ESFA Update further education: 20 March 2019
Published 20 March 2019
Applies to England
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esfa-update-20-march-2019/esfa-update-further-education-20-march-2019
1. Action: government consultation – review of post-16 qualifications at level 3 and below in England
On 19 March, the government launched the consultation on the review of post-16 qualifications at level 3 and below in England.
We are consulting in two stages and the first stage of the consultation focuses on the principles, scope and the broad process the review will follow.
The government is consulting on:
- only providing public funding for qualifications that meet key criteria on quality, purpose, necessity and progression
- not providing public funding for qualifications for 16 to 19 year olds that overlap with T Levels or A levels
- in August 2020, withdrawing approval for funding for older versions of qualifications at level 3, where there are newer versions that have been re-developed to meet performance tables rules
- in August 2021, withdrawing approval for funding for qualifications with no or low publicly funded enrolments
The consultation will close on Monday 10 June 2019. Please send any queries via email to Post16Level3andBelowReview.CONSULTATION@education.gov.uk.
2. Action: interested in FE workforce data? We want to hear from you!
If you have an interest in FE workforce data, we would like to gather your views, through our FE workforce data collection consultation.
FE providers use data for workforce planning, sector analysis, benchmarking and to identify skills gaps. Being able to evaluate and understand the workforce will enable the sector to better identify issues to improve learner outcomes where necessary.
The consultation builds on the evidence we received from the call for evidence, launched last summer. The call for evidence findings, included as an annex in the consultation document, are helping us design and implement future improvements to the workforce data collection.
The consultation will close on Monday 11 June 2019.
Please send any queries via email to feworkforcedata.consultation@education.gov.uk.
3. Information: apprenticeship funding rules 2018 to 2019
We have published version 2 of the apprenticeship funding rules for 2018 to 2019.
The rules apply to all providers, employers, and employers-providers receiving apprenticeship funding from ESFA.
We have made changes to this document due to the recent announcement on changes to co-investment. Other changes we have made are set out in the summary of changes section.
For the first time, the funding rules are available in a web-based version making them more accessible and easier to use. To hear more about this, please register for our funding rules webinar on Tuesday 26 March 2019.
Please complete our survey to send any comments or feedback.
4. Information: revenue funding allocation statements for 2019 to 2020
At the end of the week, we will start to upload revenue funding allocation statements for non-maintained special schools and special post-16 institutions to ESFA Information Exchange. We expect most statements to be available by the end of March.
Your allocation includes a breakdown of our calculation and we have published a short video and guidance to help you understand your allocation statement. You can find your file in the ESFA Information Exchange in the Document Exchange ‘Revenue Funding’ folder, under ‘AY 2019-20 (2019/20)’.
If you need to submit a business case, the deadline is Tuesday 30 April 2019. We will apply minimum thresholds to decide whether we will consider your case. Please review the thresholds published in the supporting information before submitting your business case.
Please contact us using our online enquiry form if you have any questions.
5. Information: final qualification achievement rates (QAR) 2017 to 2018
We will publish your final QAR 2017 to 2018 data on Thursday 28 March 2019. The data extracts and reports will be available in the ‘QAR reports’ section of the Data Returns page on the Hub. The reports will include both national and provider type QARs for benchmarking your rates. An updated version of the report guidance is available now.
We will publish the National Achievement Rate Tables for 2017 to 2018 on Thursday 28 March at 9:30am.
If you have any questions, please contact the service desk.
6. Information: nursing association standard - additional guidance
We have published updated guidance via Health Education England on the clinical placement activity in this apprenticeship standard.
The guidance is for information only and does not replace the requirement to follow the apprenticeship funding rules.