Correspondence

ESFA Update: further education 30 January 2019

Published 30 January 2019

This correspondence was withdrawn on

This has been withdrawn as it’s out of date. Find the latest information from ESFA in the latest ESFA Update.

Applies to England

1. Action: further education Condition Data Collection – review and return of college general site information by Monday 4 February 2019

We wrote to colleges about the further education Condition Data Collection (FE CDC) on Friday 25 January 2019. The FE CDC will gather data to improve our understanding of the condition of the FE estate and to provide the evidence base to support future decision-making about FE capital funding.

We have asked colleges to review and return, by Monday 4 February, general information about their site(s) to support planning of the FE CDC programme. If you require any further information about the programme or support in completing and returning the required information, please email ESFA.CDCPROGRAMME@education.gov.uk.

2. Action: qualification achievement rates (QAR) 2017 to 2018 – provisional data window closing

The query window for the provisional QAR 2017 to 2018 data closes this week.

You have until 5pm on Friday 1 February to inform us of any concerns about how we have implemented our published methodology. You cannot request fixes or adjustments to your 2017 to 2018 individualised learner record (ILR) data.

If you have any queries with the provisional data, please complete a data query form, email this to the service desk at sde.servicedesk@education.gov.uk. Please put ‘ESFA Business Operations QAR’ at the top of your query.

We republished the provisional QAR 2017 to 2018 data extracts and reports last week to resolve known issues. You can see your republished files as version 2 on the Hub.

3. Action: Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers re-applications

We will shortly be sending out the next set of invitations to providers to re-apply to join the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers (RoATP). Please remember to check that your contact details are up-to-date in Bravo, as this is where notifications will be sent.

Every provider currently on the register will be invited to reapply this year. Providers will be given sufficient notice of their application window to allow time to fully consider and prepare their submission. Please wait for your invitation before submitting an application.

We have published guidance in Bravo to help you prepare in the meantime.

4. Action: Join our apprenticeship training provider user research panel

We are looking for training providers to join our apprenticeship training provider user research panel to help improve our online services.

We want to hear your views on our service and our future prototypes.  

Your participation is voluntary. You do not have to take part in every session that takes place and you can unsubscribe from the panel at any time. 

You will be asked some questions which will help make sure you get invited to research that is relevant to you.

To take part, please sign up using our online survey.

5. Information: 2018 to 2019 non-levy apprenticeships

We are reviewing providers’ delivery on current contracts and will be releasing over delivery in the January 18 to March 18, April 18 to July 18 and August 18 to March 19 periods, where there is available funding within providers’ current total contract allocation.  

We will release the over-delivery after R06. It is our intention to fund all learners until the end of their programmes, however, if you deliver more than your total contract allocation you do so at your own risk.

6. Information: 2019 to 2020 non-levy apprenticeships

We are extending apprenticeship non-levy contracts for 12 months (from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020). We will confirm your allocation in late February 2019. Your allocation will be based on your delivery to November (R04) plus a forecast of your delivery until the end of March.

We do not anticipate awarding growth during the extension period unless significant additional budget becomes available. We will also stop funding over-delivery. These are changes from current arrangements. We will set out more information in your allocation letter.

7. Information: high needs place change notification 2019 to 2020

We have published the high needs place change notification outcomes that will inform the funded place numbers for academic year 2019 to 2020 in academies, free schools, further education colleges and independent learning providers.  

We have also published information about how to query the 2019 to 2020 place numbers during the enquiry window, which closes on Friday 8 February 2019.

8. Information: 16 to 19 revenue funding for 2019 to 2020

We have published a presentation on the 16 to 19 funding allocations process for 2019 to 2020. This provides further information on this year’s allocation process following our annual letter to the sector in December 2018.

presentation on the 16 to 19 funding allocations process

You will find this useful along with our other supporting information, in understanding your 16 to 19 revenue funding for academic year 2019 to 2020.