Correspondence

ESFA Update further education: 19 October 2022

Published 19 October 2022

This correspondence was withdrawn on 27 December 2023

This has been withdrawn as it’s out of date.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. Action: coronavirus (COVID-19) 16 to 19 tuition fund 2022 to 2023 claim form now live

The coronavirus (COVID-19) 16 to 19 tuition fund 2022 to 2023 opt in/out digital form is now live.

The deadline for your submission is 11.59pm on 21 October 2022. 

We’ve published guidance to access and help you complete the form.

More information is available on the coronavirus (COVID-19) 16 to 19 tuition fund guidance 2022 to 2023 on GOV.UK.

2. Action: submit your 16 to 19 tuition fund recovery form

As a condition of opting into the 16 to 19 tuition fund, institutions are required to inform ESFA of any unspent funding at the end of the 2021 to 2022 academic year so it can be recovered.

On the 10 October, we issued a digital form to all institutions in receipt of the tuition fund, asking for details of the amount spent in either the 2020 to 2021 or 2021 to 2022 academic years.

You can access and find guidance on how to complete the form on GOV.UK.

The deadline to submit this form is 6:00pm on 24 October 2022. If the form hasn’t been returned by this time, we will assume there was zero tuition fund spent and the entire allocation for both years could be recovered.

3. Reminder: final funding claim for 2021 to 2022 opens Monday 24 October 2022

The final funding claim window will open at 9am on Monday 24 October 2022.

Please submit your final funding claim by 5pm on Thursday 27 October 2022. The claim form will be available on Submit Learner Data.

Your principal or delegated authority must sign your claim digitally on Manage your education and skills funding by 5pm on Tuesday 1 November 2022.You will need to submit a claim if you receive funds through these contracts:

• grant funded - ESFA funded adult education budget (AEB) (adult skills, community learning, 19 to 24 traineeships and national skills fund Level 3 adult offer)
• 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 within fifteen minutes.

If you have any queries, please use ESFA help centre to contact us.

4. Reminder: update your course information and reach more potential learners

The National Careers Service wants all ESFA contracted providers to get the most out of the Find a course to access as many potential learners as possible.
Keeping your course information up to date ensures potential learners have accurate information to make informed decisions. It is also a requirement of ESFA funding agreements and contracts that providers keep this information up to date.

You can add new courses, edit existing courses and remove those you no longer offer, by signing in to Publish to the course directory. Your course information will then be visible to users searching Find a course.

Please check that:

• all the courses you offer are listed. Fully funded, co-funded and full cost courses can all be included
• courses have a start date which is in the future
• all your course delivery locations are included
• information about courses accurately reflects what you deliver and is aimed at prospective learners.

If you need help using ‘Publish to the course directory’ please contact the support team.

5. Reminder: subcontractor declaration window is open, first collection for 2022 to 2023 deadline is 24 October 2022

We would like to remind providers our first mandatory collection of subcontractor declarations for 2022 to 2023 is now open. The deadline for submitting your declaration is Monday 24 October 2022 by 5pm.In line with your contract/agreement and the subcontracting funding rules, organisations delivering ESFA funded post-16 education and training programmes, including AEB, traineeships, apprenticeships, ESF and 16 to 19 programmes, must ensure they declare their 2022 to 2023 subcontracting arrangements to us.

All providers must declare their subcontracting arrangements for the period 1 August 2022 to 31 July 2023 through the Manage your education and skills funding service (MYESF). Please note that if you do not subcontract but receive direct funding from ESFA, you are still required to make a nil return. If you subcontract 16 to 19 provision, you are reminded that you must declare subcontracting of enrichment, employability, and pastoral (EEP) activity within your declaration.

For the avoidance of doubt, in the case of adult education budget (AEB) provision, only ESFA AEB funded delivery should be declared (for learners resident in non-devolved areas).

You will need one of the following MYESF roles to complete and submit a declaration:

• contract authoriser
• contract manager
• data returns and claims authoriser

You can check the user roles and permissions in MYESF. If you have any questions, please submit an ESFA online enquiry form.

6. Information: book your place on an advanced learner loans event during November

The events taking place in November are an opportunity for advanced learner loans providers to attend workshops presented by Student Loans Company (SLC), ESFA and DfE to gain knowledge and share best practice. The events are free, to find out more about the day and book your place please visit the SLC events page.

The dates and venues are:

• 3 November - Bristol - The Bristol Hotel
• 8 November - York - The Principal York
• 24 November - London - Park Plaza Victoria
• 29 November - Birmingham - Birmingham Conference and Events Centre

7. Information: high needs place change process for 2023 to 2024 now open until 18 November 2022

The high needs place change notification process for 2023 to 2024 is now open until 18 November 2022. Schools and colleges should engage in discussions with local authorities about their high needs places for academic year 2023 to 2024.

We have published guidance on the high needs place change process and the spring 2022 census data for high needs pupil numbers in special academies and free schools, and the place numbers for 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023. You can use this to inform local discussion about commissioning arrangements for 2023 to 2024.

