Correspondence

Inform May 2019

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This correspondence was withdrawn on 25 September 2023

This page has been withdrawn as it is out of date.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

1.1 Information: R09 for 2018 to 2019

In R09 we processed 6,040 files from 1,565 providers. Over 680 providers submitted their first R09 file within the final 3 days of the R09 collection window, 235 of these submitted their first R09 file on the final day.

1,548 ILR files were submitted on the last day of the collection window, which is over 25% of the total files submitted during the entire collection window.

1.2 Action: Individualised Learner Record (ILR): R10 for 2018 to 2019

The ILR R10 data collection for the 2018 to 2019 funding year is now open and will close at 6pm on Thursday 6th June. As always, we recommend that you submit your data as early as possible and that you review your validation and funding reports that are made available to you on the Hub and Submit Leaner Data.

1.3 Action: Earnings Adjustment Statement (EAS)

EAS for the 2018 to 2019 funding year is now open. If you need to submit an Earnings Adjustment Statement (EAS) and you do not have access to this on the Data Returns tab in the Hub, please email the Service Desk at sde.servicedesk@education.gov.uk or call us on 0370 267 0001 to request this.

2. Information: ILR Validation Rules for 2018 to 2019 (version 4)

The latest version of ILR Validation Rules for 2018 to 2019 have now been published and are available to view on GOV.UK.

3. Information: ILR Specification and appendices for 2019 to 2020

An updated list of the ILR Specification and its appendices for 2019 to 2020 are available to view on GOV.UK.

4. Information: Individualised learner record (ILR) funding reports guidance 2018 to 2019

We have published version 3 of the guidance on the 2018 to 2019 ILR funding reports. We generate these reports when providers submit an ILR file. This guidance for young people and adult programmes covers:

• 16 to 19 (excluding apprenticeships)
• adult education budget (AEB)
• all apprenticeships
• European Social Fund (ESF)
• Advanced Learner Loans Bursary

We updated the guidance to include a new apprenticeships report. A new beta version of the ‘Apps Co-Investment Contributions Report’ shows the different co-investment amounts for starts from 1 April 2019.

We intend to develop this report further for the 2019 to 2020 year, when it will replace the existing co-investment report.

5. Information: 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 us via email at payment.queries@education.gov.uk.

6. Information: Improved Apprenticeship assessment service now live

Our new digital Apprenticeship assessment service, which improves the process for end-point assessment organisations (EPAOs) submitting applications to assess standards, went live this month.

End-point assessment organisations now have a single service to access all digital activities. These include:

• applying to assess an additional apprenticeship standard
• viewing a pipeline of upcoming assessments
• recording apprenticeship end-point assessment grades
• viewing completed assessments
• viewing the standards EPAOs are approved to assess
• viewing organisation details
• signing up to our API service

Read our blog to learn more about the new service.

7. Information: a provider shares their experiences of helping employers transfer apprenticeship funds – watch now

Hear a provider sharing their experiences of how to work with employers on transfers on a new webinar now live our YouTube channel.

The latest webinar, a walk-through of transfers for providers, took place in May.

Viewers can find out how transfers work, and how providers might support employers through the process as part of the webinar.

The provider webinar can be found on YouTube (number 16) along with other videos and webinar recordings.

8. Information: Qualification Achievement Rates (QAR) 2018 to 2019 – key timescales

We have begun the process for calculating QARs for 2018 to 2019.

We have published the business rules, which outline the policy for calculating QARs for apprenticeships and for education and training. We will publish the accompanying technical specifications and extract guidance documents in the middle of June 2019 alongside the business rules on the QAR webpage.

Thank you to everyone who completed our QAR survey. We have reviewed the responses and, where possible, we will develop the 2018 to 2019 process to account for this feedback.

8.1 Information: in-year QAR release timescales

We are producing an in-year QAR for 2018 to 2019; this will be available the end of June 2019.

The in-year QAR will be based on the 2018 to 2019 Individualised Learner Record (ILR) R10 data. Following the recent survey, we will also be releasing an in-year QAR using the R12 ILR data – we will provide timescales on the R12 in-year QAR nearer the time.

You can use in-year QARs internally to identify and resolve potential data issues prior to 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 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. There are also certain Funding Monitoring reports that affect QARs that you can use to review and correct data.

We will publish two data products as we have done previously; a data extract and a dashboard:

• the data extract will be available through the Hub in the ‘QAR reports’ section.
• the dashboard will be available through the View Your Education Data (VYED) portal. This portal replaces the interim excel report we produced through the Hub. Please ensure you have the correct access permissions.

We have made a simple change to the QAR data extracts by combining the included and excluded files together for 2018 to 2019 – this will halve the number of files you need to download.

