Correspondence

ESFA Update further education: 11 September 2024

Published 11 September 2024

Applies to England

Announcement: Transfer of ESFA functions into the Department for Education

Today, the Department for Education (DfE) announced the decision to transfer the current functions of the ESFA into the department.

This means that the ESFA as an executive agency will close on Monday 31 March 2025.

For more information on the transfer of functions to the department, read ESFA functions to move to the Department for Education.

A letter from David Withey, Chief Executive and Accounting Officer of ESFA, to accounting officers has been shared on GOV.UK.

For any further questions or support, visit the customer help portal.

Action: Recording your T Level data accurately 

We calculate T Levels under- and over-delivery against your estimated numbers by reviewing, in year, your student numbers submitted in your autumn census or R04. It is important your autumn census or R04 data is recorded correctly as we will not accept business cases to change these numbers. 

Making errors in your T Level data recording could have a significant financial impact. It could lead to a larger than expected recovery of funding at the T Level funding reconciliation point in early 2025. 

We strongly encourage you to submit your autumn school census or R04 before the return deadlines (Wednesday 6 November 2024 for the autumn census and Thursday 5 December 2024 for the R04) so you can review your data submitted and make amendments where needed.  The T Levels funding guidance explains how to record your data correctly.

Information: New apprenticeship technical funding guide

We have published the apprenticeship technical funding guide which explains how funding works, including how we will calculate provider payments. The update is primarily because of the changes to co-investment for new starts from Monday 1 April 2024.

We have also re-confirmed the additional funding available for care leavers who started after Tuesday 1 August 2023 and the increased rates for maths and English for new starters from Monday 1 January 2024.

If you have questions after reading our guidance, or if there’s anything else you need help with, you can find more support in our customer help centre.

Information: Early career framework mentor backfill and time off timetable grants – 2023 to 2024 allocations and payment arrangements

ESFA will publish allocations for the 2023 to 2024 academic year for early career framework (ECF) mentor backfill and time off timetable grants before the end of the 2024 autumn term.

We will make allocation payments for the 2023 to 2024 academic year for both grants to local authorities for maintained schools at the end of November 2024 and directly to academies at the start of December 2024.

You can read more information about the backfill payments for time off timetable for early career framework (ECF) mentor training and the funding for time off timetable for early career teachers and mentors who participated in the national roll out of the early career framework reforms.

If you do not have a training provider or have any queries, contact continuing-professional-development@digital.education.gov.uk.

Information: New qualifications approved for funding at level 2 in England from Friday 1 August 2025

DfE has approved new level 2 technical qualifications for funding in England from the 2025 following cycle 1 of its qualifications reforms. These high quality technical qualifications are based on the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education’s (IFATEs) occupational standards and support progression, particularly into employment, and the list can be found in the new qualifications approved for funding at level 2 in England from 1 August 2025 – T Levels support for schools and colleges guidance.

DfE approves qualifications for public funding in England if they meet the criteria for funding approval. You can find funding approval information for all of the qualifications (including the wider range of level 2 qualifications) funded through the qualification offers in England (except apprenticeships and traineeships) on Overview - List of Qualifications approved for funding.

Information: R12 in-year qualification achievement rates 2023 to 2024

The R12 update for provider Qualification Achievement Rates (QARs) has now been released for 2023 to 2024. This will be the last in-year update until provisional and final full year data is released, in January and in March.

In-year QARs can be accessed through view your education data, which provides a QAR:

• dashboard that uses your individualised learner record (ILR) data from the R12 return to show your rates
• data download to show your learner level information

Traineeships no longer appear in a separate dashboard. They have been included in the wider education and training dataset.

If you have any queries in relation to QARs, contact us using the customer help portal and select the QAR query type.

Further advice and support can be found in the help centre articles and communities section for peer support.

Information: Ofsted single headline grade removal for state-schools

DfE announced on Monday 2 September that single headline grades for schools will be scrapped with immediate effect to boost school standards and increase transparency for parents.

The government is committed, in time, to replacing single headline grades in all the remits that Ofsted inspects – namely private schools, early years settings, initial teacher education, children’s social care providers and further education.

This change is complex. Government and Ofsted will work in partnership with sectors over the next year to develop alternative reporting arrangements. New arrangements will take account of the unique characteristics of each sector but will broadly reflect the report card approach that is being taken for schools.

Providers in other sectors including further education will continue to receive single headline grades in the meantime.

You can read single headline Ofsted grades scrapped in landmark school reform for more information.

Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson provided a written ministerial statement.

Your feedback: Changes to the financial statement submissions process

We are looking at changing the way the following organisations submit their financial statements to us:

• special-post 16 Institutions (SPIs)
• non-maintained Special Schools (NMSS)
• independent Training Providers (ITPs)
• independent Learning Providers (ILPs)

If you are one of these organisations who submits financial statements to us, we’d like to understand your views on the proposed changes to ensure we design a service that meets your needs.

To participate, complete our 10 minute survey by 5pm on Monday 23 September 2024 or volunteer to take part in a research interview.

You can volunteer to participate in a research interview by completing this participant information sheet and consent form.

We’re committed to making our services work for everyone. We’d especially like to hear from people with disabilities, neurodivergence, impairments, those who use assistive technology, and anyone needing help or adjustments when using technology.