Correspondence

ESFA Update further education: 15 December 2021

Published 15 December 2021

This correspondence was withdrawn on 23 December 2022

This has been withdrawn as it’s out of date. Read the latest editions of ESFA Update for the latest news and information.

Applies to England

1. Information: latest coronavirus (COVID-19) updates for FE

You will have seen the message delivered by the Prime Minister on Sunday evening to update on the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron. With the evidence showing that this variant is spreading fast, it is absolutely vital that all those eligible have both doses of the vaccine and those aged 18 and over get boosted now to build a wall of defence against Omicron.

There are several things settings can do to help reduce transmission and protect young people’s education. The following contains some important messaging on what you can do to support this effort; on vaccinations, support with space, home testing, daily testing and face coverings.

We continue to learn more about the impacts of the Omicron variant. To prepare for any possible changes in public health advice, you should continue to revisit your existing outbreak plans to ensure your setting is well prepared for any future changes and ensure they are familiar with the Contingency Framework Guidance.

Vaccinations

We need your support. The new Omicron COVID-19 variant is spreading fast. Anyone who is unvaccinated or who hasn’t had their booster is at even greater risk from COVID-19 and more serious illness. Vaccines are the best way we can protect ourselves and help keep children and young people in face-to-face education.

People aged 18 years and over will be invited for a booster jab before the end of the year. Please encourage your staff and eligible students in your settings to take up the booster dose as soon as they can.

All eligible students under 18 returning to education in January who have not yet had their first or second dose can also take up the vaccine offer; it is a priority that students can continue to fully participate in their education, which includes the opportunity to sit and demonstrate their learning in exams.

With the acceleration of the vaccination and booster programme, the NHS has reopened recruitment for both paid and volunteer roles to support existing vaccine teams in protecting those who need it.

As a result, there are now additional opportunities to volunteer to support the accelerated rollout, with a range of flexible roles available with full training provided. The roles available are all flexible and range from vaccinators (paid and volunteer) and registered healthcare professionals to healthcare support workers, administrators and steward volunteers.

We would like you to share this ask across your networks, and in particular encourage health and social care staff and students to step forward who may have particular skills and experience suitable to support the effort. By volunteering, they will be joining a team which is saving lives and helping the country return to normal life.

Further information on the type of roles available and how to sign up is available on the NHS website.

Support with space

One additional emerging requirement is for additional support to train new vaccinators. This requires a physical building, clinical staff, and volunteers to help administrate and organise sessions for new vaccinators. We are very interested in hearing from any FE providers able to offer support for this, which is required in all 7 NHS regions. If this is something you can offer, please reply to FE Operational Planning Team with your institution, name, email address and details of what you can offer by close of play of 16th December. Apologies for the quick turnaround but as you can imagine; it is vital this information is shared quickly.

In addition, if you haven’t already, please contact your local health authorities if you can offer space/ staff/ students to support the local roll-out, so they can factor that into their planning. DfE is keen to support you in this as much as we can, so please let us know if there are any barriers that we can help overcome.

Home test kits for January

Asymptomatic twice weekly at-home testing, using Lateral Flow Devices (LFDs), will continue in the new year. Getting all staff and students testing is essential to help identify cases early and help reduce transmission, which will help keep young people in face-to-face education.

You should encourage students and staff to continue regular LFD testing and to report all results – whether they are negative, void, or positive – both to the NHS Online reporting system and to their education setting ahead of January return. You may want to use end of term messages to reinforce the importance of reporting and testing.

You will be able to continue to order test kits to enable your workforce and students to continue testing at home during the spring term through the online ordering system. If you need additional test kits on return in the first week of January, please place an order before you break up for the Christmas holidays.

Any orders placed between Thursday 9 December and 5pm Tuesday 28 December will be delivered in the week commencing 3 January 2022. When placing your order, please advise in the delivery instructions that your order is required for testing during the first week of January and confirm the date that your setting reopens.

Orders for test kits required after the first week of January and throughout the spring term should be placed when you return in January. The usual ordering and delivery pattern will resume from Wednesday 5 January, so any orders placed by 5pm on a Tuesday will be delivered during the following week.

There will be no deliveries scheduled during week commencing 20 December or week commencing 27 December.

Further information can be found on the document sharing platform.

Daily Testing for Contacts of COVID-19

From Tuesday 14 December, a new national approach to daily testing for contacts of COVID-19 is being introduced (including until the end of this term). All adults who are fully vaccinated and young people aged 18 years and 6 months to 5, identified as a contact of someone with COVID-19 – whether Omicron or not – should take a lateral flow device (LFD) test every day for 7 days instead of self-isolating. Daily testing by close contacts will help to slow the spread of COVID-19.

All staff and students should have access to a box of 7 LFD tests from their education setting. If your setting requires additional test kits sooner than they would be available through the standard ordering process, or will run out of test kits imminently, you can contact 119 to request an emergency replenishment.

Anyone over the age of 18 years and 6 months who is not vaccinated, must isolate in line with government guidelines if they are a close contact of a positive case.