8.2 Information: provisional and final QAR timescales

We will release provisional QAR data for 2018 to 2019 to individual providers in January 2020, and then we expect to publish final QAR data in March 2020.

8.3 Information: qualification achievement rates (QAR) 2017 to 2018

We will remove your provisional QAR 2017 to 2018 reports from the Hub on Monday 3rd June 2019. They will no longer be available to download after this date.

The data extracts and final reports for your final QAR 2017 to 2018 will still be available in the ‘QAR reports’ section of the Data Returns page on the Hub.

If you have any questions, please contact the Service Desk via email at SDE.Servicedesk@education.gov.uk.

9. Action: Qualification Achievement Rates (QARs) 2018 to 2019 - funding monitoring reports and common data issues

9.1 Funding Rules Monitoring reports (FRM)

There are FRM reports for 2018 to 2019 that identify data issues that affect your QARs. You must review the reports below to ensure your data is accurate.

9.2 FRM04 - actual end date changes

This report relates to changes to the ‘Learning actual end date’ between ILR years.

If you recorded an aim as complete in the previous year’s R14 ILR and continues to be returned in the current year, then you must return the same ‘Learning actual end date’ that you reported in the previous year. You must not amend the ‘Learning actual end date’ between years. Changing this date between years will mean we will not be able to match the learner’s aims, this may generate orphan records that could negatively affect your QARs and may affect your funding.

If a learner undertakes an aim, finished learning, takes the final assessment and fails, then you must close the aim and record it as not achieved. Where this learner is then identified as needing further support or additional learning to pass the assessment, then you must record a new learning aim as a restart, with the ‘Funding adjustment for prior learning’ field completed to account for the new learning required to pass the resit.

9.3 FRM05 – planned end date changes

This report relates to changes in the ‘Learning planned end date’ between funding years.

You must not change or update the ‘Learning planned end date’ after the funding qualifying period has passed. You must not change this date to account for a change in circumstance such as illness, slow progress or unemployment. Changing this date between years will mean we will not be able to match the learner’s aims, this may generate orphan records that could negatively affect your QARs and may affect your funding.

If you identify the planned end date as significantly incorrect or incorrect due to an administrative error, after the 2017 to 2018 R14 ILR, you must:

• set the ‘Completion status’ to code 3 ‘withdrawn’ and complete the ‘Withdrawal reason’ using code 40 ‘learner has transferred to a new learning aim with the same provider’
• record a ‘Learning actual end date’ of 1 August 2018
• record a new learning aim with the same ‘Learning aim reference’ and the following:
  • a ‘Learning start date’ of 1 August 2018
  • the correct ‘Learning planned end date’
  • record this aim as a restart (Learning Delivery Funding and Monitoring Type = ‘RES’)
  • where appropriate, complete the ‘Funding adjustment for prior learning’ field with the percentage of learning that is still to be delivered

If the planned end date changes for reasons other than administrative errors, you must return the data that you reported in R14 of the previous year.

9.4 FRM06 - continuance issues

This report relates to continuing learners from 2017 to 2018 who do not appear in the 2018 to 2019 ILR.

We will treat continuing learning aims in the R14 2017 to 2018 ILR that do not have a corresponding record in the 2018 to 2019 ILR as a withdrawal for the overall QAR methodology.

The 2018 to 2019 ILR must include all aims that were reported as continuing (‘Completion status’ = 1 and the ‘Learning actual end date’ is null) in the 2017 to 2018 R14 ILR return.

If you reported the learner as continuing in the 2017 to 2018 R14 ILR return, but subsequently identify them as having withdrawn before 1 August 2018, then you must set the ‘Completion status’ to code 3 (withdrawn) and complete the ‘Withdrawal reason’ field with the relevant code. Record the ‘Learning actual end date’ as the last day the learner was in learning; this date will be in the previous ILR year - do not use 1 August 2018.

If data is incorrect after the 2017 to 2018 R14 ILR due to an administrative error, then you should correct the data and continue to return this for the duration of the 2018 to 2019 ILR. More guidance on correcting errors is available in Section 5.1 of the Provider Support Manual.

If you need to report an actual end date in 2017 to 2018 for those aims, then you need to ensure your Management Information (MI) system is set up to export 2017 to 2018 learning actual end dates.

For traineeship and apprenticeship programmes, the ILR must include the programme aim and all the associated component aims, even if the component aims are completed and closed.

9.5 Action: common QAR data issues

To minimise the number of queries for the 2018 to 2019 year, please review the list of common issues below and ensure you make any amendments to your 2018 to 2019 ILR data before the ILR R14 hard close on 17 October 2019.

