Correspondence

ESFA Update further education: 29 June 2022

Published 29 June 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This correspondence was withdrawn on 27 December 2023

This has been withdrawn as it’s out of date.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: register now to deliver T Levels and the T Level Transition Programme from the 2024 to 2025 academic year

The registration portal opened earlier this year to allow providers not currently delivering T Levels to register their T Level intentions from the 2024 to 2025 academic year.

We encourage providers to register before 29 July 2022 to access the full implementation planning support on offer and to be eligible for T Level Capital Funding.

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. Providers can register up to midnight on the 24 March 2023, which is slightly earlier than originally communicated, but it will now close before we open registration for 2025 T Level delivery at end March 2023.

2. Information: change to payment dates from August 2022

From August 2022 we are combining the payment dates for the grant funded adult programmes and 16 to 19 funding.

Currently adult grants are paid on the 14th working day and they will move to the 18th calendar day or first working day prior:

• adult education budget (grant funded)
• advance learner loans bursary (grant funded)

In August 2022, payments will reach bank accounts on the same date (18 August), however, in September adult grant funding will paid on 16 September instead of 20 September.

If you are in receipt of both adult funding and 16 to 19 funding these will be paid together and if applicable will be offset against one another when payments are processed.

If you have any questions, please contact the enquiry service.

3. Information: Minister sets 67% achievement rate ambition for apprenticeship Standards

Minister writes to providers, setting out vision for improving apprenticeship achievements

Minister for Skills Alex Burghart has written to all apprenticeship providers, setting an ambition for apprenticeship achievements to reach 67% by 2025.

The Minister has detailed his vision for the next steps on apprenticeship quality in his letter to all apprenticeship providers. The letter outlines that as we move into the 2022/23 academic year, it is now time to focus efforts on driving up achievements as far as possible, to ensure that apprenticeships are delivering the maximum value to those who undertake them, their employers, and to the labour market more widely.

The Minister outlined that he sees the work needed to move towards this achievement rate ambition as a joint effort, and expressed his interest in hearing from providers on where barriers or issues may exist, and where further support may be needed.

He also explained plans to launch a new exit feedback tool for non-completing apprentices, to give a richer understanding of the reasons for non-completion, with the aim that in time the tool will evolve to better predict those at risk of withdrawal allowing targeted, direct support as needed to help support achievements.

The Minister also made a speech at the AELP conference on Monday 27 June, emphasising his thanks for all the work providers and employers are undertaking to support apprentices at all stages of their journey, particularly during the extremely difficult circumstances throughout the pandemic. His speech also emphasised the importance of achievement and the huge advantages it brings to apprentices in terms of future earnings and employment prospects.

4. Information: updated FE governance guide

This week we have published an updated version of the FE governance guide . The guide summarises the legal and regulatory requirements that apply to FE college and sixth-form college corporations, together with recommended practice.

Aspects of the guide will also be relevant to designated institutions.

The updated version reinforces expectations in some key areas, and it provides new material where the sector has indicated that would be helpful.

For example, guidance on equality, diversity and inclusion has been strengthened. This includes an emphasis on good recruitment practice for governor and senior leader appointments, to secure a diverse range of candidates with the right skills mix.

The guide also covers the new governance funding requirements introduced this year, and the new legal duties arising from the Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022.

5. Information: National Skills fund first time request - June 2022

We will shortly be conducting a review of National Skills funding (NSF) contracted within the Procured ESFA Funded adult education budget (AEB) contracts.

All Procured AEB Contract for Services providers can request a first time ESFA Funded NSF allocation up to a maximum £45,000.

Full details are available within the request form. The submission deadline is 5pm on 13 July 2022.

If you have any queries about this process, please contact your territorial team lead.

6. Information: FE capital funding

We have provided an overview of capital funding for post-16 education providers, the type of funding available, what it can be used for and when to apply.

This follows request from providers to simplify information on post 16 capital funding. We will update this page as new bidding windows announced, there is a function to sign up for alerts.

This funding supports:

• high-value provision relevant to the labour market
• investment in the college estate, to transform facilities and enable high-quality provision

7. Information: coronavirus (COVID-19) 16 to 19 tuition guidance 2022 to 2023

We have updated our coronavirus (COVID-19) 16 to 19 tuition guidance with more information about the midyear and end of year reporting process.

• We have provided further information about midyear reports and confirmed that we will issue a digital form and guidance to collect this information in January 2023.
• We have provided further information about end-of-year reports and confirmed that we will issue a digital form and guidance to collect this information in October 2023.

If you have any questions, please contact us using the ESFA online enquiry form.

8. Information: 2021 to 2022 year-end forecast funding claim – indicative reconciliation statements

We will upload your indicative year-end reconciliation statement(s) through Manage your education and skills funding (MYESF) for the following funding streams. We aim to complete this by Friday 1 July.

