Correspondence

ESFA Update further education: 3 February 2021

Published 3 February 2021

This correspondence was withdrawn on 23 December 2022

This has been withdrawn as it’s out of date.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. 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. Reminder: mid-year funding claims for 2020 to 2021

The mid-year funding claim window will open at 9am on Monday 8 February 2021. We understand that this is a difficult time for everyone, and time and resources are under strain. However, we will still require you to submit an accurate mid-year claim so we have visibility of the challenges you are facing, which will inform the design of the year end reconciliation process.

Please submit your mid-year funding claim by 5pm on Friday 19 February 2021. This is slightly later than we originally published. The claim form will be available on Submit Learner Data.

You will need to submit a claim if you receive funds through:

• grant funded – ESFA Adult Education Budget (AEB) (Adult Skills, Community Learning, 19 to 24 Traineeships and Covid-19 skills offer)
• learner support for ESFA AEB procured (Adult Skills and 19 to 24 Traineeships) – paid-on-profile
• grant funded - Advanced Learner Loans Bursary (ALLB)

Once you have submitted your claim you will also be able to view it on the Manage your education and skills funding.

If you have any queries about this, please contact your Territorial Manager.

3. Information: delayed adult education budget (AEB) assessments

We have completed our review of the impact of delayed AEB assessments on learning delivery at the R04 individualised learner record (ILR) return as originally published in Update in October.

We have now contacted all providers who had recorded ESFA funded learners with late recorded assessments on qualifications with delayed assessments to explain if they were eligible for an exceptional payment.

This process has ensured that all providers affected by qualifications subject to a “Delay/reschedule” mitigation by Ofqual have received the correct payments for the 2019 to 2020 funding year that they would have received should their achievements have been known and recorded in time for the R14 ILR return.

If the provider has not received an email from us it will be for one of these reasons:

• you may not have recorded any achievement of learning aims at R04 which was not already recorded in 2019 to 2020 ILR data for learning aims completed in 2019 to 2020
• your affected learners may be funded by a devolved authority. You should contact the appropriate devolved authority for further information

If the provider has not been paid following the exercise it will be for one of these reasons:

• for grant funded provision only, any additional funding from this process may have already been provided for through your grant payments, and so there will be no additional payment
• your learning aims with delayed achievements were not on Ofqual’s list of qualifications with a mitigation of “Delay/reschedule”

4. Information: updated apprenticeship funding rules 2020 to 2021

We have published Version 3 of the ESFA apprenticeship funding rules 2020 to 2021.

These documents set out the rules for apprenticeship funding, including the evidence required to support it and apply to apprenticeship starts from 1 August 2020.

The rules are being updated to reflect the extension of the incentive payment for hiring a new apprentice, as well as some other clarifications.

They should be read alongside the apprenticeship response to coronavirus (COVID-19) as some of these flexibilities are continuing.

The changes we have made are detailed in the summary of changes which can be found on the apprenticeship funding rules page on GOV.UK.

5. Information: exceptional in-year growth for 2020 to 2021

Each year (subject to affordability) we award in-year growth funding to those grant-funded institutions which have recruited significantly more students than we allocated. In recognition of the funding pressures that many institutions are facing this year because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, we have introduced a new methodology for allocating these funds. Institutions with significant levels of growth will receive the same level of growth funding this year as they would have under last year’s process, but this year institutions with more modest levels of over-delivery will also receive some growth funds.

We have now published the details of the calculation for awarding exceptional in-year growth for 2020 to 2021. We will be informing institutions eligible for growth during February and revised funding allocations will be available through document exchange.

Independent learning providers that exceed their allocation will continue to receive growth funding through the published reconciliation process.

6. Information: payments for Care to Learn and 16 to 19 Bursary Fund

We have published data showing aggregate payments made to childcare providers and education institutions, for both Care to Learn and the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund for students in defined vulnerable groups. The data will show payments made from 1 September 2019 to 31 August 2020.

The Care to Learn scheme helps young parents (aged under 20) to continue in education after the birth of a child. The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) provides funding towards childcare and travel costs whilst the young parent is engaged in a study programme. The 16 to 19 Bursary Fund provides financial support to help care leavers, students in care, or in receipt of specific benefits, to remain in education.

7. Information: 16 to 19 funding regulations guidance

We have published the 16 to 19 funding regulations guidance for academic year 2021 to 2022. We have included updated information on student eligibility advice for EU and EEA nationals resident in the UK that applies from 1 August 2021. To assist all our funded institutions during these difficult times we have not made any other material changes to the guidance for the next funding year.

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued hard work in these difficult times.

8. Information: access to support for devices and connectivity

The Get Help with Technology programme is being extended to support disadvantaged students in further education to access remote education. Further education providers will be eligible to receive devices where they have students that are aged 16-19 who are in receipt of free meals, and where they have students aged 19 and over with an education, health and care plan (EHCP) who are also in receipt of free meals.

