ESFA Update further education: 19 May 2021
Published 19 May 2021
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2021
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esfa-update-19-may-2021/esfa-update-further-education-19-may-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: year-end forecast funding claim for 2020 to 2021
The year-end forecast funding claim window will open at 9am on Tuesday 8 June 2021.
We understand that this is a difficult time for everyone, and time and resources are under strain. However, we will require you to submit an accurate year-end claim as this will enable us to inform you of your indicative reconciliation figure prior to final claim submission in October 2021.
Please submit your year-end funding claim by 4pm on Friday 11 June 2021. The claim form will be available on Submit Learner Data.
You will need to submit a claim if you receive funds through:
- grant funded – ESFA adult education budget (AEB) (adult skills, community learning, 19 to 24 traineeships and COVID-19 skills offer)
- learner support for ESFA AEB procured (adult skills and 19 to 24 traineeships) – paid-on-profile
- 19 to 24 traineeships 2020 procurement - learner support – paid-on-profile
- grant funded - Advanced Learner Loans Bursary (ALLB)
- 16 to 19 education
Once you have submitted your claim you will also be able to view it on the Manage your education and skills funding.
If you have any queries, you can get help with ESFA services.
3. Reminder: subcontracting requests to ESFA by 31 May 2021
On Wednesday 10 March we published an ESFA Update article following the publication of the follow up document to the subcontracting consultation response detailing what we expect from providers in relation to each proposal, including the following requests to the agency:
- 16 to 19 provision only: requests to continue with existing “distance learning” arrangements in 2021 to 2022
- 16 to 19 provision only: requests to continue with “whole programme subcontracting” arrangements in 2021 to 2022
- all provision excluding ESF provision and local authorities: cases made to the agency if providers do not think they can reduce their subcontracting. For the avoidance of doubt, all provision includes apprenticeships, AEB (including traineeships) and 16 to 19 provision.
The document covers information that should be in the request, where this should be sent to, and confirms the deadline of 31 May 2021 for all the above requests.
Please contact the enquiry service if you have any enquiries.
4. Information: coronavirus (COVID-19) response – capping
This is relevant to you if you have either of the following allocations for 2020 to 2021:
- procured adult education budget (AEB) including 19 to 24 traineeships
- advanced learner loans bursary (ALLB)
- 16 to 18 traineeships (funded separately through an EDSK contract and not part of 16 to 19 education funding)
The funding and performance management rules for 2020 to 2021 state that at the end of the funding year (R14) we will remove financial year controls for those funded through a contract for service up to defined limits.
ESFA will now bring this forward to ensure that any over delivery from the August 2020 to March 2021 period is to be paid by utilising the April 2021 to August 2021 period funding, up to the full 12 month contract value. This means that from May 2021 onwards any delivery earned over the financial year allocation that was previously capped will now be paid based on the full 12 month contract value. As stated within the funding rules this will be up to 103% for adult skills and 110% for traineeships.
The same methodology will also apply to the ALLB and 16 to 18 traineeships contract for services delivery.
This is only for this year due to the exceptional COVID-19 challenges, the funding rules/timelines will apply in future years.
If you have any questions, please contact your territorial team.
5. Information: post-16 capacity fund now open for bids
The post-16 capacity fund was launched on Tuesday 18 May. Sixth form colleges, 16 to 19 academies, 16 to 19 free schools (inclusive of university technical colleges and maths schools), and further education colleges can bid for funding to add extra capacity where there is a pressing need for places for 16 to 19 year olds in their local area.
This fund will deliver the government’s 2020 Spending Review commitment to make available £83m in 2021 to 2022 to ensure that post-16 providers can accommodate the expected demographic increase in 16 to 19 year olds, and learners can gain the skills they need to progress and help the economy to grow.
We have published guidance, which sets out how eligible providers should bid for funding and the key criteria against which bids will be assessed. Good evidence of need for additional capacity will be expected.
All bid applications including all supporting documentation must be submitted by 11.59pm on 14 June 2021.
6. Information: requirement for all active providers to reapply to the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers
Further to our update regarding introducing more stringent entry criteria for the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers (Register), the service for the new application criteria went live on 17 May 2021.
Active providers on the Register will need to reapply and we will operate a phased reapplication approach throughout 2021 to 2022. Providers are only able to access the service if they have received an email notification inviting them to reapply. You will receive an invite 6 weeks before your 1 month application window opens.
Please note that you are unable to access the service unless you have received an invite to reapply.
7. Information: Apprenticeship Service employer agreement
We have published an updated version of the ESFA Apprenticeship Agreement for Employers. Details of the changes can be found in the summary of changes document on GOV.UK.
The latest version of the agreement will be made available for employers to accept through their apprenticeship service account from 1 June 2021. Employers will need to accept the latest agreement if they wish to apply for incentive payments for hiring a new apprentice for apprentices who are new to their organisation from 1 April 2021, where they are eligible to do so.
Please refer to the employer apprenticeship funding rules for more information about incentive payments.
For further information visit GOV.UK.
8. Your feedback: initial assessment and recognition of prior learning guidance
As part of our ongoing commitment to continuously improve our published guidance we are asking training providers, delivering apprenticeships, for feedback about the current guidance, Apprenticeships initial assessment to recognise prior learning.
The purpose of this guidance is to inform training providers, employers and apprentices about the need for, and importance of, initial assessment (IA) and recognition of prior learning (PL).
Your feedback will help us better understand how the guidance is used and to shape and inform changes that will improve content and usability.
You can access the survey online.
You are asked to complete the survey by Friday 28 May.
We are also asking employers and apprentices for their feedback. You are welcome to share the links to those surveys with the employers and apprentices you work with:
9. Information: EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
With the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) application deadline now less than 50 days away, the Home Office would appreciate your continued support in reminding parents, families, young people and staff that if they are an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen, they and their family members may be eligible to apply to the Settlement Scheme.
It is crucial that eligible parents apply to the Scheme themselves and check whether they need to do so on behalf of their children. Eligible children are required to have an application in their own right and no child of any age is covered by a parent’s application to the EUSS. There’s more information on this here on GOV.UK.
To provide additional guidance, an EUSS leaflet has been produced by the University of Liverpool, in partnership with the Home Office. It has been designed with children in mind and is intended to support both children and parents with information to help them apply to the EUSS. A set of accompanying FAQs are available too.
We would be grateful if you could signpost this leaflet and our other EUSS resources across your own communications channels to encourage eligible parents to apply on behalf of themselves and their children. A list of organisations providing additional EUSS guidance and information is available on GOV.UK here.
Applications to the EUSS are free and can be made online at www.gov.uk/eusettlementscheme, where you can also find out more information about how to apply.