Correspondence

EFA e-bulletin for schools, colleges, local authorities and other 16 to 19 providers: 4 June 2015

Published 4 June 2015

This correspondence was withdrawn on

This has been withdrawn as it’s out of date. The EFA e-bulletin has been replaced by ESFA Update.

© Crown copyright 2015

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/efa-e-bulletin-4-june-2015-issue-88/efa-e-bulletin-for-schools-colleges-local-authorities-and-other-16-to-19-providers-4-june-2015

1. Information: 16 to 19 Bursary Fund for 2015 to 2016

Education Funding Agency (EFA) has published advice for the 2015 to 2016 academic year to help institutions understand how to administer the bursary fund to support disadvantaged 16- to 19-year-old students with their participation costs.

There are no policy changes to the bursary fund for the 2015 to 2016 academic year. However, please note that as we no longer carry out a voluntary management information (MI) collection, we encourage institutions to record all vulnerable and discretionary awards on the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) or school census.

2. Information: new Student Bursary Support Service

Guidance is available to help education institutions and childcare providers understand the changes to the process to submit claims for vulnerable students from the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund and to support Care to Learn applications.

Accounts have been set-up on the Student Bursary Support Service portal. Further information and demonstration videos are also available to prepare institutions with using the new system which was launched on 26 May.

3. Information: changes to the Residential Support Scheme for 2015 to 2016

The way the Residential Support Scheme (RSS) is administered has changed for the 2015 to 2016 academic year, as previously communicated to institutions.

It is important that institutions familiarise themselves with the RSS guide to ensure students are being advised about how to apply.

Guides for the Residential Support Scheme and the Residential Bursary Fund are available on GOV.UK.

Updated information about the application and administration of Care to Learn in the 2015 to 2016 academic year is also available.

4. Information: mapping of engagement programmes for young people

We have updated the document mapping engagement programmes that are currently available to support the participation of young people in England. The document was first published in July 2014.

5. Action: traineeships destination and progression reporting and validation

Analysis of ILR data has showed that destination and progression data has not been recorded for a large proportion of learners who have completed a traineeship programme in 2014 to 2015.

You must report this information for all traineeship learners, even if the learner has not achieved, or you have been unable to obtain information about their destination.

New validation rules are being added to ensure that this data is completed. You should add this information into your ILR returns as soon as possible to avoid receiving a validation error and loss of funding.

For further information please contact dataqueries@sfa.bis.gov.uk.

6. Information: sixth-form college key financial indicator dashboard

We have uploaded an updated sixth-form college (SFC) key financial indicator dashboard to the EFA Information Exchange. You can find this in the ‘Finance and Payments - AY 2015-16’ folder.

The dashboard provides a one-page summary of key financial facts and figures specific to each SFC, and compares individual SFC performance with all SFCs nationally. We have written to SFC chairs about this. A copy of the letter is available on GOV.UK.

7. Information: EFA Information Exchange videos

We’ve published 2 short videos on the Department for Education’s YouTube channel introducing and explaining how to access our transactional website EFA Information Exchange, and giving a guide to its functionality. You can view these videos below.

7.1 How to access EFA Information Exchange

How to access EFA Information Exchange

7.2 EFA Information Exchange functionality

EFA Information Exchange functionality

8. Contacts

All 16 to 19 providers can get in touch with the EFA through the relevant territorial inbox, unless a different email address is specified in an article.

16 to 19 providers - northern territory

For local authorities, schools, colleges and other (non-academy) providers in north west, north east and Yorkshire and the Humber with queries for the Education Funding Agency

16 to 19 providers - central and south west territory

For local authorities, schools, colleges and other (non-academy) providers in south west, west midlands and east midlands with queries for the Education Funding Agency

16 to 19 providers - southern territory

For local authorities, schools, colleges and other (non-academy) providers in south east, east of England and London with queries for the Education Funding Agency

Academies should contact the Academy Enquiries Service:

EFA questions

For schools, local authorities, other education institutions and providers, accountants, auditors and other professional advisers with queries for the Education Funding Agency

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