Once the R14 ILR submission window closes, you will not be able to fix any issues from your 2018 to 2019 ILR return. We cannot change your data on your behalf.

We publish in-year QAR data to help you identify and review potential issues that may affect your final QAR. Please use this data, the in-year guidance and the common issues below to review your data before R14.

We will use the R04 2019 to 2020 ILR data return to identify:

• late notified apprenticeship achievements
• restarts for learners returning from a planned break
• learners who transferred to a different aim with the same provider within 120 days
• to identify achievements within 90 days (for the timely QAR calculations)

The common issues we receive through provider queries include:

Agreed breaks in learning

Recording breaks in learning incorrectly can lead to records counting as withdrawn or cause duplicate aims in the QAR calculation.

If you recorded a learner on a planned break with a ‘Completion status’ of 6 (Learner has temporarily withdrawn from the aim due to an agreed break in learning) in your 2017 to 2018 R14 ILR but there is not a corresponding restart record in the same year or by your 2019 to 2020 R04 ILR, then we will treat the planned break as overdue in your 2018 to 2019 QAR.

Overdue planned breaks are counted as withdrawn for your QARs, and have a value of 1 in the ‘Overdue_Planned_Break’ column of your QAR data extract (available on the Hub).

If the learner was recorded as on a planned break in your 2017 to 2018 R14 ILR but has now been identified as withdrawn, you must change the ‘Completion status’ from 6 (planned break) to 3 (withdrawn) and complete the ‘Withdrawal reason’ field with the relevant code. You must not amend any of the dates or other data for the aim.

If the learning aim that the learner was on is no longer available when they return from their break (for example the certification end date has passed), then you cannot class this as a break in learning. If you change a completion status from a planned break to a withdrawal where the ‘Learning actual end date’ is before 1 August 2018, check that your Management Information (MI) system can export learning actual end dates that are in previous years.

You must continue to report a break in learning until either the learner returns and restarts their learning, or you report the learner as withdrawn.

The Funding Monitoring report FRM08 can help you identify aims at risk of being counted as overdue planned breaks. You should correct any data entered in error by following the guidance in the Provider Support Manual.

Continuing learners

We will treat any learners you reported as continuing in your 2017 to 2018 R14 ILR that are not included in your 2018 to 2019 ILR as overdue.

Overdue continuing aims are counted as withdrawn for your QARs, and have a value of 1 in the ‘Overdue_Continuing_Aims’ column of your QAR data extract (available on the hub).

You can use the Funding Monitoring report FRM06 to identify these aims, please see the details about FRM06 included in the article above.

Changes to learner reference numbers

If a learner’s reference number has changed between 2017 to 2018 and 2018 to 2019, then you must record this by completing the ‘Learner reference number in previous year’ field. If you do not return this field then duplicate records will be generated when we try to match the learner’s aims between years. This will have a negative impact on your QAR.

If you return the ‘Learner reference number in previous year’ field when there has not been a change in the learner’s reference number, then this will prevent us from correctly matching the learner’s aims. This will also have a negative impact on your QAR.

The example below illustrates when you should complete the ‘Learner reference number in previous year’ field.

Example: Learner A has a Learner reference number of ‘LNA1234’ in 2017 to 2018. Due to a change in the provider’s management information (MI) system, Learner A has a new Learner reference number in 2018 to 2019 of ‘LRA9876’. This must be recorded in the ILR as follows:

• In 2017 to 2018:
  • Learner reference number = LNA1234
  • Learner reference number in previous year is not returned
• In 2018 to 2019:
  • Learner reference number = LRA9876
  • Learner reference number in previous year = LNA1234
• In 2019 to 2020:
  • Learner reference number = LRA9876
  • Learner reference number in previous year is not returned

Recording restarts correctly

When a learner restarts an aim or programme, you must ensure that you use the restart indicator and the same learning aim or apprenticeship programme aim as the learner originally started. When a learner restarts after a planned break, the ‘Original learning start date’ must exactly match the ‘Learning start date’ of the planned break record. Where the original aim record and restart aim record does not match, the original aim will default to ‘withdrawn’ when we calculate your QAR.

Transfer exclusions

Transfers to another provider are only excluded from your QAR where the reason was due to intervention from us, a provider merger or to meet a specific government strategy identified by these ‘Withdrawal Reasons’:

• 7 (Learner has transferred between providers due to intervention by or with the written agreement of the Education & Skills Funding Agency),
• 41 (Learner has transferred to another provider to undertake learning that meets a specific government strategy)

We also exclude transfers to new learning within the same provider where the learner starts their new aim within 120 days of the end date of the original aim. The exception to this rule is where a learner transfers from an apprenticeship to a non-apprenticeship aim; we treat this type of transfer as a withdrawal.

