The Specialised English for Speakers of Other Languages funding mechanism is issued by the Minister responsible for tertiary education. The funding mechanism outlines the general form and essential components of the fund. It provides the mandate for us to allocate the funding and what the funding can be used for, and details how we administer the fund.

Funding is agreed through a tertiary education organisation’s (TEO’s) Investment Plan (Plan).

A TEO that receives ILN ESOL funding is required to:

• comply with the requirements of the Education and Training Act 2020, and
• comply with the conditions specified in its funding approval documents.

Funding for ILN ESOL is set through the Government’s annual budget process. We determine the appropriate amount of ILN ESOL funding for a TEO.

Through each TEO’s Plan, we agree the mix of provision (MoP). This includes the:

• programmes that the funding can be used for
• allocation of funding towards each programme, and
• volume of delivery expected from each programme.

Indicative allocation

The indicative allocation is our early estimate of the “On-Plan” funding that each tertiary education organisation (TEO) could receive in the following delivery year if its Investment Plan is approved for funding.

We calculate the indicative allocation using a set of allocation methodologies. These methodologies are specific to each fund. We review and revise them every year to ensure they’re aligned to funding determinations and the current tertiary environment.

Indicative allocations are made available through the My Allocations and Payments app on Ngā Kete from 1 June.

For more information, see Indicative allocations by year.

For more details regarding your specific allocation, please contact customerservice@tec.govt.nz or your Relationship Manager.

ILN ESOL provision is funded at a fixed rate of $19.40 per hour of face-to-face English language and literacy tuition, i.e. each hour of provision not attended by the learner is not to be reported, and is not funded.

For funding from 1 January 2023, the funding rate for ILN ESOL will increase by a further 2.75% to $20.17 per hour. This is in addition to the 1.2% increase that was applied for the 2022 fund rate.

Note: Delivery to learners receiving less than 20, and more than 500, hours (if eligible) is also funded, not just delivery to learners receiving 20 to 500 hours. See Eligibility. (Programme eligibility).

The methodology and technical specifications for the calculation of 2022 funding wash-ups can be found in the 2022 Global Wash-up Methodology document.

2022 Global Wash-up Methodology (PDF 1.1 MB)

ILN ESOL funding is paid in monthly instalments. The payment amounts are in equal instalments from January to June, and in equal instalments from July to December.