Learning support funding, and the new light-touch review
Funding that is neither means-tested nor capped by the band, and is under-claimed as a result of being misunderstood.
Where an apprentice has an identified learning difficulty or disability, learning support funding is paid to the provider at a fixed rate of £150 a month. Costs above that can be claimed as one-off payments as they occur. It sits outside the funding band, so it neither consumes a levy balance against the apprenticeship nor affects co-investment.
Eligibility does not require an Education, Health and Care plan. Providers can determine it through a thorough, evidence-based assessment of a learning difficulty or disability, and a detailed assessment can be carried out at any point during the apprenticeship rather than only at the start. That matters because needs are often identified months in, once someone is struggling with a specific element.
The 2026/27 rules added a proportionality clarification: where the need is stable because of a permanent disability and is unlikely to change, reviews may be light-touch rather than a full reassessment each time. Reviews otherwise run alongside progress reviews.
The same evidence base also unlocks the English and maths flexibilities, including offering Entry Level 3 functional skills in the adjusted subject where that is appropriate.
What follows: the under-claiming here is usually procedural rather than deliberate — the assessment is done, the support is delivered, and nobody records it in a way that triggers the claim. Check that your learning support process produces the evidence the funding requires as a by-product, rather than as a separate task somebody has to remember.