Correspondence

Inform January 2020

Updated 18 January 2022

This correspondence was withdrawn on 25 September 2023

This page has been withdrawn as it is out of date.

You can find the latest from ESFA in our weekly newsletter, ESFA Update.

Applies to England

1. Information: Changes to the way you access the Manage your Education and Skills Funding service.

We have published a blog on feconnect detailing the changes of moving from ESFA Idams to the DfE sign in service. These changes take place from 2 March 2020

2. Information: R04 funding monitoring reports published

We have published the R04 funding monitoring reports on Submit Learner Data. The funding monitoring reports user guide 2019 to 2020 explains how to access the reports and any actions you must take to ensure data is correct.

For each report we have indicated the actions we will take if we are not satisfied your data complies with the rules. This will include funding recoveries or requesting further evidence to support your claim for funding.

This year, in addition to the funding streams monitored in previous years, we have included the following streams:

• 16 to 19 funding – we have included this provision in reports where we have detected similar issues to those in adult skills and apprenticeship provision. While we will not recover funding from these records in the same way we handle other errors at the end of the year, we may contact outlier institutions to discuss the data further. We will only review data you submit through the ILR, not through the schools census.

• Devolved adult funding – we have included devolved funding in our reports to support you. However, we do not have responsibility for assuring this provision or recovering any funding at the end of the year, as this responsibility lies with the relevant authority. We will share this data with devolved authorities and will treat this separately in your reports.

We have also published a known issues log, which tracks issues that are affecting the suite of reports, and the dates we expect to resolve these. There are two active known issues relating to apprenticeships payments data; we are applying further quality assurance checks to the FRM reports that use this data before we include the payment values in the reports.

3. Information: qualification achievement rates (QAR)

QARs will continue to be published in March 2020 through the National Achievement Rate tables. However, the new transparency reporting table will be published alongside NARTs transparency tables at the same time. Please read this document alongside the 2018 to 2019 QAR business rules and the technical specification to review your QAR data.

We have also published the following documents on the QAR webpage:

• QAR business rules 2019 to 2020
• Technical specification 2018 to 2019 (version 3)
• Data extract guidance (version 3)
• Transparency reporting plans for 2018 to 2019

3.1 2018 to 2019 QAR provisional data is now live

We have published your provisional QAR 2018 to 2019 data. All the data is available through the View Your Education Data portal. There will no longer be any data available on the Hub.

You have until 5pm on Friday 31 January to inform us of any concerns about how we have implemented our published methodology. Please note that you cannot request fixes or adjustments to your 2018 to 2019 individualised learner record (ILR) data.

If you have any queries with the provisional data, please complete a data query form, email this to sde.servicedesk@education.gov.uk the service desk and ask us to assign your query to ‘ESFA Business Operations QAR’.

For further information, refer to the QAR guidance.

4. Information: Accessing QAR data

The in-year QAR guidance and QAR webpage provide details about this data release and accessing the dashboard. To access the data, please ensure you have the correct IDAMS user access. Please see the IDAMS user guides for creating access or checking your user permissions. Business rules, dataset specifications and guide updates

Please check the latest versions of the business rules, data set specifications and data extract guides on the QAR 2018 to 2019 webpage.

5. Action: feconnect Ask the Experts – Qualification Achievement Rates

As a result of the success of previous Ask the Expert sessions on feconnect we are planning to hold a series of similar events throughout 2020.

The first question and answer session coincides with the release of provisional QAR for 2018-2019.

We have lined up in-house experts from Policy, Data, and View Your Education Data (VYED) to answer your queries on QAR until 20 January.

Please post any general queries about QAR on feconnect.

6. Information: 2018 to 2019 Final Reconciliation Statements

Following submission of your 2018 to 2019 final funding claim, you should now be able to view your final reconciliation statements on the Manage your Education Skills and Funding. They set out the final position for 2018 to 2019 and inform you of any funding that you were required to repay (if applicable) or any additional funding that you have received.

Statements were published for submitted funding claims if you received funds through:

• A grant for your Adult Education Budget (AEB)
• A grant with an Advanced Learner Loans Bursary contract
• A Learner Support (for Procured AEB) contract

7. Information: Contract Capping Release – Over delivery – 2018 to 2019

As detailed in the relevant funding and performance rules for 2018 to 2019, following the R14 data submission:

7.1 Adult Education Budget (AEB)

• We have issued variations to increase Adult Education Budget – Traineeships and Other Learning funding in-line with earnings.

7.2 Advanced Learner Loans Bursary (ALLB)

• We have issued variations to increase Advanced Learner Loans bursary and/or career learning pilots funding in-line with earnings.

7.3 Apprenticeships

• As detailed in the ESFA Update on 24 April 2019 we have issued variations to increase procured non levy apprenticeship funding (for the period April 18-March 19) in line with earnings.

As detailed in the apprenticeship performance management rules for training providers August 2018 to March 2020 and the Funding Guidance for Young People 2018 to 2019 we have issued variations to increase Apprenticeship carry-in and 16-18 traineeships funding in line with earnings.

