ESFA Update further education: 25 August 2021
Published 25 August 2021
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2021
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esfa-update-25-august-2021/esfa-update-further-education-25-august-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. Information: removing funding approval from qualifications with low or no ESFA-funded enrolments
From 1 August 2022, we will remove funding approval from qualifications that had low (1-99) or no ESFA-funded enrolments in the funding years 2016 to 2017, 2017 to 2018, and 2018 to 2019. Removing funding approval means that we will not fund any students starting on these qualifications from 1 August 2022. This does not affect students already receiving funding for these qualifications before 1 August 2022.
We have published the list of these qualifications on GOV.UK. The list is the outcome from a review process that we announced in December 2020, to support the review of post-16 qualifications at level 3 and below.
If you have any further queries, please use our contact form.
3. Information: apprenticeships initial assessment to recognise prior learning guidance
We have updated the guidance on apprenticeships initial assessment to recognise prior learning. The updated guidance supports providers to tailor apprenticeship programmes to meet apprentices’ needs by establishing the correct starting point for each apprentice.
In response to sector feedback, we have included more information about how to conduct the initial assessment and assess prior learning and experience in accordance with the policy intent and the apprenticeship funding rules.
The update includes:
- expanded content on why it is important to conduct initial assessment
- a new section on the benefits of recognising prior learning
- expanded content on how to conduct initial assessment and how prior learning and experience can be assessed – including a case study
- new section on what prior learning and experience should not be included
- expanded content on who is responsible for the recognition of prior learning and experience
- a new section on how other technical education programmes that are aligned to occupational standards should be taken account of.
We will run a series of webinars in the autumn about the initial assessment and recognition of prior learning policy. We will let you know when dates become available.
This guidance will be kept under review as further training programmes that are aligned to employer designed occupational standards are introduced.
4. Information: new Learning Aim Class Codes for Essential Digital Skills
We have introduced new Learning Aim Class Codes (LACCs) for Essential Digital Skills (EDS). This recognises 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. This includes 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 to 2022 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.
5. Information: new data upload facility to the publish to the course directory platform
Following last week’s update about the data upload improvements to the National Careers Service ‘Publish to the course directory’ platform, we have added an extra webinar date in September to demonstrate how the feature works.
The benefits of the new feature will include:
- A simple, step-by-step procedure that tells you where you are in the process.
- Provides feedback on the success of the import, where errors exist, and how these can be resolved.
- Enables users to make corrections online during the upload process.
- Greater capacity to upload more information in one go.
To sign up any of the remaining webinars, follow one of the appropriate links below:
6. Information: educational setting status form to resume from Thursday 26 August
The educational setting status form will reopen for the autumn term on Thursday 26 August. Please begin completing the form from the start of term.
We are asking you to continue to submit your attendance data daily throughout September, so we can monitor attendance in colleges after the summer break.
From Friday 1 October, the form will move from daily reporting to weekly to reduce the time colleges spend completing it. At this point, all colleges will have settled into the new term. This will be kept under review, and should the national situation require, daily reporting may be reinstated.
Changes have been made to the form to align with the latest guidance for colleges. However, this does not impact the way that you complete the form. We have updated the questions on COVID-19 related absence and have added a new set of questions about managing COVID-19 in your college.
We have also updated the set of sub-codes introduced last year to enable you to easily extract and submit data for the form.
Please continue to complete the form each day by 2pm.
7. Information: urgent reminder for colleges to check home test kit stock levels
Please check your stock levels to ensure you have sufficient numbers of at home test kits to distribute upon re-opening for the autumn term. You will need enough test kits for all your staff to resume twice weekly testing at home, and for your students to resume twice weekly testing at home following an initial two tests onsite.
If your stocks are low, you can re-order more test kits via our online ordering portal. Please remember, you need to order by 5pm each Tuesday to secure delivery the following week.
8. Information: test kits instructions
We are aware that some deliveries of ATS (onsite) test kits, for use at the start of the autumn term, have included the incorrect instructions for use (IFU). These IFUs indicate they should not be used by anyone who is not a medical professional and are therefore not suitable for use in school and college settings. You should therefore ignore these instructions. Instead, please follow the instructions included on the document sharing platform.
The IFU on the document sharing platform makes it clear that the tests should be used as nasal swabs (i.e. only inserted a short way into the nostril), not as nasopharyngeal swabs (which are inserted further into the nostril). We can confirm that the Orient Gene test kits for ATS require double nostril swab only and not nasopharyngeal swab or nose and throat swab.
9. Information: volunteer ATS workforce support for colleges
If you need workforce assistance to deliver ATS testing on return in the autumn, the Voluntary and Community Sector Emergencies Partnership (VCSEP) may be able to help.
The VCSEP is a coalition of over 230 organisations across England and may be able to offer additional workforce support to your setting.
VCSEP works in partnership with the National Association for Voluntary and Community Action (NAVCA), a local network of volunteer members, and can assist in connecting colleges to potential volunteering support across all local authorities.
Please give as much notice as possible to ensure the best chance of securing this resource in time for the autumn. There is a small administrative charge for the deployment of volunteers, which is to be agreed between the charity network and the setting. Colleges will be able to use their ATS workforce funding allocation to cover these associated costs.
Where specialist settings do not have the capacity to deliver assisted swabbing, further support may be available from Medacs Healthcare.
For further details, please visit the Volunteer ATS Workforce Support guidance. You can email the central VCSEP Mailbox help@vcsep.org.uk – with subject title: ‘Support Request – Rapid Testing Resource [insert college name]’.
If you have any queries or require further advice about ATS testing in your school or college, please contact the DfE COVID-19 helpline on 0800 046 8687.
10. Information: joint AoC-DfE webinar on testing, vaccinations and outbreak management
On Thursday 26 August, from 10am to 11am, we will be holding a joint webinar with the Association of Colleges (AoC), covering testing, vaccinations for 16 and 17-year-old students and outbreak management.
This is an opportunity to:
- get all the latest information on vaccinations, testing, and outbreak management
- understand how you can support your staff and students
- ask questions of those running FE COVID-19 Response in the DfE.
You can book your place for the webinar. If you have any questions for the upcoming session, please email events@aoc.co.uk.