• 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)

You do not need to take any action at this stage. These statements are indicative and based on your recent year-end forecast claim return, so that you are aware of any potential impact before we publish your final reconciliation statements in November 2022.

Where appropriate, we will show any funding monitoring return errors within your indicative reconciliation statement. This is so you are aware of the potential impact before final claim reconciliation statements.

If you have any queries, please contact the Service Desk or your Territorial team.

9. Information: 16 to 19 additional hours in study programmes

We have updated our [16 to 19 additional hours in study programmes guidance](16 to 19 additional hours in study programmes guidance with more information about baseline data and end-of-year reporting.

Baseline data:

• you will find your data in document exchange
• we will use your data to compare to your planned hours recorded in 2022 to 2023 academic year as explained in our guidance

End-of-year report:

• we have provided further information about end-of-year reports and confirmed that we will issue a digital form and guidance to collect this information in October 2023
• we will tell you more about this nearer the time

If you have any questions, please contact us using the ESFA online enquiry form.

10. Information: New online toolkit for European Social Fund performance review points

We are introducing a new online toolkit for European Social Fund (ESF) providers to use as part of future performance review points until the end of the contracts for services in March 2023. The toolkit will replace the spreadsheet currently used at performance review points and is accessed through Submit Learner Data. In order to ensure a smooth transition, please ensure that all relevant staff have the required user roles to IDAMS in order to access Submit Learner Data. User roles can be added or amended by your organisation’s super user.

A webinar will be held at 14:30 on 19 July 2022 to demonstrate the new online toolkit and further information regarding this will shortly be provided via your ESF adviser.

11. Information: need support with validating your college’s courses? The Open University Validation Initiative can help.

On 25 May, the government announced that the Open University (OU) is joining forces with colleges, backed by up to £10 million of Government funding, to offer high-quality, higher and technical education to more local communities in England.

This programme will focus on providing high quality level 4/5 higher education courses in areas where it is not easily accessible. The programme is for colleges wanting to extend their level 4/5 provision, and those looking to meet local employer’s needs.

New courses will focus on providing the training that research has shown can unlock the skills employers need, filling the skills gaps and leading to well paid jobs.

Since the announcement, the OU are still looking for colleges that might be interested, to apply.

If you represent a college that would like to apply for the funding, the OU welcomes the opportunity to discuss this with you. They are contactable at fecou-enquiry@open.ac.uk.

12. Information: guidance and resources to support Ukrainian students in colleges

We have recently published the Helping Ukrainian students in schools and college guidance and resource pack.

It signposts offers of support, resources, and tools (including English as an addition language, mental health, and wellbeing) from external organisations that can assist colleges in supporting their Ukrainian students. It will continue to be updated in the forthcoming weeks.

For more localised offers, please get in touch with your Local Authority or voluntary and community sector locally.

13. Information: exam results and taking the next step 101: Local webinars for parents and carers’

With the exam period coming to an end, many pupils will be preparing to take their next step into further academic studies or the workplace, which we know can be confusing and feel a bit daunting.

Throughout the summer the National Careers Service is running a series of webinars for parents and carers of young people who are expecting their exam results this August. This a fantastic chance for parents & carers to learn more about how to support their children with advice about choices and careers, information on useful sources, advice for results day and a Q&A with a panel of experts. The schedule of webinars can be found online.

Please share this information with parents and students who could benefit from this support.

14. Your feedback: tell us how we can improve our services

Our customer experience team would like you to complete a short survey about your experiences of working with ESFA.

Your feedback will help us improve our services for education and training providers.

Please complete the survey by 5pm on Wednesday 20 July. It should take less than 10 minutes to complete.

To ensure your responses stay anonymous, please do not use identifying details within your answers.

The information will be collected, used and stored in line with our privacy policy.

If you’d like to contact the team directly, please email customer.experience@education.gov.uk.

15. Your feedback: reminder to complete our FE workforce challenges survey by 19 July 2022

The Department for Education (DfE) is increasingly aware of workforce challenges faced by the FE sector.  Over recent years, we have engaged extensively with the sector on the issues. We announced in the Skills for Jobs White Paper last year a set of measures aimed to help address these concerns.  However, we would like to continually understand the most up to date challenges and get a feel for how the measures set out in the White Paper are helping to address the challenges as well as learning more about good practice already being developed by the sector.

To gather a sector wide view, we have developed a short survey, that should take no longer than ten minutes to complete. This survey will enable us to see the national picture and identify any regional disparity of issues.

Your views on the themes raised through this short survey, combined with intel we gather from the workforce data collection later this year (collection opens 12 September 2022) will better enable us to target our resources and efforts towards the real pertinent issues affecting the sector. By completing this survey, you will be directly impacting the evidence base that underpins future policy direction.

We would be grateful if you/your leadership team could formulate a provider level response. As with all surveys, the more responses we receive, the more powerful the conclusions will be.