Correspondence

ESFA Update further education: 5 January 2022

Published 5 January 2022

This correspondence was withdrawn on 20 December 2023

This has been withdrawn as it’s out of date.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. Information: latest on COVID-19 for FE providers

1.1 Resources for FE providers to support encouragement of COVID-19 testing and reporting by FE students

As all settings are aware, we have asked that FE students and staff take one self-test at home either the evening or morning before they return in January, then continue to test twice weekly at home.

It is important, when testing at home, that test results are reported online to NHS Test & Trace whether positive, negative or void. Reporting results helps the NHS monitor the spread of the virus, combat the virus and save lives.

We have provided a toolkit to support you in getting out this messaging, encouraging students to test regularly. The toolkit provides strategies, best practice case studies and online resources to help increase participation levels. This includes sending GOV. UK automatic text reminders to test and report results, working with student groups to encourage testing and incentivising testing through reward schemes.

Colleges may also find it useful to refer to the self-reporting toolkit, which is available in a number of translated versions, to help explain to students the importance of reporting all rapid Covid-19 test results as soon as they have them.

Updated guidance and further resources to support you with asymptomatic testing is also available on the secondary schools and colleges document sharing platform.

1.2 Colleges are now able to apply for a DFE-funded air cleaning unit

Following the announcement last weekend, the department is making 7,000 air cleaning units available for poorly ventilated teaching spaces in state-funded education settings, including FE colleges. Applications will be assessed against strict criteria, prioritising spaces with the poorest ventilation to receive units based on criteria such as CO2 levels and occupation density.

SEND settings that were not successful or did not apply in the first round are also eligible to apply in this round. This is in addition to the 1,000 DfE-funded air cleaning units that we announced on 18 November for SEND and Alternative Provision settings.

Settings can now apply for funded units via the online forms below, with applications open until 9am on 17 January:

• SEND settings: application form for DfE-funded air cleaning units

• mainstream settings: application form for DfE-funded air cleaning units

For settings which are not eligible for funded units, the online marketplace provides a route to purchasing air cleaning units directly from suppliers at a suitable specification and competitive price.

Should you have any queries about the application process eligibility for a DfE-funded air cleaning unit, please contact the DfE coronavirus helpline on 0800 046 8687.

2. Information: 16 to 19 funding arrangements for 2022 to 2023

In December, we published details on how 16 to 19 funding will work for academic year 2022 to 2023.

We have confirmed that the national funding rate for band 5 16 and 17-year-olds, students aged 18 and over with high needs will increase to £4,542. Our publication also confirms funding rates for T Levels and other students.

We have also provided information on funding for:

• disadvantage block 2
• advanced maths premium
• high value courses premium
• programme cost weightings
• teachers’ pay grant and teachers’ pension employer contribution grant

We have published the timeline for delivering allocations. If you have any questions after reading our guidance, please contact us using our online enquiry form.

3. Information: qualifications in the high value courses premium for 2022 to 2023

We have published a list of qualifications that will attract the high value courses premium in the funding year 2022 to 2023.

The high value courses premium is 16 to 19 funding to encourage delivery of selected level 3 courses in subjects, which are crucial for the labour market, and which lead to higher wage returns and a more productive economy.

If you have questions about this list, please use the ESFA enquiry form.

4. Information: financial assurance, monitoring post-16 funding for 2021 to 2022

The post-16 monitoring dashboard is available, following the close of the R04 ILR data submission. View the dashboard online using View your education data. Thanks to feedback from providers, we’ve made changes to the dashboard so it displays information in a more streamlined and user-friendly format.

We are still moving historic data over to our new model following the close of R14 for the 2021 to 2022 funding year, and this will be available in the dashboard in January. We’ve published a known issues log in the dashboard itself, rather than as a separate document, making it easier to identify any issues or changes being made to data in-year.

Over the coming months we will post hints and tips for getting the most out of the dashboard and will use a wider range of media to support providers, training organisations and employers.

5. Information: availability of provisional qualification achievement rates (QAR) 2020 to 2021

As previously notified in qualification achievement rates business rules 2020 to 2021 and ESFA Update further education: 29 September 2021, we will shortly be releasing your provisional QAR 2020 to 2021 data.

All the data will be made available through the View Your Education Data portal. On reviewing the provisional data, you will have until 5pm on Monday 31 January 2022 to inform us of any concerns about how we have implemented our published methodology. You cannot request fixes or adjustments to your 2020 to 2021 Individualised Learner Record (ILR) data.

If you have any queries with the provisional data, please complete and submit the data query form which can be downloaded from GOV.UK and submit this via our online enquiry form, selecting the QAR query type, and ask us to assign your query to ‘ESFA Business Operations QAR’.

6. Information: the College Collaboration Fund

The second round of the College Collaboration Fund (CCF) is now well underway and projects are starting to share resources they have produced. These are being added to the growing bank on the GOV.UK CCF resource page and are free for the wider FE sector to access.

Heart of Worcestershire College and their partner, TEC Partnership have added further remote learning resources to their vocational resource bank. Subject areas include: animal care exotics, drone use, childcare, engineering, interview preparation, British values, prevent and e safety. These are in addition to what they produced in the first round of the CCF and have been developed by experts and vocational specialists within the sector.

EKC Group and partners, Morley College and MidKent College have developed a range of exemplar assets and reports which include estates utilisation, average class size, course viability, staff utilisation and funding optimisation.

Kkeep 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.

7. Information: flexi-job apprenticeship pilot scheme

As announced by the Prime Minister in his 2020 Skills Speech, we are launching a pilot scheme for flexi-job apprenticeships (previously known as portable apprenticeships) beginning in April 2022. Flexi-job apprenticeship put apprentices in the driving seat apprentices and enable them to complete their apprenticeship across multiple short employment contracts.

We are pleased to invite providers to submit an Expression of Interest to engage in the pilot to test an exciting new model of apprenticeship delivery and support ongoing developments in the apprenticeship programme.

The Expression of Interest and further details about flexi-job apprenticeships can be found on Jaggear, the DfE’s eSourcing platform.

The closing date for Expressions of Interest is 28 January 2022.

8. Information: apprenticeships standards versioning report

IFATE has updated the Revisions Status Report. This report will be updated regularly to show which live standards have entered IFATE’s formal revisions process, and the stage they are at in that process.

This regular dissemination of information aims to prewarn the sector that new versions are upcoming so it can prepare accordingly and allow IFATE to consult the sector on the appropriate notice period for each version change. It forms part of wider enhancements to the introduction of new versions of apprenticeship standards to the market.

Providers and EPAOs should review this note, which provides further information on the report and the action that providers and EPAOs should take with it, as well as the wider enhancements that we are planning.

9. Information: National Apprenticeship Week 2022

This year’s National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) takes place between 7 and 13 February 2022.

The theme of NAW 2022 is ‘Build the Future’. This is a continuation of the message from 2021 and focuses on the benefits and impact apprenticeships have on individuals, employers, and local communities.

A toolkit on how to get involved is now available.

A range of activities will be taking place across England to showcase how

apprenticeships are helping businesses of all sizes and across all sectors. There will be over 1,200 virtual and in-person events targeted at a range of audiences. We will also be looking for opportunities for the Minister to connect with employers to highlight their impressive apprenticeship stories.

Please share details of your events with us and they will be listed on GOV.UK.

If you have any questions about NAW, please contact us at The.Week@education.gov.uk.