8. Information: ESFA is proud to support Charity Fraud Awareness Week 2022

ESFA is proud to support this year’s Charity Fraud Awareness Week which runs from 17 to 21 October 2022.

Now in its seventh year, Charity Fraud Awareness Week is an award-winning campaign, run by a partnership of charities, regulators, representatives, umbrella bodies and other not-for-profit stakeholders, across the world.

The aim is to bring together the third sector to share knowledge, expertise, and good practice in fraud prevention, at a time when many in the sector continue to remain susceptible to fraud and cybercrime.

For more information on how you can get involved including access to free events visit preventcharityfraud.org.uk and/or join the conversation at: #StopCharityFraud.

9. Information: high needs funding due diligence process for special post-16 providers published

We have published the high needs funding: due diligence process for special post-16 providers guidance.

This guidance explains the process for special post-16 institutions that may lead to a funding arrangement with the Education Skills and Funding Agency (ESFA) for the 2023 to 2024 academic year.

To be eligible to receive ESFA funding, special post-16 institutions (SPI) are required to be included within their provider LA high needs place change workbook (required by 18 November 202 2) and must be named on at least 10 Education Health and Care plans. Subject to meeting this requirement, the ESFA will undertake due diligence to ensure themselves that the SPI is eligible to receive ESFA funding.

10. Information: industry placements capacity and delivery fund 2023 to 2024 published

We have published the capacity and delivery fund guidance for the 2023 to 2024 academic year. The guidance sets out the arrangements for providers delivering industry placements through the capacity and delivery fund and the monitoring return requirements.

The 2023 to 2024 academic year is the final year of funding and will only be allocated to existing CDF providers with either an Ofsted ‘requires improvement’, ‘inadequate’ rating and those who had not yet been inspected by 29 July 2022. The funding rate is £160 per qualifying student for both level 2 and level 3 qualifying students.
From September 2024, all providers registered to offer T Levels will receive a funding allocation that includes funding to support the provision of an industry placement for every student.

11. Information: capacity and delivery fund (CDF) monitoring return for December now available

The CDF monitoring form is now available for providers in receipt of a CDF allocation to complete and submit.
The monitoring return will focus on your delivery in the 2021 to 2022 academic year, and how funding has been spent, as well as how you are progressing in the 2022 to 2023 academic year.

The monitoring returns are mandatory and must be submitted as a condition of receiving a CDF allocation. Monitoring returns provide us with information on the progress being made in building capacity and capability to deliver high quality industry placements as we scale up the delivery of T Levels. They also provide assurance that the funding is being used for the purpose intended.

To access the December 2022 CDF monitoring form, you must sign into your DfE sign in account. Further information about DfE Sign-in and how to access the monitoring form is available in the CDF guidance for 2022 to 2023 academic year.

The deadline to complete the monitoring return is by 5pm on Friday 2 December 2022.

12. Information: latest update to the provider data self-assessment toolkit (PDSAT)

Earlier this month, we announced that for the 2022 to 2023 funding year, we will be releasing an online version of PDSAT. We expect this to be available in November 2022. We have published the first PDSAT online update with more information on GOV.UK.

This includes details for providers, in the first instance, who wish to pre-register in advance of the website release. This will ensure access to PDSAT online as soon as it is made available.

We are focussing pre-registration for providers as our initial priority. Opportunities for non-providers (auditors, consultants, MCA’s etc) will follow in the coming weeks.

Pre-registration is not a requirement for accessing PDSAT online. Providers that do not pre-register will be able to register a request for their own login at any time once PDSAT online goes live unless a user from the same organisation has already registered.

Registering on the PDSAT online website includes a process whereby ESFA will review registrations prior to approval. Given the anticipated volume of registrations upon release there may be a delay to accessing PDSAT online if you choose to wait.

13. Information: consultation on post-16 level 2 and below qualifications

We would like to thank providers and other stakeholders for your helpful input into the DfE consultation which ran from 2 March to 27 April.

We have reflected carefully on that feedback to inform our response concerning the review of qualifications approved for public funding at these levels. After confirming our reforms to level 3 qualifications last year, we now confirm that we will fund all the qualification groups proposed at Level 2 and below. We will also proceed with setting national standards for personal, social and employability (PSE) qualifications and consult on these in due course.

To mirror the approach taken at level 3, we have grouped qualifications at level 2 and below according to their primary purpose. This will allow students to see how their choice of qualification leads to a positive outcome, whether this is to further study or directly into employment. Further education colleges, schools, other providers and careers advisers will play a key role in delivering information, advice and guidance to prospective students, to ensure they are directed towards a qualification that will meet their needs.

We have reviewed the implementation timeline and the first reformed qualifications at level 2 and below will be available for teaching from September 2025 rather than 2024. Further reformed qualifications will be phased in for 2026, with final reforms in 2027.