Correspondence

ESFA Update further education: 1 September 2021

Published 1 September 2021

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This has been withdrawn as it’s out of date. Read the latest editions of ESFA Update for the latest news and information.

Applies to England

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esfa-update-1-september-2021/esfa-update-further-education-1-september-2021

1. Latest information on coronavirus (COVID-19)

The Department for Education has published guidance about COVID-19 in educational settings for staff, parents and carers, pupils and students on GOV.UK.

Please check GOV.UK regularly for updates.

2. Reminder: the data collection for further education (FE) workforce closes on Friday 24 September 2021 at 4:00pm

Data can be returned until the 4:00pm deadline for the 2020 to 2021 academic year. If you haven’t already, please return your staff and vacancy data.

Minister Keegan has written to FE providers about the importance of the collection.

The first collection for academic year 2020 to 2021 is voluntary.

Providers are encouraged to send a return to familiarise themselves with the data items required and the methods of completing the data return. Returned data also provides an initial view of the sector to support policy development and feedback useful data to the sector.

The data return will be mandatory for the 2021 to 2022 academic year.

You should complete a return if you receive funding through one or more of the following funding models:

  • 16-19 (excluding apprenticeships)
  • Adult skills
  • Apprenticeships (from 1 May 2017) including levy funding
  • Community Learning
  • European Social Funding (ESF)
  • Other Adult
  • Other 16-19

Returns are not required if you are a school or academy which returns the school workforce census or a HE provider which returns the HESA staff record.

Documentation including a technical specification and a support manual has been produced to facilitate the staff data collection.

The FE workforce collection is hosted within the Submit learner data (SLD) service. Users will need an IDAMS account and appropriate ‘roles’ assigned to their profile to access the FE workforce collection.

For users who do not have an IDAMS account, refer to instructions on how to register for IDAMS.

You can contact us with any queries about FE workforce data collection:

3. Information: independent training providers (ITPs) financial forecasts

As part of our requirements, published on GOV.UK, some independent training providers may need to provide updated in year financial information. We will shortly start to notify individual ITPs so that we can start collecting this data.

ITPs within scope must complete and return to the agency a financial forecast template. Submission arrangements will be included in the individual notification.

The deadline for submission for providers in scope is Thursday 30 September 2021.

4. Information: Secretary of State Approved List of Independent Special Schools in England and Wales and Special Post-16 Institutions

We have published the latest Secretary of State Approved List of Independent Special Schools in England and Wales and Special Post-16 Institutions that parents and young people can consider if expressing a preference when their EHCP is being agreed.

The application process is annual, with the next application window opening in May 2022. The guidance and supporting information is available on GOV.UK. The list is refreshed termly to reflect continued compliance with the requirements.

Newly established special post-16 institutions or newly registered independent special schools can submit an application as an ‘exception’ outside of the Section 41 application process timeframe. Enquiries about this should be made to hnssos.esfa@education.gov.uk.

5. Information: ESFA funded AEB contracts for services 2021 to 2022

ESFA funded adult education budget (AEB) contracts for services for the academic year 2021 to 2022 commenced delivery on 1 August 2021. Thank you to all organisations who participated in the recent procurement. A list of those awarded a contract can be found online.

6. Information: ESFA adult education budget (AEB) funding rules 2021 to 2022 - Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy

We can confirm that individuals covered by the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP), formerly referred to as Afghan Locally Engaged Staff (LES) under the intimidation policy, are exempt from the 3-year ordinary residency rule in the UK. As long as they reside in England and the course takes place in England, they will be immediately eligible for further education 19+ funding.

Paragraph 41.7 in version 2 of the 2021 to 2022 ESFA AEB funding rules already states that Afghan LES under the intimidation policy will be exempt. We will be updating the funding rules shortly to reflect the change in name of that policy.

7. Information: earnings adjustment statement (EAS)

We have published guidance for submitting EAS in the 2021 to 2022 funding year.

You can:

  • use the EAS to adjust your funding from ESFA or from devolved authorities
  • access the guidance and supporting documents, including a template CSV file and validation rules, to help you with your return

8. Information: new webinar on understanding the ILR and data in the apprenticeship service - September 2021

The Apprenticeship Service is holding a webinar in September 21 for training providers and employer providers.

This webinar will give you an overview of how data submissions work, and a guide to the individualised learning record (ILR).

Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions in a live Q&A.

The webinar will take place on Thursday 30 September 2021, 12.00pm to 13.00pm.

There a limited places left so please sign up now.

You can watch all Apprenticeship Service webinar recordings on YouTube.

Follow @ESFAdigital on Twitter.

9. Your feedback: consultation open for second cycle of Higher Technical Qualifications

The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (the Institute) is seeking views on the qualifications submitted to the Institute’s approvals process for Higher Technical Qualifications. Through this approval process, the Institute will award a quality mark to signal to employers and learners those qualifications offer genuine quality and are aligned to employer-led occupational standards.

We want input from a range of stakeholders on whether the qualifications meet employer needs. Your feedback will be used by the Institute, including our Route Panels of employers, alongside other supporting evidence to make an approvals decision.

You can visit the Institute’s website to take part in the consultation and view the qualifications that have been submitted. The consultation is open until 24 September 2021.

10. Your feedback: college data collections – research participants needed

The College Data Collections portal was launched in May 2019.

During September the ESFA will run research sessions to find out about colleges’ experience of using the portal to submit financial data.

This research will help define priorities for future improvements.

The sessions:

  • do not require any preparation
  • will test the portal and how easy it is to use (participants are not being tested!)
  • will be conducted remotely over Microsoft Teams
  • will last 45 minutes to an hour

The research is open to all colleges (sixth form, FE, and specialist).

Please register your interest as soon as possible.

11. Your feedback: ESFA’s AFED (Analyse Further Education Data) dashboard research

We are currently reviewing how users use the AFED dashboard once they have submitted ILR data with further education providers.

The user research team would like to interview further education providers to learn about your experiences of analysing ILR (individualised learner record) data after submission via the AFED dashboard, as well as your broader engagement with ESFA.

From this research we hope to gain insight into the process to ensure its workable and delivers value:

  • interview times are available throughout September
  • each interview will be conducted over Microsoft Teams and last 45 minutes to an hour
  • all responses will be anonymised before being fed back to ESFA

Please register your interest as soon as possible.

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