ESFA Update further education: 16 March 2022
Published 16 March 2022
Applies to England
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1. Reminder: Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers 2022
Employers from across the country have been busy preparing their entries for the Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers for 2022, the annual ranking of England’s outstanding apprenticeship employers, produced by the Department for Education.
There are two different entry categories for this year’s rankings:
- the Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers for employers with 250+ employees
- and new for 2022, the Top 50 SME Apprenticeship Employers for small and medium-sized employers with 10-249 employees
The rankings recognise employers for their commitment to employing apprentices, their creation of new apprenticeships, the diversity of their new apprentices, and the number of apprentices who complete their apprenticeships and progress further.
Entries are free-of-charge and the entry form has been specifically designed to be as simple and straightforward as possible for employers to complete.
The deadline for submitting your entry is 5pm on Friday 25 March.
Please help support the rankings by spreading the word through your networks and encouraging employers to apply.
2. Information: advance notice of 2022 to 2023 Strategic Development Funding Round
On 1 April 2022, we intend to publish a prospectus inviting applications for the Strategic Development Fund (SDF) for the 2022 to 2023 financial year.
As some colleges will be starting to break for Easter at this time, we are providing advance notice of our plans to launch this one-year fund so that we can give FE institutions and partners as much time as possible to form collaborations, liaise with employers and their representative bodies and prepare bids.
SDF was piloted in 2021 to 2022 and is now being opened to providers across all areas of the country, providing upfront capital and programme funding to support a change in facilities and provision that meets the needs of employers and supports local economic growth. Applications must be based on analysis of local skills needs, including the emerging plans being developed by the LSIP trailblazers in 2021 to 2022, and MCA and LEP analysis of local skills needs.
In total £85m funding will be available for SDF activity in 2022 to 2023 (£50m capital and £35m revenue). Funding will be allocated to every area of the country subject to submission of a credible bid endorsed by all FE providers in the area and supported by Employer Representative Bodies (ERBs).
Applications will be invited from collaborations of FE providers to align with the boundaries of the Combined and Mayoral Combined Authorities (including the GLA) where they exist. In other areas of the country, providers should collaborate, and make proposals, which are largely in line with Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) geographies. We will be looking for a single application from each area. Colleges that were part of the SDF pilot can be part of a new application.
Applications must reflect the key immediate skills priorities needed to improve skills in the local area, as well as supporting the transformational changes needed in preparation for the roll-out of the LSIPs; and should set out the level of funding required, the activities it will fund and the outputs that will be achieved.
To ensure projects meet the needs of employers, providers must demonstrate their proposals are supported by ERBs. We also expect applications to include or be endorsed by all other FE colleges within the area. Other providers may also be part of an application and will be eligible to receive funding, including sixth form colleges, independent or local authority run training providers, Institutes of Technology and Higher Education Institutions.
To lead an application an FE institution must have an Ofsted grade 1 (outstanding) or grade 2 (good) rating for overall effectiveness. If a provider does not have an Ofsted rating because it has recently merged, they can still lead if the previous rating for one of the colleges was a 2 or above.
The deadline for submitting applications is 13 May 2022. Each application will be assessed against a range of criteria and will need to demonstrate deliverability, value for money and impact. We anticipate that projects will commence from June onwards, and must be completed by 31 March 2023.
3. Information: T Levels – register now to deliver T Levels or Transition Programme in 2024 to 2025 academic year
We have now opened a registration portal to allow providers not currently delivering T Levels to register their intention to do so from the 2024 to 2025 academic year. All providers funded to deliver 16 to 19 study programmes will be able to register their intention to deliver any of the 23 T Levels now available.
We encourage providers to register by midnight on the 29 July 2022 to access the full range of support that is available for implementation planning and to be eligible to apply for T Level capital funding to support delivery from 2024. Providers can register after this, up to midnight on the 31 July 2023, but will not be able to access the same support and capital funding opportunities.