All eligible further education institutions have now been invited to join the Get Help with Technology Service. If you have learners in receipt of free meals and you have not received an email inviting you to join the service, contact COVID.TECHNOLOGY@education.gov.uk. You should include details of how many learners are in receipt of free meals and update the mandatory R06 ILR data return with this information due 4 February.

9. Information: Further Education Capital Allocation – extension to March 2021 deadline

A number of colleges have raised circumstances with us which mean they are unable to complete their works by the end of March 2021. In exceptional circumstances, where an extension to the timeframes will enable delivery of projects that meet the terms of the Further Education Capital Allocation (FECA) grant, we have been able to extend the timeframes for these colleges until 30 September 2021.

For those colleges which have so far not requested an extension, we recognise that exceptional circumstances may arise, which are outside of the control of the college. In such cases, we would advise setting out those circumstances to the Department for Education (DfE) Further Education (FE) Capital Team. This should include proposals for how much of the FECA spend will fall into 2021 to 2022 financial year.

If you think an extension will be necessary, please contact the DfE FE Capital Team at enquiries.fecapital@education.gov.uk, by no later than Friday 12 February 2021.

The FE Capital Team will only accept such requests where the reasons for the extension could not have been foreseen and where the need for such an extension is raised with the team by Friday 12 February 2021.

10. Information: countdown to National Apprenticeship Week 2021

As we continue our countdown to the 14th annual National Apprenticeship Week running from Monday 8 to Sunday 14 February, we would like you to keep you updated on what is happening:

• we are continuing to add resources on GOV.UK, including social media digital assets and graduation digital assets, which can be used throughout the week and shared with your networks to encourage people to get involved
• check out the event list hosted on the Amazing Apprenticeships website to see the huge array of events being arranged by external organisations, that you can promote and get involved with

As the week approaches, we will be sharing more activities going on internally across the programme and how to keep involved so stay tuned.

In the meantime, please follow our social media accounts to keep updated or contact the.week@education.gov.uk if you have any questions. Follow us at:

• Twitter: @Apprenticeships
• Twitter: @FireItUp_Apps
• Instagram: @fireitupapps
• Facebook: FireItUpApps
• LinkedIn: National Apprenticeship Service

Remember to use the hashtag #BuildTheFuture

11. Information: updates from the College Collaboration Fund (CCF)

Since the end of July, colleges that were successful in gaining funding through the College Collaboration Fund (CCF) have been working collaboratively with their partner colleges, sharing their skills, knowledge, expertise, and drawing on their good practice to address shared quality improvement priorities. We are now at an exciting point in the CCF programme as the projects are starting to produce resources which they can share.

Heart of Worcestershire and their partners Grimsby Institute and East Durham have developed a wide range of free remote learning resources on different subject areas, including: Maths, English, animal care, carpentry, careers support and health and social care and included built in assessments. These resources have been developed by experts and vocational specialists within the sector and can be accessed via the Get Help with Remote Education GOV.UK page.

Weston College have been working with Gateshead College to develop their ‘Let’s Chat’ brand through the CCF which offers a great selection of tools and resources. ‘Lets Chat’ has been developed by expert education and mental health practitioners and GPs to holistically support the well-being of staff, learners and their parents and carers. Topics include: loneliness, social isolation, stress, resilience, sleep, anxiety and many more. The resources are free and can be used one to one, for groups or individually. The resources are available through their website.

Windsor Forest College Group have developed a demonstration of a 360 video immersive experience, showcasing how to make remote learning accessible to students studying vocational subjects, such as agriculture in Further Education. The resource was created using a 360 camera and ThingLink to add teaching and learning content, such as text, video, audio, quiz. This can be views on YouTube.

YouTube

These are a growing bank of resources and further material will be added to these links as it is produced by projects. I do hope that you will keep an eye on progress via GOV.UK and take the time to look at and make use of the materials that colleges have produced.

You can find out more information on each CCF project on GOV.UK.

12. Information: EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS)

The Home Office would appreciate your support in reminding parents, families, young people and your staff that if they are an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen, they and their family members may be eligible to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS). The application deadline, for those who were living in the UK by the end of the transition period at 23:00 GMT on 31 December 2020, is 30 June 2021.

Children and young people require their own immigration status and are not covered by a parent’s application to the EUSS. An application must be made for every eligible child within a family. A parent or guardian can apply on behalf of a child and link it to their own application (if applicable), or they can apply in their own right. There’s lots more information on this here on GOV.UK.

Applications to the EUSS are free and can be made online on GOV.UK. Information on what is needed to apply can also be found on GOV.UK. Successful applicants get either settled status or pre-settled status ensuring they can continue to live and work in the UK after 30 June 2021, whilst remaining eligible to access the benefits and services they could before the UK left the EU.

For questions about applications, call 0300 123 7379 or +44 (0) 20 3080 0010 from outside the UK (Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm and Saturday to Sunday, 9.30am to 4.30pm). Find out about call charges.