ESFA Update further education: 24 February 2021
Published 24 February 2021
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2021
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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.
There is also guidance on the apprenticeship service about COVID-19.
Please check GOV.UK regularly for updates.
2. Action: register now to deliver T Levels or Transition Programme in 2023 to 2024 academic year
We have opened a registration portal to allow providers not currently delivering T Levels to register their intention for the 2023 to 2023 academic year.
Providers will no longer need to meet a set criteria to deliver T Levels from 2023, with all providers who deliver 16 to 19 study programmes able to offer some of the available T Levels. Providers who do not have an Ofsted rating of good or better can only deliver a limited range of T Levels from the 2023 to 2024 academic year, but can then expand their delivery beyond this from 2024.
We encourage providers to register by midnight on the 30 July 2021 to access the full range of support that is available. Providers can register after this, up to midnight on the 29 July 2022, but this will limit their access to support, updates and involvement in the T Level qualification development work.
Providers will require a DfE sign-in account to register and only providers not signed-up to deliver T Levels already should apply.
The registration portal and supporting guidance can be accessed on GOV.UK.
3. Information: more adults asked to shield as part of Clinically Extremely Vulnerable expansion and extension
On Tuesday 16 February, the Department of Health and Social Care announced the addition of a third category to the definition of Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (CEV). The definition has been expanded to include a new group of adults who have been identified through the COVID-19 Population Risk Assessment as potentially being at high risk of serious illness if they catch the virus.
Individuals identified as CEV through this risk assessment are advised to follow guidance for clinically extremely vulnerable people, which has now been extended until 31 March. Anyone newly identified as part of this group will be notified.
Where a student is identified as CEV and advised to shield, they are advised to not attend their education setting and should instead receive remote education. Where a member of staff who works within an education setting is advised to shield, they and their employer should discuss how they can best be supported, including working from home.
If individual settings are facing operational challenges in allowing children, pupils, or students to attend, they should work with the local authority (childcare and early years settings), RSC (schools) or ESFA territorial teams (FE providers) to discuss their individual circumstances and seek support. Sector-specific guidance outlines a number of options for settings to consider if they are facing staff shortages or capacity issues.
4. Information: funding allocation statements for 2021 to 2022
We are on track to upload 16 to 19 allocation statements for FE institutions and for school and academy sixth forms by the end of March 2021.
We have published guidance to help you understand your statement.
You will find your statement on ESFA Information Exchange in the Document Exchange ‘revenue funding’ folder, under ‘AY 2021-22 (2021/22)’. Your allocation includes a breakdown of our calculation.
5. Information: in-year growth for traineeships delivered through 16 to 18 mainstream contracts
We have now increased the in-year growth cap for traineeships delivered through 16 to 18 mainstream contracts, to allow these providers to deliver further traineeships in the 2020 to 2021 academic year with the guarantee that these will be funded, subject to delivery against allocation.
From R06, the growth cap is doubled so that it is now double the baseline, with a minimum of 40 students (£200,000 for independent learning providers) and a maximum of 200 students (£1,000,000 for independent learning providers).
6. Information: supporting our users to access funding on the apprenticeship service – funding backdated starts
The ESFA funding rules state that where apprenticeships are to be funded using the apprenticeship service, funding must be agreed and in place before training starts. We are aware that some training providers have started apprentices training before this has been done and this means that funding cannot be claimed. In recognition of the transitional phase we are currently in, and of the need for employers to be able to claim the new incentive payment for hiring a new apprentice, we will now provide a time-limited solution which can be requested.
This solution will allow reservations to be set-up or backdated to the beginning of the current funding year and will then allow training providers to access funding from that date. This process is only available for apprentices that have not already been funded using an ESFA contract in accordance with the funding rules.
If you want to request this solution please contact the apprenticeship support team who will require evidence from you of agreement by the training provider and employer to the request.
You can find the latest information about this and other important apprenticeship service updates on the Apprenticeship Service Support Centre, ESFA Communities and by following us on @ESFAdigital on Twitter.
7. Information: supporting employers who are new to the apprenticeship service
From 1st April 2021 all new apprenticeships will be managed and funded using the apprenticeship service. All employers hiring apprentices will need to have an apprenticeship service account in order to access funding.
As trusted advisors to employers, training providers have an important role to play in helping those employers who are new to the apprenticeship service.
There are a number of ways you can remind employers to take action, or, with permission, manage actions on their behalf. We recently outlined these touchpoints as part of a webinar for colleges. The explanation is relevant to all training providers. Watch our recording to help you plan how best to onboard new employers.
There are additional resources available to support you and employers:
- our YouTube playlist ‘Using the apprenticeship service’ is a collection of simple, how-to videos. You might want to start with ‘Training providers: apprenticeship service user journey’, which uses a demo to explain how to guide employers through the apprenticeship service.
- apprenticeships.gov.uk contains all the answers to questions frequently asked by potential apprentices and employers. The employer zone is also a useful tool for training providers. It features simple explanations which you can use to support employers.
- our help articles provide straightforward advice on how to use the apprenticeship service. They’re great to share with employers and can help you to navigate any known issues too.
- our webinar playlist on YouTube is home to a series of deep-dive sessions covering topics from funding rules to end-point assessments.
Training providers support on YouTube
8. Information: apprenticeships standards versioning – new revisions status report
The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IFATE) has published the first Revisions Status Report. This new report will be updated every eight weeks to show which live standards have entered IFATE’s formal revisions process, and the stage they are at in that process.
This regular dissemination of information aims to prewarn the sector that new versions are upcoming so it can prepare accordingly, and allow IFATE to consult the sector on the appropriate notice period for each version change. It forms part of wider enhancements to the introduction of new versions of apprenticeship standards to the market.
Providers and EPAOs should review this note, which provides further information on the report and the action that providers and EPAOs should take with it, as well as the wider enhancements that we are planning.