Correspondence

ESFA Update further education: 18 August 2021

Published 18 August 2021

This correspondence was withdrawn on 23 December 2022

This has been withdrawn as it’s out of date.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

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. Action: apprentice email addresses required from 26 August

From 26 August 2021, the employer or training provider must add a unique email address when adding an apprentice record to the apprenticeship service. Without a unique apprentice email address, you will not be able to save or approve the apprentice record, so funding cannot be allocated.

Once the email address is added to the account, the apprentice will receive an email invitation to create a ‘My apprenticeship’ account. Whilst the setting up of a ‘My apprenticeship’ account is encouraged, it is not mandatory and will not impact the apprentice start date or your apprenticeship funding.

‘My apprenticeship’ accounts are a new service that will improve the onboarding process for apprentices.

An account will allow apprentices to:

• confirm their apprenticeship details are correct as the apprenticeship starts
• access guidance on what is expected of them, their training provider, and their employer
• access additional support
• access and review their apprenticeship details throughout the apprenticeship

3. Action: apprenticeships ‘Fire It Up’ campaign – removal of advert and music track

As a result of ongoing work to integrate Government Communications for young people about education, training and work, the Department for Education will no longer run the Fire it Up advertising campaign. Instead, future communications will focus on promoting all the options available to young people at post-16 and post-18 to help them make an informed choice about their future.

As a consequence of this change we will not be renewing the license for the Busta Rhymes ‘Fire it Up’ music track used in the apprenticeships TV advert, and ask that you remove the track on any of your channels promoting apprenticeships from 1 September 2021, when the current license runs out.

The blue feather logo which accompanied the campaign is still approved for use on all materials, as is the campaign photography which can still be used on digital platforms (but not in print).

If you have any questions about using the Fire It Up campaign brand or assets please contact Marcomms.Mailbox@education.gov.uk.

4. Reminder: incentive payment for hiring a new apprentice

Employers will receive £3,000 for new apprentices of any age who join their organisation from 1 April 2021 to 30 September 2021.

Eligibility Employers with apprentices who have an employment start date between 1 April 2021 to 30 September 2021 and who also have a practical period (training) start date between 1 April 2021 to 30 November 2021 are eligible for the incentive payment.

4.1 How to apply

Employers can apply for the incentive payment through the ‘Finances’ section in their apprenticeship service account, under ‘Your hire a new apprentice payments’.

Our how-to video explains the process step by step.

Employers can apply for the incentive payment through the ‘Finances’ section in their apprenticeship service account, under ‘Your hire a new apprentice payments’. Our how-to video explains the process step by step.

Employers must apply for the incentive payment by the end of 30 November 2021.Training providers cannot apply on behalf of employers.

5. Reminder: applications remain open for Education and Training Foundation (ETF) professional development programmes for mentors

There is still time to apply for the 2021 to 2022 cohort of the ETF’s ‘New to mentoring’ and ‘Advanced mentoring’ programmes, designed to develop high quality mentoring provision in the FE sector. These free training programme will run between September 2021 and February 2022 and will be supported with a grant of up to £6,000 per participant.

In line with DfE and the ETF’s commitment to diversity and social mobility, 25% of places are ringfenced for applicants who satisfy one or more of three criteria: 

1. work in one of the 12 opportunity areas
2. disabled people 
3. those from black and minority ethnic communities. 

Bookings are now also open for ETF’s free introductory online course ‘Getting ready to mentor’, launching in September 2021.

For further details on how to register for these opportunities, please visit the ETF Mentoring page.

6. Information: Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers: market entry process for identified gaps in provision

The Register will be open only to new providers that are able to fulfil a gap in provision identified by an Employer.

Training providers cannot apply directly to the Register and will be invited to apply only if they have been named as a preferred provider in an Employer Business Case.

All training providers will be able to apply to the Register only once within a 12 month period.

Full details on this new process can be found on GOV.UK.

7. Information: traineeship in-year growth for 2021 to 2022

We can confirm that the 16 to 18 traineeship in-year growth introduced in 2020 to 2021 for institutions with a 16 to 19 study programme allocation, will continue into 2021 to 2022. The underlying principle of guaranteeing growth funding (subject to a traineeships growth cap) remains unchanged if an institution has both:

• delivered above its overall 16-19 study programme allocation and
• increased its traineeship delivery.

There are minor changes to how the process will operate, please see traineeship in-year growth for more details.

8. Information: new data upload facility to the ‘Publish to the course directory’ platform

The National Careers Service is introducing a brand-new data upload feature to make it easier for providers to update large amounts of information on the ‘Publish to the course directory’ platform.

