Capital funding

We have been allocated £84 million in capital funding by the government to distribute for the financial year 2025-26. The financial year runs from April 2025 to March 2026. We are running a bidding competition to allocate the majority of these funds.

There will also be a smaller formula allocation for providers, which we will confirm in autumn 2025, and funding for Jisc. 

Jisc provides UK universities and colleges with shared digital infrastructure and services, such as the superfast Janet Network. The capital grant to Jisc will support network upgrades, cybersecurity and learning analytics.

Bidding competition for capital funding for 2025 to 2026

We are running a bidding competition for capital funding for the financial year 2025-26. 

The bidding competition is open to all eligible providers (those registered with us in the Approved (fee cap) category).

Aims of the competition

Our aim in distributing capital funding through a competitive exercise is to enhance the learning experience of higher education students at providers, and to prioritise in particular:

1. Facilities to support the needs of local employers and regional economies, as identified in Local Skills Improvement Plans.
2. Skills England’s initial priorities as set out in autumn 2024 – these reflect the sectors for growth as identified in the Industrial Strategy and others earmarked as essential to the government’s overall strategy. These 10 sectors are:

• • advanced manufacturing
  • clean energy industries
  • creative industries
  • defence
  • digital and technologies
  • financial services
  • life sciences
  • professional and business services
  • construction
  • health and social care.

3. Projects that deliver value for money and support environmental sustainability in reducing energy consumption.

We considered these objectives will:

• promote choice and opportunities for students in relation to subject areas that require specialist or improved and enhanced teaching facilities
• help to meet the skills needs of students and employers locally and nationally
• promote economic growth.

How capital funding is monitored

All providers that are in receipt of OfS formula or bidding competition capital funding are required to report on their use of that funding at the end of each financial year and those reports may be subject to audit. Details about reporting requirements are notified to providers separately.

All funding allocated through the bidding competition needs to be spent in full, and in accordance with the terms and conditions, by 31 March 2026. We will request reports on the use of funds in April 2026.

We proactively monitor spend of our funding and expect that any funding awarded by the OfS for a specific financial year to be spent during that year, and that the outlined scope and scale of the project and activities is being delivered as intended.