ESFA Update further education: 7 November 2019
Published 7 November 2019
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2019
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esfa-update-7-november-2019/esfa-update-further-education-7-november-2019
1. Action: declare your residential arrangements for learners aged 16 to 18 and up to 25 for learners with high needs
All providers with residential provision are required, through funding conditions, to inform the Department for Education (DfE) about students in residential accommodation. All providers should complete the appropriate field on the individualised learner record (ILR).
Colleges and special post 16 institutions (SPIs) should also self-record this information on Get information about schools (GIAS). They can update their GIAS record by signing into their DfE Sign-in account and there is GIAS guidance available.
Independent training providers (ITPs) are not included on GIAS but are required to inform the department if they have residential learners in this age group.
Residential provision includes the use of temporary accommodation, including hotels and arrangements made with host families.
The national minimum standards for residential accommodation for 16 to 18s in further education colleges are published in the Further education residential accommodation: national minimum standards guidance. These standards also apply, through funding conditions, to SPIs and ITPs.
Ofsted use the ILR and GIAS information to plan the inspection of residential provision.
If you have any questions, please contact us via the ESFA online contact form.
2. Reminder: traineeship in-year growth business case window 2019 to 2020 – 16 to 18 mainstream budget only
As previously notified, ESFA will run a business case process for traineeship in-year growth for providers with an ESFA 16 to 18 contract. We cannot accept business cases from providers with a traineeship-only contract.
The window for submitting business cases for 2019 to 2020 will be open from 11 November to 6 December 2019. Please submit all business cases for growth through our online enquiry form, clearly marked as “Traineeship In-year Growth Business Case”.
Business cases must include supporting evidence of employer support for additional starts in-year, together with evidence of student demand. We cannot support business cases without this evidence.
All awards are subject to overall affordability and we expect to inform providers of the outcome in February 2020.
3. Information: SME access to the apprenticeship service from 2020
New apprenticeship starts for SMEs (that don’t pay the apprenticeship levy) recorded on the service during the period January to March 2020 will be funded from an additional budget that has been made available to support the transition. That budget will allow for up to 15,000 new apprenticeship starts during the first three months of 2020.
From January 2020, SMEs will be able to select their apprenticeship training from all main provider organisations and institutions that remain listed in the register of apprenticeship training providers (RoATP) – both those with and those without non-levy contracts procured by ESFA. Employers will only be able to make this selection, and reserve funding, for apprentices that will be training using new high-quality employer-designed apprenticeship standards. All main providers have now been invited to apply to the refreshed RoATP, and should aim to submit their application by the end of this month. New providers will be subject to Ofsted monitoring visits as per our published policy.
From April 2020 we expect to move into the second phase of transition. For this phase, to support the transitional arrangements, we will be extending existing non-levy contracts procured by ESFA for a further period for both new and continuing apprentices. The current procured contracts, and the extension from April 2020, will remain as one route for funding training to these employers, with the extended contracts and access via the apprenticeship service dual running to support the transition period. We will confirm the basis on which extensions will be calculated in the New Year.
We are planning on hosting a series of webinars to explain the transition in more detail. We will also announce further details via ESFA Update. You can sign up to receive alerts when Update is published.
4. Information: 2019 to 2020 Advanced Learner Loans performance management point 2
The first time request form for Advanced Learner Loans is now available on GOV.UK.
Completed request forms must be sent to AllFacility.REQUESTS@education.gov.uk before 5pm on Friday 15 November 2019.
For further information, please refer to the Advanced Learner Loans funding rules 2019 to 2020.
5. Information: 16 to 19 funding arrangements for 2020 to 2021
In September, we said we would update you on the 16 to 19 funding arrangements for academic year 2020 to 2021. This week, we published details on:
- Level 3 programme maths and English premium
- High Value Courses Premium
- Programme Cost Weightings
- Allocations timeline
You said you want to receive information as soon as possible so we’re publishing details as they become available. These pages will replace our annual funding letter and you can expect to hear more when we will confirm:
- 16 to 19 data source tables for academic year 2020 to 2021
- more information on the Teachers’ pension scheme employer contribution grant for further education providers
If you have any questions after reading our guidance, please contact us using our online enquiry form.