The benefits of the new feature will include:

• a simple, step-by-step procedure that tells you where you are in the process
• provide feedback on the success of the import, and clearly explains where errors exist and how these can be resolved
• enable users to make corrections online during the upload process
• greater capacity to upload more information in one go.

The National Careers Service will also be delivering a series of instructional webinars to demonstrate how the feature works and take users through the process. To sign up, simply follow one of the appropriate links below:

• Tuesday 24 August, 11.00am to 11.30pm
• Wednesday 25 August, 3.00pm to 3.30pm
• Thursday 26 August, 11.00am to 11.30am

9. Information: domestic abuse statutory guidance consultation launched

Following Royal Assent of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, the Home Office are consulting on draft domestic abuse statutory guidance which will support the implementation of sections 1 to 3 of the Domestic Abuse Act, which cover the definitions of domestic abuse and the recognition of children as victims of domestic abuse.   The aim is to provide guidance and support to frontline professionals who have responsibility for safeguarding and supporting victims of domestic abuse, including both adult and child victims.  

The consultation is aimed at a wide range of professionals, including, amongst others, those who work in:

• local authorities
• early years
• childcare and education settings (including schools, colleges, and higher education)
• children’s social care   Further details, including the draft guidance document and how to respond to the consultation can be found on GOV.UK. The consultation closes at 11.45pm on Tuesday 14 September 2021.

10. Information: launch of applications for EdTech mentoring and coaching development grants

Applications are now open for the EdTech mentoring development grants. The Education and Training Foundation (ETF), funded by the DfE, are offering 82 grants of up to £1,000 to support the professional development of mentors and coaches specialising in EdTech (Educational Technology).

The grants are designed to support participants to undertake:

• self-directed digital professional development
• mentoring/coaching of colleagues to enhance the quality of online/blended delivery across their organisation.

Each mentor/coach will receive an ETF guide for digital professional development and will be required to complete an action plan and progress review to demonstrate their learning. It is expected that all funded activities have been undertaken by 31 January 2022.

Applications should be submitted by 10 September 2021, with a maximum of two applications per FE provider.

For further details on how to register please visit ETF’s programme page.

11. Information: post-16 monitoring plan for the 2021 to 2022 funding year

We have published the post-16 monitoring plan for the 2021 to 2022 funding year. Following user feedback, we have combined the monitoring plan and our reports dashboard user guide into a single piece of guidance in HTML format. This means you can now find all the information on each report in a single space; it also means that you do not have to wait until we release the R04 reports in December to see the relevant guidance.

While the first dataset for the year will be published after R04 (December), this year we will also publish School Census data within the monitoring dashboard in the following spring, enabling a comprehensive in-year analysis of young peoples’ funding for the first time. We are developing a support offer for providers that submit the School Census and have not previously been directly engaged by monitoring and will communicate this in the autumn.

12. Your feedback: improving your experience using ESFA digital forms

Would you like to help us improving your experience using digital forms? If so, please fill in this form and we will contact you to participate in our panel. We have ongoing opportunities, feel free to participate in any of them.

We will not share your details with anyone outside DfE and only researchers in our digital forms team will be able to see your responses.

We will only contact you about user research opportunities, your personal details will be anonymous and won’t be linked to your responses.

You are free to withdraw from the panel at any time, replying to this email ‘opt out’.

If you know someone interested in participating, please share this link with them.

13. Information: streamlined energy and carbon reporting for college corporations

ESFA has updated its guidance to college corporations on how they can make relevant disclosures in relation to streamlined energy and carbon reporting. This updated guidance take into account the latest conversion factors produced by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy in June 2021.

14. Information: new Learning Aim Class Codes for Essential Digital Skills

We have introduced new Learning Aim Class Codes (LACCs) for Essential Digital Skills (EDS) recognising that learners can be fully funded through the Adult Education Budget (AEB) to undertake non-regulated learning if they cannot undertake an Essential Digital Skills qualification under the digital entitlement, including those assessed at pre-entry level with significant learning difficulties and/or disabilities as part of a personalised learning programme. The new LACCs are available for use within the ILR from 2021/22 to record this EDS provision, which must be aligned with the national standards for essential digital skills and must not be a non-regulated version of a regulated qualification.

Further information on the LACCs can be found within the ESFA Provider Support Manual and Learning Aim Class Code guidance.

For details on the digital skills entitlement, please see the AEB funding and performance management rules 2021 to 2022.