Correspondence

ESFA Update further education: 9 September 2020

Published 9 September 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This correspondence was withdrawn on 29 December 2021

This has been withdrawn as it’s out of date.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: 16 to 19 tuition fund opt-in template deadline 16 September 2020

We have amended the eligibility for the 16 to 19 tuition fund. Please continue to prioritise young people without a grade 4 in English or maths, but your allocation may also be used to help those with a grade 4 in English and/or maths who are most in need of support.

In August, we issued eligible providers with a template that needs to be completed if you wish to opt-in to receive this additional funding to support small group tuition for 16 to 19 students.

Opt-in templates should be completed and returned to ESFA by Wednesday 16 September 2020. Eligible providers will find their template on the ESFA Information Exchange, which you can access by logging into DfE Sign-In.

3. Information: closure of Register of Training Organisations

The Register of Training Organisations (ROTO) has been closed since 2016 and will be formally decommissioned on the 31st July 2021. ESFA funding rules will be updated to reflect this.

ROTO was formerly the sole market entry point for apprenticeships, adult education budget (AEB), Advanced Learner Loans (ALL) and European Social Fund (ESF). However, apprenticeship market entry is now managed via the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers (RoATP). All funding opportunities for other funding streams will be advertised on GOV.UK, including the recently announced expansion of traineeships.

In addition, subcontractors who wish to deliver over £100,000 in the AEB or ESF market have to be listed on ROTO as per our current funding rules. This requirement will remain until formal closure. We recently published the subcontracting consultation response which seeks to refresh the management of the subcontracting market. These reforms are expected to be fully implemented by 2023. We are currently working on interim measures to ensure ESFA oversight of subcontractors in this period. We will communicate more information on this in the Autumn.

4. Information: Keeping Children Safe in Education

On 1 September Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2020 came into force; it is available on GOV.UK.

Schools and colleges must have regard to it. This version replaces both KCSIE 2019 and the ‘for information’ version published on 17 June 2020.

We have made changes in three circumstances. Firstly, where legislation has required it e.g. reflecting mandatory Relationship Education, Relationship and Sex Education and Health Education from September 2020. Secondly, where we have helpful additional information that will support schools and colleges protect their children e.g. mental health, domestic abuse, child criminal and sexual exploitation and county lines. Finally, important clarifications which will help the sector better understand and/or follow our guidance.

A full breakdown of the changes are included at Annex H of the guidance.

It is important that all school and college staff are alert to the fact some children will have suffered harm during lockdown. As well as exposure to things like domestic abuse, online harms and radicalisation children could have broader welfare and or mental health concerns. Part 1 of KCSIE provides all staff a basic understanding of what to look out for what to do if they have a concern. If possible, schools and colleges should provide designated safeguarding leads (and any deputies) more time in the early weeks of the new term to support children and staff.

KCSIE part 1 is also available to view in 11 community languages.

5. Information: new educational technology (EdTech) support for FE teacher and trainers

The Education and Training Foundation (ETF) has launched a range of free, new, easy to access, products to support FE teachers and trainers in delivering digital teaching.

For practitioners who are just starting out with use of educational technology (EdTech) a good place to start is the Your 60-minute Starter Pack for EdTech Training. It comprises of 12 free-to-access, bite-size training modules selected from the Enhance Digital Teaching Platform that will give you a good overview of the basics. Each module is only five minutes long so if you do them all it will take you 60 minutes.

For the full suite of new and existing products go to Start Your Digital CPD Journey With The Enhance Digital Teaching Platform where you will find lots of helpful information and links to free products including Support for Remote Working to develop your teaching practice using technology and the Essential Digital Skills Offer that provides modules to develop the digital skills needed to get on in life and work, as set out in the essential digital skills national standards.

6. Your feedback: survey on Functional Skills assessment

We are asking providers delivering apprenticeships to complete a short survey on access to Functional Skills assessments.

Now that most awarding organisations have started to resume on-demand English and maths Functional Skills assessment, we would like to understand whether these assessments are available and accessible as normal.

You can access the survey online.

You are asked to complete the survey by Friday 18 September.

Your feedback will help us understand the extent to which apprentices are able to access Functional Skills assessments and receive their results in the same timeframes as they did prior to COVID-19.