Correspondence

Inform July 2019

Updated 18 January 2022

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

Applies to England

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sfa-inform/inform-july-2019

1. Latest on learner data submissions

1.1 R11 for 2018 to 2019

In total in R11, we processed 5,458 files from 1,531 providers.

We’re encouraging providers to submit via the new Submit Learner Data service, while both the new service and the Hub are dual-running.

  • 401 providers used Submit Learner Data only to submit files
  • 202 providers used a mixture of Submit Learner Data and the Hub
  • 878 only used the Hub

Don’t risk a late submission.

Lots of providers are leaving their submissions until the last minute. This is a risky approach as you must have a submission with us by the deadline to guarantee your payments.

Over 840 providers submitted their first R11 file within the final 4 days of the R11 collection window, 240 of these submitted their first R11 file on the final day.

1,427 ILR files were submitted on the last day of the collection window, which is over 26% of the total files submitted during the entire collection window.

1.2 Individualised Learner Record (ILR): R12 for 2018 to 2019

The ILR R12 data collection for 2018 to 2019 is open and will close at 6pm on Tuesday 6 August 2019.

As always, try to submit your data as early as possible. We recommend using Submit Learner Data to submit your file.

Like last period, you’ll see reports in both services. However, the Hub’s reports are your official ones for R12. Please compare the reports and let us know if there are any inconsistencies that we’re not aware of (see the known issues document for things we are aware of). You can report things that aren’t right through our online enquiry form.

2. Register for our next apprenticeship service webinar about apprenticeship standards and withdrawal of frameworks

Join our webinar on Wednesday 31 July at 14.00 to 14.30.

The webinar will feature speakers from the Apprenticeship Service and the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) and this will help employers and providers prepare for the withdrawal.

Please use the GoToMeeting test link to check the meeting will run on your IT systems before the webinar is due to take place.

3. Change in payment dates from August 2019

We are changing the date on which we make payments from August 2019.

We are combining the adult payment dates into one and will pay the following funding streams on the 14th working day of the month:

  • adult education budget (AEB)
  • apprenticeships
  • Advanced Learner Loans Bursary
  • European Social Fund (ESF)
  • National Careers Service
  • 16 to 18 traineeships
  • career learning pilots

Any payments relating to these funding streams will reach bank accounts on 20 August 2019, and then on the 14th working day thereafter. If you have any questions, please contact the payment queries mailbox at payment.queries@education.gov.uk.

4. R12 in-year qualification achievement rate (QAR) release timescales

We are producing an R12 in-year QAR for 2018 to 2019; this will be available at the end of August 2019. The in-year QAR will be based on the 2018 to 2019 Individualised Learner Record (ILR) R12 data. We will also publish version 2 of the technical specifications and data extract guidance with minor updates on the QAR landing page.

The R12 in-year QAR will use exactly the same calculations as the final QAR will use, unlike the R10 in-year QAR which uses the R10 collection as the end of the year.

You can use in-year QARs internally to identify and resolve potential data issues before the ILR R14 hard close on Thursday 17 October 2019. After the R14 hard close, you will not be able to change your 2018 to 2019 ILR data; and neither can we. Therefore, it is important that you review the data and correct any issues before the final 2018 to 2019 R14 collection.

Please also review the following alongside the in-year QAR:

  • The in-year QAR guidance. This contains some of the common questions we receive about QARs and we update this regularly
  • The common issues article we have published again this year. This document highlights some of the main areas providers struggle with and some actions you can take to rectify any issues before the R14 collection
  • The Funding Monitoring reports that affect QARs that you can use to review and correct data before the R14 collection

We will publish two data products as we have done previously; a data extract and a dashboard through the View Your Education Data (VYED) portal. The data extracts will be the same as those we published on the Hub, but you can now also access these from the same location as the QAR dashboard. Please ensure you have the correct access permissions to access these reports.

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