Journey computes funding-sensitive figures against the apprenticeship funding rule pack in force at each start date — currently 2024/25 and 2025/26, and built to adopt each new year as it is published.
R14 Period · Closes in 4 days
Forecast Cashflow (Period)
£248,500
+12% vs last period
On-programme payments
£210,000
945 active learners
Completion payments
£38,500
22 expected achievers
No Error 1 / Error 2 violations
ILR structure is valid against DfE rules.
3 Warnings (Rule: OTJ_Hours_01)
Learners recorded with planned hours below minimum for standard.
Illustrative funding rule view with sample data.
Definition
The DfE apprenticeship funding rules set out who and what can be funded, how funding is calculated, and the evidence providers must hold. They change each academic year, and apprentices are funded under the rules in force when they started — so software must apply the correct year's rules to each learner.
Journey holds the apprenticeship funding rules as versioned rule packs and selects the pack in force at each apprentice's start date through a single source of truth, so figures are always computed against the correct year. It currently carries 2024/25 and 2025/26 and is built to adopt the 2026/27 pack, now published by the DWP for apprenticeships starting from 1 August 2026; figures are computed server-side and never supplied by the client. Journey is independent software and is not DfE or Ofsted approved. It does not guarantee funding or inspection outcomes.
Each academic year's DfE funding rules are held as a distinct, versioned pack rather than hard-coded into the calculations.
A single source of truth selects the rule pack in force at each apprentice's start date, so figures never drift onto the wrong year.
Funding-sensitive figures are computed and enforced server-side; the client can request a transition but never supplies the resulting numbers.
Every funding figure carries an evidence trail behind it, ready for a DfE/ESFA funding audit.
Last reviewed: June 2026
The DfE apprenticeship funding rules change every academic year, and apprentices on programme straddle those changes. A learner who started in 2024/25 is funded under that year's rules even while you enrol new starts under a later year. Software that hard-codes a single year's rules into its calculations will quietly mis-fund one cohort or the other; the only safe model is to hold each year as a distinct, versioned rule pack.
Journey does exactly that. Each year's rules are a separate pack, and a single source of truth selects the pack in force at each apprentice's start date. The same logic drives both the funding calculations and the dashboards, so the figure a director sees and the figure used in the ILR come from the same place.
Funding-sensitive figures are computed and enforced on the server. The client can request a state transition — an enrolment, a break in learning, a withdrawal — but never supplies the resulting funding figure, which removes a whole class of accidental and deliberate mis-claims. Every figure carries an evidence pack so the working behind it is available the moment an auditor asks.
As of June 2026, Journey carries the 2024/25 and 2025/26 DfE apprenticeship funding rule packs. The 2026/27 pack has now been published by the DWP — which took on the apprenticeship funding rules on 1 April 2026 — and applies to apprenticeships starting from 1 August 2026; the engine is built to adopt it alongside the existing years so apprentices who started earlier continue to be calculated against the rules that applied to them. Journey is independent software built around the published funding rules — it is not government approved and does not guarantee funding outcomes.
This page reflects current public guidance. For the definitive rules, always check the official sources below.
Funding-safe and audit-ready by design
Every record is scoped to your organisation on each read and write — one provider can never see another's data.
Every state change is recorded against the real person who made it, so the history stands up at audit.
Funding is computed server-side against the right year for each start date — 2024/25 and 2025/26, and built to adopt the 2026/27 pack now published by the DWP.
AI is metered per tenant, prompts are scrubbed of learner PII and outputs are validated, falling back gracefully.
Built and operated by a UK company to externally-audited information-security standards.
No lock-in: export your data whenever you like, and your employer relationships always remain yours.
Journey is independent software and is not DfE or Ofsted approved. It does not guarantee funding or inspection outcomes.
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