Correspondence

ESFA Update further education: 31 October 2018

Published 31 October 2018

This correspondence was withdrawn on 21 February 2020

This has been withdrawn as it’s out of date. Find the latest information from the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) in the latest ESFA Update.

Applies to England

1. Action: ESFA Information Exchange access information

We have changed the access to the Information Exchange system. From now on you will need to access the Information Exchange system through DfE Sign-In instead of through Secure Access (SA). You will need to follow this process to set up your new account:

1. Visit the SA homepage, which will re-route you to the DfE Sign-in homepage.
2. Enter your SA username and password.
3. Once your details have confirmed your identity, you will begin an on-boarding journey to create a DfE Sign-in account.
4. Confirm personal details.
5. Enter email address (your new username).
6. Verify email address (you’ll receive an email, containing a link)
7. Create a new password for DfE Sign-In.
8. At the end of this process, you must re-enter your new username (email address) and password one final time.

For further information and support, please contact the DfE Sign-in service desk.

2. Action: ESFA Information Exchange folders

We will permanently remove folders for the academic years 2015 to 2016 and 2016 to 2017 from Information Exchange from Friday 9 November 2018.

Before this date, please check in the Document Exchange part of the system, that if there is information shown in these academic year folders, you have downloaded and saved a copy.

3. Action: strategic college improvement fund (SCIF)

We will open the second application round of the Strategic College Improvement Fund (SCIF) on Tuesday 6 November 2018. It will close on Monday 3 December 2018.

SCIF supports colleges that are Ofsted graded 3 or 4 for overall effectiveness, or for sub-judgements listed in the SCIF guidance, to partner with a higher-performing college to undertake a focused quality improvement programme.

Colleges that are rated 3 or 4 for overall effectiveness and have not applied previously are particularly encouraged to apply for this funding.

We have updated the guidance and application forms taking account of lessons from the first round.

We will publish the list of successful colleges from round one and their lead improvement partner in November 2018.

4. Information: 2017 to 2018 final reconciliation statements

Following submission of your 2017 to 2018 final funding claims for the grant funded allocations listed below, your final reconciliation statement will be published through the Manage your education and skills funding service by the end of November 2018:

• grant for your adult education budget (AEB)
• grant with an Advanced Learner Loans Bursary (ALLB) contract
• learner support contract
• community learning contract

We will process the final reconciliation transactions for 2017 to 2018 in December 2018.

5. Information: updated provider data self-assessment toolkit

We have recently released an updated version of the provider data self-assessment toolkit (PDSAT).

This update enables both XML and funding information system (FIS) import for the 2018 to 2019 funding year and now includes comparison of two Individual Learner Record (ILR) returns using cross-ILR functionality.

PDSAT is available to colleges and independent training providers to assist with their routine ILR data-checking procedures for their ILR data returns.

For further information, please email pdsat.ESFA@education.gov.uk.

6. Information: FE providers and the Prevent statutory duty

The Department for Education (DfE) have published guidance for providers of work-based learning in England with information on the Prevent duty, and their role in building resilience to extremist narratives in young people.

It explains the Prevent duty, safeguarding responsibilities and recommendations on recruitment, induction and ongoing assessment.