Providers will require a DfE sign-in account to register and only providers not signed-up to deliver T Levels already should apply.
The registration portal and supporting guidance are available on GOV.UK now.
4. Information: Level 3 Free Courses for Jobs offer: eligibility expansion
The Free Courses for Jobs offer, which was launched in April 2021, gives eligible adults the chance to access their first Level 3 qualification for free. In addition, from April, any adult in England who is earning under the National Living Wage or is unemployed, will also be able to access these qualifications for free, regardless of their prior qualification level.
The Greater London Authority, alongside the Mayoral Combined Authorities, will also be able to adapt its low wage criteria to meet local need.
5. Information: updates to the Register of Flexi-Job Apprenticeship Agencies
In February 2022, we launched the new Register of Flexi-Job Apprenticeship Agencies. Flexi-Job Apprenticeship agencies will enable employers in sectors with project-based employment models, such as creative, construction and digital, to make much greater use of apprenticeships.
We have now updated the register to include the sectors and regions Flexi-Job Apprenticeship Agencies will be covering. For more information, please contact the agencies using the contact details on the register.
6. Information: COVID-19 and apprenticeships
The apprenticeship programme responded quickly to support apprentices, employers, training providers, end-point assessment (EPA) organisations and external quality assurance providers, in dealing with and responding to the impact of COVID-19.
On 31 March 2022, we will be removing the temporary flexibility introduced in March 2020 that allows employers and training providers to initiate and report a break in learning in certain scenarios. Apprentices will continue to be able to initiate a break in learning, as set out in the funding rules.
This follows the next phase of the government’s pandemic response, Living with COVID-19, set out by the Prime Minister on 21 February 2022.
7. Information: expansion of training flexibility for Universal Credit claimants
The Government will be expanding the additional training flexibility for Universal Credit claimants until April 2023. Universal Credit claimants in the intensive work search group will be able to attend full-time, work-related training opportunities lasting up to 16 weeks across Great Britain as part of their work search activity. This flexibility has now been extended until 28 April 2023.
This is a great opportunity for FE providers to work with their local Jobcentre Plus and Partnership Managers to offer full-time, work-related training courses. Universal Credit Claimants will need to get agreement from their work coach to ensure this is the right support for them and appropriate for the local labour market. Expansion of training flexibility for Universal Credit claimants
8. Information: Adult Prison Education HMP Berwyn (North Wales) – Market Engagement Opportunity
The Ministry of Justice has issued a Prior Information Notice (PIN) containing details of market engagement activity relating to Adult Prison Education Services in HMP Berwyn (North Wales). Links to the PIN can be found here:
- Contract Finder
- Find a Tender Service (Notice No: 2022/S 000-005353)
A market engagement launch event, will be held via webinar on 22 March 2022. This event is strictly an opportunity to engage and is not a call for competition.
The purpose of this market engagement is to secure wider market involvement in the development of the new Prisoner Education Service in HMP Berwyn.
The procurement of these education services will cover the full scope of Prison education and all associated services. A procurement process is anticipated to commence in August 2022.
This launch event on 22 March 2022 from 10:00 to 12:30 will commence market engagement. This will include more specific information on service objectives and requirements. There will be an opportunity to ask questions during the live event as well as at any time afterwards.
Suppliers should register to the Launch event using the link above. The MoJ Jaggaer procurement portal also has access to further information on the Prison Education Service and background to working with the Prison Service.
At the Market Engagement Launch event, we will set out the vision for prison education in HMP Berwyn. Suppliers attending the event will gain a better understanding of how they can engage with and participate in the procurement process.
Suppliers must register to the event to obtain access and further information and access to this market engagement event.
We are very interested to hear all suppliers’ views throughout this process to enable us to shape the new procurement and improve contracting arrangements.
The market engagement activity is strictly an opportunity to engage and is not a call for competition.
We look forward to seeing you at the launch event, if this is of interest to you.
For queries please contact: CCMD-HMP-Berwyn-tender@Justice.gov.uk.