Correspondence

ESFA Update further education: 17 April 2019

Published 17 April 2019

This correspondence was withdrawn on 21 December 2020

This has been withdrawn as it’s out of date. Find the latest information from ESFA in the latest ESFA Update.

Applies to England

1. Information: submit your traineeship growth request forms by 3 May.

On Thursday 18 April, 16 to 18 traineeship growth request forms will be published on GOV.UK.

Providers who do not hold a 16 to 19 funding contract will be able to submit a request to increase the value of your 16 to 18 traineeships contract for the funding year 2018 to 2019.

Please forward completed Growth Request forms to Provider Performance Management before 5pm on Friday 3 May.

For further information or related queries, please contact your territorial manager.

2. Reminder: update your contact details in Bravo to re-apply for the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers

You will need to update your contact details in Bravo to make sure you receive an invitation to re-apply for the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers.

We are sending invitations to every provider currently on the register to re-apply, but you will need to wait for your invitation before submitting an application.

We will attach your pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) through which you were first listed on the Register. All invites will be sent with enough time for you to prepare and consider your application.

In preparation for your application, you can download the questions and guidance from Bravo.

Please send any enquiries regarding the register via Bravo or to our mailbox. Enquiries should not be directed to your provider management contact.

3. Information: the apprenticeship technical funding guide has been updated

We have published the Apprenticeships technical funding guide for April 2019 to March 2020.

This explains how funding will work for apprenticeship frameworks and standards starting on or after 1 April 2019, including how we will calculate provider payments.

The main changes from the previous guidance are:

• the change to the co-investment percentage from 1 April 2019

• the new transfer allowance from the 2018 to 2019 tax year

• further information on how adjusted declarations to HM Revenue and Customs affect expiry of funds

For all starts before 1 April 2019 please refer to version 4 of the Apprenticeships technical funding guide for starts from May 2017.

For further information please contact the service desk.

4. Information: we are reviewing the value of 16 to 18 traineeship contracts based on performance

We will measure the performance of your 16 to 18 traineeship contract value against a standard national profile at data claim point R09.

We will reduce the value of your contract if your performance against the standard national profile is outside the tolerance of 3%.

The reduction in the value of your contract will reflect some or all of the under-delivery to date

There are exceptional circumstances where the reduction will not apply. There are:

• your actual delivery pattern in 2017 to 2018 is significantly different from the standard national profile
• you demonstrate you were impacted by data issues outside of your control
• the amount you are below profile is less than £25,000.

5. Information: register for our webinar about transferring or receiving apprenticeship service funds.

Join one of our webinars on Tuesday 30 April at 12.00 to 12.45 or 13.30 to 14.15.

Hear from our experts and ask questions about transferring or receiving apprenticeship service funds.

We will be providing an overview of how to set up a transfer. You will hear directly from training providers that have already supported an apprenticeship service transfer.

Please use the GoToMeeting test link to check the meeting will run on your IT systems before the webinar is due to take place.

6. Information: 16 to 18 student financial support schemes for 2019 to 2020 academic year

We have published guides for the 16 to 18 student financial support schemes for 2019 to 2020 academic year:

• 16 to 19 Bursary Fund guide gives institutions information about eligibility, rules and administration
• Residential Bursary Fund and Residential Support Scheme
• free meals in further education guide to help institutions understand their obligation to provide free meals to disadvantaged students
• 16 to 19 Bursary Fund audit guide. This guide is aimed primarily at local authorities but contains information about ESFA assurance and audit that all institutions may find helpful.

7. For feedback: We want to hear what you think about qualification achievement rates

To help us improve our Qualification Achievement Rate (QAR) processes and guidance, let us know about your experience by completing our provider feedback survey.

The survey will close on Friday 3 May.