ESFA Update further education: 6 April 2022
Published 6 April 2022
Applies to England
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1. Information: post-16 audit code of practice and regularity self-assessment questionnaire for 2021 to 2022
We have published the post-16 audit code of practice and regularity self-assessment questionnaire for the financial year 2021 to 2022. The new post-16 audit code of practice includes several changes from the edition for the financial year 2020 to 2021.
We have:
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notified that ESFA does not intend to issue a supplementary bulletin concerning pandemic-related disclosures and regularity matters for the current year - the bulletin for the year 2020 to 2021 remains extant.
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clarified what constitutes reportable significant fraud.
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removed the exclusion of the regularity of the ILR return from the scope of the reporting accountant’s regularity engagement.
2. Information: student financial support for 2022 to 2023
We have now published the care to learn guide for the 2022 to 2023 academic year.
3. Information: apprenticeship programme guidance on COVID-19
We withdrew the guidance on providing apprenticeships during the COVID-19 pandemic on 1 April 2022. This follows the next phase of the government’s pandemic response, Living with COVID-19, set out by the Prime Minister on 21 February 2022.
As previously announced, on 31 March 2022 we removed the temporary flexibility introduced in March 2020 that allowed employers and training providers to initiate and report a break in learning in certain scenarios. Apprentices continue to be able to initiate a break in learning, as set out in the funding rules.
The flexibility allowing apprenticeship certificates to be sent to the apprentice’s training provider address, or to the apprentice themselves if the employer’s office is closed (including requests for a replacement certificate), is under review. We will communicate the outcome shortly.
Please see the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education’s website for updates on the flexibilities and discretions to end-point assessment introduced by the Institute.
All other content in the guidance is either no longer needed, is already available elsewhere on GOV.UK (for example redundancy support for apprentices) or is in the apprenticeship funding rules (in some instances the guidance provided clarification on what was already in the funding rules).
4. Information: applications for the £3,000 incentive payment for hiring a new apprentice closes 15 May 2022
Do you work with employers who hired a new apprentice between 1 October 2021 and 31 January 2022?
If these apprentices had an apprenticeship start date between 1 October 2021 and 31 March 2022, employers could be eligible for the £3,000 incentive payment for hiring a new apprentice.
Employers must submit an application for each eligible apprentice through their apprenticeship service account.
Applications close 15 May 2022.
Share our resources with employers to support their application:
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how to apply video including a walk through of the steps to take within the Apprenticeship service
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how to apply guide including when to apply, steps to take before applying, how to apply and what happens after applying
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guidance page including eligibility, how the payment can be used and when payments are made
5. Information: apprenticeship accountability framework
In August 2021 we published the policy on the new Apprenticeship Accountability Framework. The framework will be used to support those providers that are willing and able to improve, as well as allowing timely intervention where necessary to protect the interests of apprentices.
A clarification version of the Technical Specification was published at the beginning of February 2022 and a final version will be published at the end of April 2022, taking into account feedback from apprenticeship providers and other stakeholders.
2021/2022 will be a transitional year for implementing the framework and Department for Education Territory Managers will use this to enhance the structured conversations they have with apprenticeship providers in scope from early May 2022 following finalisation of the R08 data return.
6. Information: announcement of the outcomes of Further Education Capital Transformation Fund (FECTF) bidding process
On Monday 4 April, the outcomes of the Further Education Capital Transformation Fund (FECTF) bidding round were announced by Minister Burghart, Minister for Skills. Colleges that bid to stage 2 were notified of their outcomes directly on Friday 1 April. Funding of up to £405 million is being awarded to 62 successful colleges and designated institutions supporting 78 condition improvement projects.
The funding will support colleges to undertake building or refurbishment projects that will dramatically improve learning environments, including the creation of dedicated teaching facilities for subjects, such as automotive, ICT, science and engineering. This will support more people to get the training they need to progress into rewarding jobs and plug skills gaps in local communities. Some colleges will also construct new teaching spaces to replace buildings in poor condition elsewhere in town centres or on campuses.
