£8.8 million Capital Funding for T Level Priority Routes

As part of a wider package of support for skills, we have today announced that we are making up to £8.8 million capital funding available for eligible T Level providers, to support them in purchasing industry-standard equipment for courses in high priority areas from September 2026.

Including £1.8 million from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s Engineering Skills Package, the funding will support providers delivering T Levels in the following routes for the first time from September 2026:

• Engineering & Manufacturing,
• Construction,
• Digital,
• Health & Science,
• Creative & Design,
• Agriculture, Environmental & Animal Care

These are areas in which demand for skills is expected to expand significantly in the future, and where equipment costs are generally higher, aligned to Industrial Strategy priorities and/or local skills priorities.

Providers who have registered to deliver T Levels in the above routes for the first time in 2026 and completed the T Level Data Collection (TLDC) forecast,  will be in scope for this funding. Full eligibility criteria will be published in the spring.  

We will send grant offer letters to eligible providers in Spring 2026. We will aim to make payments in late Spring and providers will have until December 2026 to spend their allocation. Details of monitoring arrangements, deadlines to submit invoices and conditions of receiving the funding will be outlined in the grant offer letter.

This funding is a one-off grant for 2026-27, and is not part of the previous Specialist Equipment Allocation, or Buildings, Facilities and Improvements Grant, both of which have now closed. This is the final time capital support will be provided in this way for the introduction of new T Level routes. Future capital funding to support the growth of priority technical qualifications, will be provided through the Skills Mission Fund.

If you have any queries, please email routesreadiness.TE@education.gov.uk