Phones, Progression and Payments: Half‑Term Updates for College Teams

Date | 6th February 2026

Operational focus on student support (bursaries/claims), digital/behaviour (phones/AI), inspection insights (Ofsted chief speech), and funding/progression (apprenticeships) – practical for finance, curriculum, and student services across FE/sixth‑form colleges.

Claims, cashflow and data

Funding admin is in full swing, even with half‑term on the horizon. The latest DfE update brings together Care to Learn and 16 to 19 Bursary Fund reminders, the adult mid‑year funding claim and confirmation of apprenticeship non‑levy procured allocations.

For funding teams, the adult mid‑year claim window for the Adult Skills Fund, Free Courses for Jobs and Advanced Learner Loans Bursary is short and unforgiving. Claims must match ILR data or risk challenge, so curriculum and MIS colleagues need to make sure any changes to adult delivery are processed before submission. Many colleges run shared systems across adult and 16–19, so tidier data improves the whole picture, not just one line on the claim. Apprenticeship non‑levy contracts have also been extended, with allocation statements now on Manage your education and skills funding. That gives curriculum and business development teams firmer ground to plan capacity and progression routes instead of guessing how many starts will be funded.

Phones, AI and behaviour

National guidance on mobile phones and AI has also shifted up a gear. The revised phones guidance pushes schools towards being “phone‑free”, and sector commentary is clear that Ofsted will look at how policies are written and how they work in real life. Colleges are not the main target, but the direction is obvious. Inspectors will expect to see thought‑through phone and device policies in post‑16 settings, particularly where behaviour, safeguarding or assessment integrity are at stake.

For FE and sixth‑form colleges this is a different challenge to schools, because many learners and adults rely on phones for work, caring and travel. A simple ban will not survive the bus queue. Talking FE’s view is that colleges should link phones and AI guidance to digital access and teaching practice. Estates and digital teams will need to consider classroom layouts, connectivity and monitoring tools, while teachers and quality leads look at how AI is discussed in schemes of work and assessment briefs, not just in a policy document. Where bursary or hardship funds are used to provide laptops or connectivity, it becomes easier to explain why phones are limited in teaching spaces: students have a better device to work on, and the policy feels less punitive.

Ofsted’s message to sixth‑form leaders

Ofsted’s chief inspector has also been setting out how the new framework is bedding in for post‑16. In his speech to the Sixth Form Colleges Association, Sir Martyn Oliver focused on the move to report cards and on what inclusion now means in inspections. Report cards separate judgements on areas such as leadership, curriculum and outcomes, making strengths and weaknesses more visible. For sixth‑form colleges, that changes the conversation with governors from “What’s our grade?” to “Where are we strong, and where do we need to move next?”.

On inclusion, Oliver was clear that inspectors will look at how well colleges know and support their learners, not just whether policies exist. Student support, ALS and safeguarding teams will recognise that description of their day‑to‑day work. Senior teams may want to revisit self‑assessment, LSIP engagement and board reporting to check that inclusion and workload are described with the same clarity that Ofsted now expects.

Across funding, behaviour and inspection, these updates land in different offices but quickly join up. Colleges that pull them into one SMT or governor conversation – about data quality, digital expectations and inclusion – are likely to feel more in control when visits, claims and policy checks arrive.