Uplift factors and postcode files
Source: gov.uk (2025-09-02)

Reference data sets for area cost factor uplifts and disadvantage factor uplifts for data / management information purposes relating to funding.

You might find these adult skills fund (ASF) data files (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adult-skills-fund-asf-postcode-files) showing the funding bodies that are responsible for funding each postcode in England useful.

We use this data in funding calculations to support publicly funded education and skills in England; covering 16 to 19 study programmes, adult skills fund (ASF), free courses for jobs (FCFJ), apprenticeships, the European Social Fund and advanced learner loans bursary. This includes devolved ASF and FCFJ qualifications funded by mayoral combined authorities or the Greater London Authority.

ASF postcode files

To support the devolution of ASF, we have produced postcode files (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adult-skills-fund-asf-postcode-files) to show which postcodes are within the devolved areas, and consequently which body is responsible for ASF learners resident in a given postcode.

How we use data from different years

For funded learners aged 16 to 19, we apply the most recent single funding year’s factors to all learners in that funding year, regardless of their start date.

For adult-funded aims and apprenticeship frameworks, we changed our calculations in the 2016 to 2017 year to apply the factor or cash value in our calculations based on the date when the learner started the aim or programme. For example, for learners who started adult-funded aims or apprenticeship frameworks from 1 August 2017 to 31 July 2018, we used the values from the 2017 to 2018 tables in the funding calculations for 2018 to 2019 and then in subsequent years.

Postcodes area cost uplifts

The area cost uplift reflects the higher cost of delivering provision in some parts of the country, such as London and the south east.

Disadvantage uplifts

These are uplifts or amounts for learners living in the most disadvantaged areas of the country.

Historically we have used various versions of the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) to determine disadvantage factors and uplifts.

The IMD is assigned based on lower layer super output areas (LSOAs). LSOAs are a set of geographical areas developed, following the 2001 census, with the aim of defining areas of consistent size whose boundaries would not change between censuses.

Therefore, we initially set disadvantage factors at LSOA level, and then apply the factors to postcodes within each LSOA. We publish disadvantage information on this page at LSOA level and also at postcode level.

For the year 2021 to 2022 onwards, the 2019 IMD (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-indices-of-deprivation-2019) has been used for provision funded by the Department for Education (DfE) (or Education and Skills Funding Agency for relevant years). This used LSOA code based mapping from the 2011 census.

For the year 2016 to 2017 up to and including the year 2020 to 2021, we used the 2015 IMD (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-indices-of-deprivation-2015). This used the LSOA mapping from the 2011 census.

Up to the funding year 2015 to 2016, we used the 2010 IMD (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-indices-of-deprivation-2010) which used the LSOAs from the 2001 census as its underlying mapping.

Some Mayoral combined authorities and the Greater London Authority have wished to set different disadvantage factors to those of DfE for ASF provision they fund.

We will indicate which organisation’s funding applies to each factor using a ‘SOFCode’ field in the files published here.

The SOFCode field uses values from the individualised learner record’s (ILR) source of funding (SOF) code (https://guidance.submit-learner-data.service.gov.uk/25-26/ilr/entity/LearningDeliveryFAM/field/LearnDelFAMType/attribute/SOF). The values we use are taken from the codes with a type of ‘SOF’ which can be used in the ILR’s learning delivery funding and monitoring code field (https://guidance.submit-learner-data.service.gov.uk/25-26/ilr/entity/LearningDeliveryFAM/field/LearnDelFAMCode). For example, code 115 represents Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority.

However, because the disadvantage factors are the same for SOF 105 and SOF 107, and to reduce the numbers of rows in the published files to make them easier to open in spreadsheet software, we have merged records together which would have been codes 105 and 107, with a SOFCode value of ‘105/107’.

Disadvantage uplift factors at LSOA level

The LSOA files show the disadvantage uplifts that apply to LSOA areas for the relevant funding year.

Postcodes may change their assigned LSOA during the year due to boundary changes. We freeze values based on a postcode’s LSOA at the start of the funding year and this can result in some postcodes currently within an LSOA having a different value to the one published for that LSOA in the LSOA file.

Disadvantage uplift factors at postcode level

The postcode files show the disadvantage uplifts that apply to LSOAs for the relevant funding year.

We calculate the uplift values using the LSOA category of each postcode, and the disadvantage uplifts held at LSOA level.

Postcode disadvantage funding within apprenticeships

The disadvantage funding for apprenticeships only applies to provision that is apprenticeship framework based, and that start on or before 31 July 2020. Also, the additional payments for disadvantage are earned at 90 and 365 days into the programme, which means many of these additional payments will be earned by 31 July 2021. Therefore, we will no longer update the apprenticeship disadvantage values beyond the 2020 to 2021 year.

For 2020 to 2021 and earlier years, the final column shows the cash value of disadvantage funding which we use in the funding calculations for apprenticeship frameworks that started from 1 May 2017. We derived these cash values from the LSOA, based on the English indices of deprivation 2015 (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-indices-of-deprivation-2015).

More information is available within the apprenticeship technical funding guide (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeship-technical-funding-guide).

Large employer file

This only applies to apprenticeship framework starts before 1 May 2017.

The large employer file is used in the apprenticeship funding calculation by providing a list of workplace location identifiers that we match to the ILR to determine whether the large employer discount applies.

As this part of the calculation only applies to starters before 1 May 2017, we are no longer publishing new versions of this file, but we will still use the data in calculations while those learners remain on programme.

If an apprenticeship framework programme started before 1 August 2016, we use the value in the 2015 to 2016 large employer file in the calculations. If an apprenticeship framework started from 1 August 2016 to 30 April 2017, we use the value in the 2016 to 2017 large employer file.