Duration of learning calculation

When calculating the duration of learning for the funding qualifying period exclusion, we count the first day in learning. This means that the duration of learning is either:

• the difference between the ‘Learning start date’ and ‘Learning planned end date’ plus 1 day (if the Learning actual end date is not returned), or
• the difference between the ‘Learning start date’ and the ‘Learning actual end date’ plus 1 day (where the Learning actual end date is returned)

10. Changes to learning aims between years

If you change details on a learning aim between years, we will not be able to correctly match those aims in the QAR calculation, which can have a negative impact on your QAR.

If you need to correct an administrative error that was in your R14 2017 to 2018 ILR, please follow the relevant guidance about how to record this in your 2018 to 2019 ILR:

• to correct a planned end date, refer to the FRM05 guidance section above
• to correct an actual end date, refer to the FRM04 guidance section above

If you need to change a learning aim reference, for example if the awarding organisation for the aim has change, you must record this as a transfer:

• change the ‘Completion status’ to code 3 ‘withdrawn’ and complete the ‘Withdrawal reason’ using code 40 ‘learner has transferred to a new learning aim with the same provider’
• record the relevant ‘Learning actual end date’
• record a new learning aim with the new ‘Learning aim reference’, relevant ‘Learning start date’, and the following:
  • record this aim as a restart (Learning Delivery Funding and Monitoring Type = ‘RES’)
  • where appropriate, complete the ‘Funding adjustment for prior learning’ field with the percentage of learning that is still to be delivered

For other scenarios and additional guidance, refer to section 5.1 of the Provider Support Manual and the Funding Monitoring reports user guide.

Further details can be found in the:

• Provider Support Manual for 2018 to 2019
• ILR Specification 2018 to 2019
• Funding Monitoring Report User Guide and Monitoring Rules 2018 to 2019
• QAR business rules.

We will publish the QAR technical specifications in the middle of June 2019.

11. Action: Be prepared for when the Hub’s switched off

The Hub will be retired in the not too distant future, so now’s the time to get up to speed with its replacement service – Submit Learner Data. It’s live now and will run alongside the Hub for the next few months.

We’d like you to upload your files through the new service for three reasons:

1. You’ll get familiar with the ‘Submit Learner Data’ so when the Hub is turned off, it’s business as usual
2. We can identify things that don’t work as expected and fix them – so there’s no disruption to your payments
3. You can compare your reports in Submit Learner Data against your actual reports in the Hub, make sure they’re as expected and report inaccuracies

More details and how to access ‘Submit Learner Data’ is available on FE Connect.

12. Action: Year-end forecast funding claim for 2018 to 2019

The year-end forecast funding claim window will open on Friday 7 June 2019.

You must submit a year-end forecast funding claim by 5pm on Wednesday 12 June 2019.

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

• a grant for your Adult Education Budget (AEB)
• a grant for your 16-19 Funding
• a grant with an Advanced Learner Loans Bursary contract
• a Learner Support contract
• a Community Learning contract

The claim form will be available following the R10 data collection from Friday 7 June 2019 at 9am. The claim form will now be on Submit Learner Data (as opposed to the Hub as in previous years).

The form will be pre-populated with your earnings following the R10 data return. You will be able to enter additional forecasted expenditure on the form. Once you have submitted your claim you will also be able to view it on the Manage your education and skills funding.

You will not be able to complete the form after the deadline on Wednesday 12 June 2019.

The Adult funding claims guidance and 16 to 19 education funding guidance for the 2018 to 2019 academic year can be found on GOV.UK. A technical user guide to help you to access and complete the form will be available on this website prior to the start of the process.

It is important that you submit your year-end forecast funding claim by the deadline, 5pm Wednesday 12 June 2019. Non-compliance is a minor-breach of your contract.

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

Further information: the dates for final funding claims in October have been amended. Please visit GOV.UK for further information.

13. Action: EPAO validation switching to an error from R12

The ESFA we will be switching the EPAOrgID_01 validation rule from a warning to an error from R12. This means that if you record an end-point assessment organisation that has not been approved to carry out the end point assessment for the apprenticeship standard being delivered on your learner data records within your ILR file it will fail validation.

This will result in you not being paid for those learners and any funding previously paid for these learners in 2018 to 2019 will be recovered.

Please make sure that where this data is returned you have recorded the end-point assessment organisation correctly in your R12 data submission to avoid failing validation.

Details of the apprenticeships each end-point assessment organisation is approved to assess can be found on GOV.UK and this information is updated monthly.

The validation rules.