For students with SEND who struggle to or are unable to self-swab daily for 7 days, settings should work with students and their families to agree an appropriate testing route, such as assisted swabbing. Information on further support measures will be provided.

Delivery of face coverings to support contingency stock

We expect most staff and students already have access to face coverings. However, it is recommended that all settings have a small contingency stock of face coverings available if an individual has forgotten or damaged their own. To support this, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) will deliver face coverings to settings. This will be a similar number to those delivered to settings in March 2021.

FE settings should expect to receive a delivery in January. These face coverings are being provided by DHSC at no cost to your setting.

For any queries or complaints relating to deliveries or missing items, please contact the DHSC PPE helpline (provided by UNIPART) on 0800 8766802, identifying yourself as an education setting. Alternatively, you can email dfeppequeries@unipart.com and your query will be handled by the helpline team.

For any questions on DfE face covering policy, please refer to the DfE guidance or call the DfE (COVID-19) helpline on 0800 046 8687.

2. Reminder: coronavirus (COVID-19) 16 to 19 tuition fund form reopening

The 16 to 19 tuition fund digital form will be open for submissions between 10 and 14 January.

It should be completed by any institution who:

• wants to opt in or out of receiving tuition funding and has not already done so
• wants to make a new submission to supersede a previous submission
• received 16 to 19 tuition funding in 2020 to 2021 and has not yet notified ESFA whether they have any carry over funding

Further information on how to complete the digital form can be found on GOVUK.

3. Reminder: £3,000 per apprentice hired on or before 31 January

Let employers know to recruit now and apply later!

If employers hire a new apprentice between 1 October 2021 and 31 January 2022, they can apply for an incentive payment of £3,000.

Incentive payment applications will open from 11 January 2022.

It is the employer’s responsibility to apply for the incentive payment for hiring a new apprentice, using their apprenticeship service account. This cannot be done by the training provider.

Share with employers:

• how to apply guide including when to apply, steps to take before applying, how to apply and what happens after applying
• guidance page including eligibility, how the payment can be used and when payments are made

4. Information: 2022 to 2023 high needs place change notification process

The high needs place change notification process for 2022 to 2023 has now closed.

The outcomes of the process will be published in January which will open a 2 week window for local authorities, schools and colleges to raise place change related issues.

You can find details regarding the enquiry window and how the outcomes have been determined in the published high needs place change process guidance.

We have also updated the published the spring 2021 census data with 2020 to 2021 R14 individualised learner record (ILR) data returned by colleges and SPIs.

5. Information: 16 to 19 tuition fund guidance

We have updated the 16 to 19 tuition fund guidance to provide clarification on third party delivery of the tuition fund, the guidance can be found on GOV.UK.

5. Information: updated provider data self-assessment toolkit

We have released an updated version of the provider data self-assessment toolkit (PDSAT) on the PDSAT section of GOV.UK.

This version includes:

• an update to the sampler, enabling users to select audit samples and output a set of audit working papers for the 2021 to 2022 funding year
• a new PDSAT report that identifies 16 to 19 study programmes containing significant levels of non-qualification activity

PDSAT is available to providers of ESFA funded education and training to assist with their routine ILR data-checking procedures for their ILR data returns and with preparation for funding assurance reviews.

For further information, please use the ESFA online form.

6. Information: reviewing PDSAT reports: updated user guide

We have published an update to the user guide for reviewing provider data self-assessment toolkit (PDSAT) for the 2021 to 2022 funding year on the PDSAT section of GOV.UK.

The update includes advice on how to review the new PDSAT report, 22Y-218, that identifies 16 to 19 study programmes containing significant levels of non-qualification activity.

The user guide assists providers of ESFA-funded education and training in carrying out their routine data cleansing and submitting accurate ILR data returns to the ESFA. Therefore, we encourage providers to use PDSAT to regularly check ILR data and, thus, minimise the risk of overclaiming funds from the ESFA and subsequent repayment of funds. The guide is also used by the ESFA and accountancy firms in the delivery of funding audits.

For further information, please use the ESFA online form.

7. Information: the higher and degree apprenticeship vacancy listing for 2021 to 2022

The 2021 to 2022 higher and degree apprenticeship vacancy listing has been added to GOV.UK and is now available to download.

The listing shows higher and degree level apprenticeships that are currently available, or will be opening for applications soon, and provides details of the employer, location, salary with an application link.

Please share the listing and these brilliant opportunities with stakeholders, partners and young people.

8. Your feedback: volunteers needed to participate in user research about ESFA notifications

We are looking for volunteers to participate in a user research panel to help us understand and develop our notifications to users.

We would like to hear from schools, academies, children’s centres, local authorities, colleges, and trusts, who can tell us about their experience of receiving information about grants, specifically, finding out about new grants, knowing what supporting evidence is required and when, understanding whether your application has been processed and when you should expect to receive payment.

We know that the end of term is a busy time but thought we would take the opportunity to extend this invitation prior to the New Year.

If you would like to take part, please complete our online form and we will be in touch.