ESFA Update further education: 27 February 2019
Published 27 February 2019
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2019
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esfa-update-27-february-2019/esfa-update-further-education-27-february-2019
1. Action: user research - National Careers Service course directory
We are reviewing the National Careers Service’s course directory to make it easier to use for both learners and providers.
To help us design an improved service, we want to conduct some face-to-face research with people in your organisation who write and/or upload course content to the directory. We are looking to work with as many providers as possible so we can design a solution that works for everyone.
In particular, we want to explore how courses are described and how to improve the process of uploading information to the directory.
If you are interested in taking part, please complete our survey with your availability. We will contact volunteers shortly to arrange a research session.
2. Reminder: apprenticeship levy survey
The government announced during Budget plans to engage with business and providers on the development of apprenticeships post-2020.
We have released a survey as part of this engagement, which is open to all apprenticeship employers, providers and representative organisations. We would appreciate your views.
The survey will close on Friday 1 March 2019.
3. Information: 16 to 19 revenue funding allocation statements for 2019 to 2020
We have started to upload 16 to 19 revenue funding allocation statements for further education colleges to ESFA Information Exchange. We expect most statements to be available by the end of February and the remainder by the end of March.
You can find your file in ESFA Information Exchange in the Document Exchange ‘Revenue Funding’ folder, under ‘AY 2019-20 (2019/20)’.
Your allocation statement includes a breakdown of our calculation. We’ve published a short video and detailed guidance to help you understand your allocation statement. Please use your allocation calculation toolkit and guidance to understand the data we have used.
If you need to submit a business case, the deadline is Tuesday 30 April 2019. We will apply standard 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.
4. Information: feconnect web address is changing in March
We are changing the web address for the feconnect online forum on Thursday 7 March 2019. You will not be able to use feconnect while we do this. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
From Friday 8 March 2019 the new address for feconnect will be http://feconnect.education.gov.uk. We suggest you update your bookmarks.
Our email address is staying the same, so if you’ve subscribed to emails they will continue to work as normal.
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. 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 via email SDE.Servicedesk@education.gov.uk.
6. Information: college accounts direction
We have updated the college accounts direction for 2018 to 2019.
The accounts direction sets out the financial reporting requirements for sixth-form and further education colleges.
It outlines the requirements for each college to prepare audited accounts to 31 July 2019, and to submit those accounts and associated documents to ESFA by 31 December 2019.
Colleges that do not submit documents by the deadline risk ESFA intervention.
7. Information: post-16 audit code of practice
We have updated the post-16 audit code of practice for 2018 to 2019.
The audit code sets out a common standard for the provision of assurance for all post-16 providers, including sixth form and further education colleges.
We have also updated the regularity self-assessment questionnaire to help sixth-form and further education colleges evidence compliance for their auditors.
8. Information: update on reformed functional skills qualifications in English and maths
In February 2018, the Department for Education (DfE) confirmed the subject content for English and maths functional skills qualifications. In July 2018, Ofqual published the rules against which they will regulate the reformed qualifications. Awarding organisations have been developing their qualifications since then.
More information is now available on the technical evaluation Ofqual are conducting, including the status of each of the qualifications currently being developed.