00
Page updated as the Department for Education has taken over responsibility for subcontracting post-16 education and training from the Education and Skills Funding Agency. The reforms to the subcontracting process have now been embedded, so we have added clarity on what lead providers are, what subcontracting is and how to make a request to subcontract for the first time.