Correspondence

ESFA Update further education: 7 October 2020

Published 7 October 2020

This correspondence was withdrawn on 29 December 2021

This has been withdrawn as it’s out of date. Read the latest editions of ESFA Update for up to date 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: funding claims 2019 to 2020 – final claim

The 2019 to 2020 final claim form will be available on Submit learner data from 9am Monday 26 October and will close at 5pm Tuesday 3 November.

You must sign your claim digitally on Manage your education and skills funding by 5pm on Wednesday 4 November by your principal or a delegated authority. You will need to submit and sign a claim if you receive funds through:

• Grant Funded - adult education budget (AEB) (Adult Skills, 19 to 24 traineeships and Community Learning)
• Learner Support for AEB Procured (Adult Skills, 19 to 24 traineeships) – paid-on-profile
• Grant Funded - Advanced Learner Loans Bursary (ALLB)
• 16 to 19 education

Once you have submitted your claim on Submit learner data, you will be able to view it and sign it on Manage your education and skills funding within 15 minutes.

You can find the funding claims guidance on GOV.UK and there is separate guidance for 16 to 19 education funding.

The user guide to help you complete the form will be available here before claims open.

3. Information: latest Apprenticeship Service support webinars

As part of our Apprenticeship Service webinar programme we are pleased to bring you the next in our series of support webinars.

On Wednesday 28 October we will be hosting 2 webinars about off the job training, one for employers and the other for training providers.

The employer webinar will cover:

• what is off-the-job training and why do we have it?
• the difference between off-the-job training and on-the-job training
• tools to support understanding of off-the-job training
• working with training providers

The training provider webinar will cover:

• importance of off-the-job training
• review of the changes to the 2020 to 2021 funding rules
• tools to support understanding of off-the-job training
• working with employers
• what is required for ESFA audit?

For more information and registration details sign up now.

4. Information: The Redundancy Support Service for Apprentices – new YouTube video

The Redundancy Support Service for Apprentices provides clear, accessible advice and guidance to individuals on the impact of redundancy, their options and next steps. Since it launched on the 1 August 2020, the service has been promoted widely through Education and Skills Funding Agency and Department for Education channels, but we would appreciate your support too.

Please share our new YouTube video with employers and apprentices, it explains what the service is, the benefits and how to access it.

The Redundancy Support Service for Apprentices

If you are aware of an employer who would like to recruit a redundant apprentice or offer new apprenticeship opportunities, please ask them to visit hiring an apprentice who has been made redundant or call 0800 015 0600 to find out more.

If you are aware of any apprentices who have been made redundant please encourage them to visit facing redundancy during your apprenticeship or call 0800 015 0400 to speak to an adviser.

5. Information: Functional Skills Assessments in apprenticeships

We are closely monitoring the assessment of Functional Skills in apprenticeships and the delays caused by COVID-19 restrictions. We know that although most training and assessment arrangements have either returned to normal, or are being delivered remotely, or have been adapted to take account of ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, this has not happened in every case.

We are aware that some learners and providers are being affected by COVID-19 restrictions and as a result providers and apprentices are unable to access Functional Skills assessments in the workplace. We are working closely with the sector and Ofqual to implement appropriate actions to resolve the issue so that we can facilitate learners to achieve their qualification, and, in time where appropriate their apprenticeship.

We will provide further guidance to the sector as soon as possible.

6. Information: 2021 to 2022 high needs place change notification process

The high needs place change notification process for 2021 to 2022 is now open. Institutions should engage in discussion with local authorities about their high needs places for 2021 to 2022.

We have published guidance on the high needs place change process and the spring 2020 census data for special academies and free schools to help you and inform local discussion.

7. Information: 16 to 19 tuition fund

Revised allocations statements are now available on Information Exchange for providers that returned a completed opt-in form by the 21 September. The statement confirms the new total funding allocation inclusive of the 16 to 19 tuition fund. Payments will normally commence in November. For FE institutions and local authorities (where maintained sixth forms have opted in) contract variations will be issued during October and will need to be signed by the end of the month to ensure payment in November. This contract variation can only be issued where there are no variations currently awaiting signature. Please review your account on MYESF to ensure you have nothing outstanding.

For those providers who have not yet responded, opt-in templates can still be completed and returned to ESFA by Wednesday 14 October 2020. Eligible providers will find their template on the ESFA Information Exchange, which you can access by logging into DfE Sign-In.

Full details of eligibility are given in the guidance on the 16 to 19 tuition fund. Note that special schools and special academies are not in scope for the 16 to 19 tuition fund as all of their provision is covered by the schools catch-up premium funding.

8. Information: 2020 to 2021 Advanced Learner Loans Performance Management Point 1

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 16 October 2020.

For further information, please refer to the Advanced Learner Loans funding rules 2020 to 2021.

9. Information: school census post-16 reports

The ESFA school census autumn 2020: 16 to 19 reports are now available in COLLECT. The reports are available to schools and academies during the entire period the autumn census is open.

The report suite comprises 6 reports, three each for the current year (2020 to 2021) and for the previous year (2019 to 2020).

We have developed the reports to help schools and academies quality assure their data and make more accurate census returns.

Information on the reports is available on GOV.UK.

It gives information about the reports’ contents and sets out some of the common data issues.

There are four new fields for the post-16 collection, to record data for the previous year. We encourage you to check that the data is accurate, as they may impact on your funding and whether the students meet the condition of funding. Please refer to the guidance on submitting your autumn census for more information.

10. Information: getting your school census data right

The school census post-16 interactive tool is available online. It is designed to help you understand how to ensure an accurate post 16 census return.

We have published an interactive flowchart to help you understand whether a student meets the condition, and what they can study.

Both the reports and the interactive tool include information on T Levels and two new elements of the funding formula:

• the level 3 programme maths and English payment, and
• the high value courses premium (HVCP)