Correspondence

ESFA Update further education: 11 July 2018

Published 11 July 2018

This correspondence was withdrawn on 20 February 2020

This has been withdrawn as it’s out of date. Find the latest information from the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) in the latest ESFA Update.

1. Action: subcontractor declaration for 2017 to 2018 adult delivery, including apprenticeships and traineeships

Organisations delivering ESFA funded adult programmes, including all apprenticeships and traineeships, must declare their subcontracting arrangements by Wednesday, 25 July 2018. This is the second and final collection for the 2017 to 2018 year.

If you have previously made a declaration in the 2017 to 2018 year, you will need to review it and make your declaration by Wednesday 25 July.

The process for collecting subcontractor declarations is through the Skills Funding Service (SFS).

You will need one of the following SFS roles to complete and submit a declaration:

• contract authoriser
• contract manager
• data returns and claims authoriser

Check the SFS user roles and permissions.

For further details, you can visit our subcontracting page. If you have any questions, please contact SDE.servicedesk@education.gov.uk.

2. Adult education budget (AEB) run-down contract extensions

As set out in the adult education budget funding and performance-management rules 2017 to 2018, all learners enrolled on AEB run-down contracts must complete their learning by Tuesday, 31 July 2018. We will not provide funding for any AEB run-down provision delivered after this date.

Please contact your business operations provider manager if you have any queries.

3. Information: industry placements: capacity and delivery fund for academic year 2019 to 2020

We have published information on GOV.UK to explain the arrangements for delivering industry placements through the capacity and delivery fund (CDF) in 2019 to 2020 academic year. This information is for those 16 to 19 providers already in receipt of an allocation from the CDF in 2018 to 2019 academic year.

It covers:

• changes between academic years 2018 to 2019 and 2019 to 2020
• submission of a mandatory monitoring form by midnight 1st October 2018
• links to updated policy principles for high quality industry placements on GOV.UK

4. Information: Ofqual consultation on technical qualifications in T Levels

This week Ofqual launches its consultation on its approach to regulating the new technical qualifications that will sit within T Levels. The consultation will run until 6 August. It provides an opportunity for anyone with an interest in the new technical qualifications to shape Ofqual’s thinking on how it will frame its rules. This will include looking at how assessments should be set and marked; when assessments and retakes can be taken; and certifications.

Ofqual is holding 3 consultation events in July to give an opportunity for people to hear about its proposals, ask any questions and provide their views.

Please note, following this consultation Ofqual will analyse responses and consult on the wording of the rules it will apply to technical qualifications. Ofqual anticipates running an 8-week technical consultation, beginning in early September.

5. Information: funding rules monitoring survey

As part of our funding rules monitoring review, we have launched a survey.

This survey gathers feedback about your experiences of the funding rules monitoring process and will influence future processes. The scope of the survey includes documentation we publish, the Business Intelligence (BI) dashboards reports on the hub and the data within the reports.

The survey closes on Wednesday, 8 August.

For further information about funding rules monitoring, please refer to the ESFA financial assurance: monitoring the funding rules page on GOV.UK.

6. Information: traineeships: social media campaign

We have launched a new wave of social media activity to promote traineeships. This activity will focus on raising awareness amongst young people of the traineeships programme and its benefits.

We will be using the Get In Go Far social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter, to get the message directly to our target audience, young people aged 16 to 24.

As we launch this activity, do take advantage of increased interest in the programme and post your traineeship opportunities to find a traineeship so that more young people can see these and sign up during the campaign.

You may wish to re-tweet or add this on your own media platforms to promote the programme, and to inform your networks that this is happening. Use #Traineeships to maximise engagement with your posts and make the most of this new campaign.