The additional payments will now have been paid.

8. Action: Mid-Year funding claims for 2019 to 2020

You must submit a mid-year funding claim by 5pm on Thursday 13 February 2020 on Submit Learner Data

You will, therefore, need to submit a claim if you receive funds through:

• a grant for your Adult Education Budget (AEB)
• a grant with an Advanced Learner Loans Bursary contract
• a Learner Support allocation for Procured AEB

The form will include your R06 ILR and EAS data and will be available from 9am on Monday 10 February 2020. You must include your forecasts for the remainder of the 2019 to 2020 funding year. Once you have submitted your mid-year funding claim on Submit Learner Data, you will also be able to view it on Manage your education and skills funding

You will not be able to complete the form after the deadline on Thursday 13 February 2020 and failure to submit the form will be a breach of your agreement.

The 19+ funding claims guidance for the 2019 to 2020 funding year can be found on GOV.UK. The user guide to help you complete the form will be available on GOV.UK.

For colleges due to submit the Integrated Financial Model for Colleges (IFMC) at the end of February, please ensure figures in the mid-year claim are used to inform the financial planning you are currently undertaking.

If you have any queries about this please contact your Territorial Manager.

9. Action: Recording supported internships

Please ensure that supported internships are correctly recorded with learning aim ‘Z0002347’.

We are aware of some colleges who are offering this study programme but no learners are appearing with this learning aim in the data.

There have been instances where work experience has been incorrectly recorded with this learning aim and the learner has been incorrectly identified as participating in a supported internship. Further information on the correct recording of supported internships can be found in the LARS database.

10. Information: update on 2020 to 2021 individualised learner record (ILR) specification

Due to pre-election restrictions on communications, we were not able to publish the statement of changes to be made to the 2020 to 2021 ILR specification in December. We will now be publishing the statement this month.

11. Information: ILR Validation Rules for 2019 to 2020 (version 4)

The fourth version of the ILR Validation Rules for 2019 to 2020 has now been published and is available to view on gov.uk

12. Information: apprenticeship service for SMEs now open!

Smaller employers who do not pay the apprenticeship levy now have full access to the apprenticeship service. The service opened on 9 January and those employers who feel ready to use the service will have greater control over choosing their apprenticeship, as well as their training provider and will be able to access funding and the range of other benefits the service offers.

This follows our announcement at the end of October 2019 that we would be embarking on a managed transition to allow smaller employers who do not pay the apprenticeship levy to access the benefits of the award-winning apprenticeship service.

Registration is open on the apprenticeship service.

We want employers and training providers to have time to prepare and take full advantage of the move onto the service, at the same time ensuring stability in the marketplace. So, from now until March the transition period will start with an initial ‘test phase’. We will seek feedback from smaller employers who register and recruit through the service and from providers working with those employers. We will monitor how the system is working, along with employer and training provider behaviour, this includes keeping under review how the reservation policy is working.

We also announced that to support transition additional funding would be made available for up to 5,000 new starts through the service, per month, between January and March 2020. Access to the additional funding will be open to all main providers that remain listed on the register of apprenticeship training providers (RoATP), not just those with an existing procured non-levy contract if they are selected by a smaller employer.

As we enable smaller employers to use the apprenticeship service, we are introducing the ability for them to reserve funds for training. We have published an updated versions of the Funding Rules and new Reservations Policy Statement.

This will allow us to forecast, monitor and manage apprenticeships funding within the overall budget for apprenticeships. To manage a gradual transition from contracted training provision to employers arranging their own apprenticeships through the apprenticeship service, employers will initially be able to reserve funding for up to three apprenticeships. Employers will still be able to access training via existing procured non-levy contracts, and we will extend these contracts beyond March 2020 to help facilitate a managed transition during the year as we bring all smaller employers onto the apprenticeship service. A narrated presentation to explain the funding rule updates will be published soon.

We have written to all existing providers about how the changes will affect contracting arrangements; this includes details of change to provider and employer agreements.

13. Information: New Apprenticeship Service webinars from January to March 2020

The Apprenticeship Service is holding several webinars from January to March aimed at training providers, employers and any organisations/ individuals with an interest in the apprenticeship service.

All webinars are hosted by subject matter experts to help service users to understand more about the apprenticeship service.

Attendees will have the opportunity to ask experts questions in a live Q&A and take part in interactive polls.

Topics include:

• apprenticeship eligibility
• apprenticeship funding rules
• moving from apprenticeships frameworks to apprenticeships standards
• off-the-job apprenticeship training
• transitioning smaller employers onto the apprenticeship service

Sign up now

You can watch all apprenticeship service webinar recordings on esfagovuk.

Follow @ESFAdigital on Twitter

14. Information: the apprenticeship technical funding guide has been updated

We have published version 3 of the Apprenticeships technical funding guide for April 2019 to July 2020.

This explains how funding will work for apprenticeship frameworks and standards starting on or after 1 April 2019, including how we will calculate provider payments.

The update from the previous guidance is some clarifications around reservations for new non-levy starts on the apprenticeship service.

For further information please contact the service desk.