16 to 19 funding: Care to Learn (C2L) and 16 to 19 Bursary Fund for defined vulnerable groups (VB) funding claim

From academic year 2025 to 2026, we've changed the delivery model for this funding. There is no longer an external Student Bursary Support Service (SBSS) contractor to process applications and make payments.

There are 3 separate claim windows for academic year 2025 to 2026 as follows:

Autumn 2025 - The first funding claim window is closed. It was open from 8 September 2025 to 12 November 2025. Payments were made in February 2026 (March 2026 for academies).
Winter (January 2026) - The second funding claim window is closed. It was open from 5 January 2026 to 11 February 2026. Payments were made in April 2026 (May 2026 for academies).
Summer/end of year reconciliation (EoYR) claim window for academic year 2025 to 2026 - this form - is open from 18 May to 1 July 2026. All institutions paid C2L funds must submit EoYR data. You can also submit new claims or overall adjustments to each grant, where required. We will complete all checks and quality assurance before recovering any overpayments or making final additional payments. These will be processed in September 2026 (October 2026 for academies).

Complete the following digital forms, as appropriate, to claim for 16 to 19 funding:

Care to Learn (C2L). Read the C2L conditions of grant (opens in a new tab) if needed.
16 to 19 Bursary Fund for defined vulnerable groups (VB). Read the VB guidance (opens in a new tab) if needed.

Also read guidance on submitting digital claim forms (opens in a new tab) for help when submitting.

The deadline for both claim form submissions for the third summer/EoYR window is on or before 5pm Wednesday 1 July 2026.

Your reconciled claim(s) must be for the amount you've assessed is needed to support the eligible students for the academic year 2025 to 2026 according to grant funding conditions.

Any instituion that has claimed and been paid C2L funding in the first or second collection windows but fails to submit the end of year data reconciliation by the deadline will be subject to recovery of funds in full.

DfE Sign-in

You need to have an account with the DfE Sign-in service to access the form. If you have not used DfE Sign-in before you will need to create an account (opens in new tab) and link this to your organisational setting.

If you have questions

Go to the Customer Help Portal (opens in new tab).