Correspondence

ESFA Update further education: 15 February 2023

Updated 16 February 2023

Applies to England

1. Information: backfill payments for time off timetable for early career framework (ECF) mentor training (national roll-out)

Schools using one of the DfE-funded training providers to deliver ECF mentor training from 1 September 2021 (national roll-out) will receive backfill payments to cover 36 hours of mentor time off timetable for training per mentor over 2 years.

The first payment will be made in the summer of year 1, covering 18 hours of mentor time off timetable for training. The second payment for the remaining 18 hours of mentor time off timetable for training will be made in the summer of year 2 where there has been sustained engagement with the mentor training.

The payments will be made to maintained schools via local authorities and directly to academies. In summer 2023, year 1 payments will be made for mentors who started their training from 1 September 2022 and year 2 payments will be made for mentors who started their training from September 2021.

We will publish school level allocations for payments due in summer 2023 in due course.

You can read the published conditions of grant and summer 2022 allocations.

For any queries, email continuing-professional-development@digital.education.gov.uk.

2. Information: funding for time off timetable for early career teachers and mentors who participated in the national roll-out of the early career framework reforms

The national roll-out of the early career framework (ECF) reforms was launched to all schools in England from September 2021.

ECF year 2 time off timetable funding​ is paid in the summer of year 2 of the early career teacher’s (ECT) induction. This funding covers the cost of giving each ECT in year 2 of induction:

• 5% off timetable for induction activities including ECF-based training and mentor sessions
• a dedicated mentor for each ECT, based on 20 hours of mentoring in year 2 of induction

This funding is linked to the ECT and paid to the school who has registered the ECT as undergoing their ECF training at that school.

We expect payments to be made to local authority maintained schools via their respective local authorities and directly to academies in summer 2023.

You can view the published conditions of grant.

For any queries please contact continuing-professional-development@digital.education.gov.uk.

3. Information: 16 to 19 and adult education budget (AEB) grant funding payment profiles

We said we’re amending payment profiles for institutions who receive 16 to 19 and non-devolved adult education budget (AEB) grant funding. We set out full details of who this applies to in our January news item.

This is to remind you that you will receive the first payment on 17 February and the second on 17 March.

The 2 extra payments will total:

• 6.11% of your 16 to 19 funding for academic year 2022 to 2023
• 4.02% of your ESFA (non-devolved) AEB funding for academic year 2022 to 2023

We will recoup the additional payments in April and May 2023.

4. Information: payments for Care to Learn and 16 to 19 Bursary Fund

We have recently published data showing aggregate payments made to childcare providers and education institutions, for both Care to Learn and the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund for students in defined vulnerable groups. The data will show payments made from 1 September 2021 to 31 August 2022 not, as stated incorrectly in the last issue, from September 2020 to August 2021.

5. Information: accountability agreements deadline

Colleges, designated institutions and local authority adult education institutions (with more than £1 million of DfE grant funding) should submit their accountability statement by 31st May 2023.

We recognise there may be a small number of very exceptional reasons why you might be unable to submit your accountability statement by the 31 May deadline.  If you are unable to return your accountability statement in time then you should contact your DfE Territorial Team to arrange an extension.

For this first year we can extend the deadline for submission of your accountability statement up to 31 July.  In this scenario you will: need to submit a draft accountability statement to us by 31 May, submit your final accountability statement by 31 July, sign your accountability agreement by 31 July, and subsequently review and sign a variation to your accountability agreement at a date to be confirmed by ESFA.

Further information about the content of your accountability statement and how to submit this to us is available within our published guidance on GOV.UK.

We will shortly be contacting all eligible providers to share a link to our accountability agreement webinar, recorded on Wednesday 1 February 2022, as well as the related question and answer document.

6. Information: the procurement application window for ESFA funded AEB contracts for services is now open

The procurement application window for ESFA funded AEB contracts for services opened on 3 February and will close on 6 March 2023. The procurement will provide funding for the delivery of adult education and training to learners in England that are resident outside of devolved areas. This procurement also includes Free Courses for Jobs. Contracts will start on 1 August 2023.

Full details including the specification and instructions to tender can be accessed via Jaggaer, the DfE e-Procurement Solution portal. There is further information available in a recorded Webinar.

7. Information: £3,000 apprenticeships bursary for care leavers

The Department for Education (DfE) has announced that the apprenticeships care leavers’ bursary is being increased to £3,000.

The increased rate will be available for new starts from 1 August 2023, and will be paid in instalments across the first year of their apprenticeship.

Employers and training providers will continue to receive £1,000 each to support care leaver apprentices they employ, meaning there will now be a total of £5,000 in additional funding for ever care leaver apprentice.

Read the apprenticeships care leavers’ bursary policy summary.

8. Information: Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers 2023

The Department for Education (DfE) are pleased to announce the Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers has returned for 2023.

Produced by DfE, the prestigious annual rankings recognise England’s outstanding employers for their commitment to creating new apprenticeships, the diversity of their apprentices, and the number of apprentices who successfully achieve their apprenticeships.

Please help spread the word by sharing the website: with any employers that might be interested in applying.

The deadline for submitting an entry is 5pm on Friday 24 March.

9. Information: reporting of apprenticeships data in public sector organisations

Last year we announced the public sector apprenticeships target would end on 31 March 2022. We set out how we would continue to publish annual data on new apprenticeship starts, total numbers of apprentices and organisation headcounts.

We want the public sector to continue increasing its commitment to apprenticeships. To drive this focus and promote the sharing of good practice we plan to increase transparency in employer performance.

We are therefore asking public sector bodies with 250 or more staff to continue to submit the following data through your apprenticeship service account:

• organisational headcount
• total number of new apprentices
• apprentices as a percentage of headcount

9.1 Changes to data reporting

• The data reporting deadline will be brought forward to 31 May 2023. We will publish the data on gov.uk in the summer.
• To increase transparency and enable comparisons between organisations, the underlying published data will include apprentices as a percentage of headcount for each organisation.
• We will no longer ask for information on the actions taken to meet the target.
• We have made changes to enable local authorities to separate out maintained schools data in their return for greater data transparency.

In the coming months, we will send you more details about how to submit your apprenticeship data.

Thank you for your support and continued efforts in making public sector apprenticeships a success.

10. Your feedback: user research opportunity – declaring subcontracting arrangements of £100,000 or more

Do you declare subcontracting provision to the ESFA of £100k or more?

We are reviewing this process and would like to speak with you about your current experience of making a declaration and submitting the external auditor report.

Sessions will take place online using Microsoft Teams and will last approximately 60 minutes.

Your feedback will help inform changes to the digital service. There will be an opportunity to take part in further research as the work progresses.

To express interest in taking part, please fill out this form.