The FECTF is part of the government’s £1.5 billion commitment to upgrade the FE college estate, supporting the sector to deliver the government’s technical education and FE reform agenda to ensure all colleges are excellent places to learn and contribute to the levelling up of skills across the country.
Further information about the programme is available on gov.uk, including the list of the successful FECTF Stage 2 bidders.
Details of the next stages of the programme will be announced in due course.
7. Information: final qualification achievement rates (QAR) for 2020 to 2021
On Thursday 31 March, we published final QAR for 2020 to 2021 as part of the National Achievement Rate Tables through Explore our statistics and data.
As previously announced in response to the impact of COVID-19, provider level achievement data for 2019 to 2020 and 2020 to 2021 will not be published. The release only covers high level national aggregations which are made available for transparency purposes. Following the national data release, providers will be able to access their final QAR data for 2020 to 2021 through View Your Education Data portal by end of next week.
Alongside this final release of data, v1.4 of the apprenticeship and traineeship technical specifications have been updated. These documents provide technical information about how we produce the QAR dataset and should be read alongside the business rules, which explain the methodology for calculating QARs for 2020 to 2021 and can be accessed on qualification achievement rates 2020 to 2021 on GOV.UK.
Following the completion of the QAR cycle for 2020 to 2021, we will alert you to the publication of the Business Rules and Technical Specifications for 2021 to 2022 in a future ESFA update. The announcement last July, outlined the approach for 2021 to 2022 and for qualification achievement rates (QARs) will continue to align with that for school and college performance tables.
8. Information: Minister for Skills speech on Future of Skills
On Monday, the Minister for Skills, Alex Burghart, gave his Future of Skills speech at the Policy Exchange.
It pulls together his vision for skills, expresses his admiration for the FE sector and highlights some of the ways the government is supporting the sector’s critical work.
View the full event including questions at The Future of Skills with Alex Burghart MP - Policy Exchange or read the transcript on GOV.UK.
9. Information: how Skills Bootcamps and Free Courses for Jobs are helping adults to upskill or retrain
Making sure everyone can boost their skills or retrain so they can get better jobs is a key priority for government. That’s why we are expanding our popular Skills Bootcamps and Free Courses for Jobs training offers this year. Thousands of adults have already benefited from these free training offers to help them get on the path to a rewarding career.
From 1 April, even more adults in England aged 19+ are able to take a free Level 3 qualification (equivalent to A levels) to help them access new job opportunities via the Level 3 Free Courses for Jobs offer. See the ESFA AEB funding rules for more information.
So that even more adults can get the skills they need for good jobs we are investing up to £150 million in 2022 to 2023 in Skills Bootcamps.
We are also publishing the government response to the National Skills Fund consultation, which responds to feedback, provides more information on how this investment is being used to help adults and employers, and sets out some of our future plans for this government’s investment in skills.
10. Information: construction route review
The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) have published the findings from the construction route review.
It sets out how apprenticeships, T Levels, Higher Technical Qualifications (HTQs), and further training will keep pace with the sector’s fast-evolving skills needs, drive up building safety standards, and play a vital role in changing perceptions and working methods around sustainability and mental health.
The report highlights equality and diversity, digital skills needs, and modern methods of construction as further key principles that will guide the design of apprenticeships, T Levels, and technical qualifications.
IfATE can also confirm that the route name for the sector will be expanded to ‘Construction and the Built Environment’. This better reflects the occupational standards contained in the route and the terminology used by the sector as well as further and higher education partners.
11. Your feedback: The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) apprentice survey
The IfATE apprentice panel wants to hear from apprentices all across the country in their apprenticeship survey. This is a chance to have apprentices’ voices heard and to help make apprenticeships even better.
This is a short survey and should take about 10 minutes to complete.
This survey is open to any apprentice who is on or has completed an apprenticeship standard. The survey will close on 8 April 2022.