Correspondence

ESFA Update further education: 24 July 2019

Published 24 July 2019

This correspondence was withdrawn on 21 December 2020

This has been withdrawn as it’s out of date.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. Information: removal of funding approval from pre-existing qualifications

We announced in our consultation on the review of post-16 qualifications at level 3 and below that we would remove funding approval from pre-existing qualifications where a redeveloped qualification also exists.

On Monday 22 July, we published the list of qualifications affected.

We will fund existing learners through to completion, but no new starts will be permitted from 1 August 2020. This applies to 16 to 19 funding, adult education budget, advanced learner loans and European Social Fund.

We are aware of difficulties in removing funding approval where smaller qualifications are “nested” within larger qualifications. Rather than ‘topping up’ the smaller nested qualification with the larger qualification, the ESFA will put in place the facility to support those students who wish to, to ‘step down’ from the larger qualification to the smaller qualification.

This should then allow providers to start those students who may wish to undertake the larger qualification, but are unsure whether they can manage this, to enrol on the larger qualification from the start, but with the reassurance that they can step down and achieve the smaller qualification if they wish to.

We will issue further guidance on this facility in August.

2. Information: 2019 to 2020 apprenticeship carry-in allocation

We will shortly issue apprenticeship carry-in allocations for the 2019 to 2020 funding year through the Manage your education and skills funding service.

Allocations will include funding for apprentices that will not have completed their apprenticeship by 31 July 2019 and that started:

1. before 1 May 2017 (under the old funding system)
2. with non-levy employers between 1 May and 31 December 2017 (under the new funding system)
3. with non-levy employers between 1 January and 31 March 2018 (for providers that were offered a 3 month run-down extension).

For more information, please see the 19+ allocations webpage or contact your territorial team lead if you have any queries.

3. Information: qualification achievement rate (QAR) updates

3.1 R12 in-year data release for 2018 to 2019

We will release QAR data at the end of August 2019. We will also publish version 2 of the technical specifications and data extract guidance with minor updates on the QAR landing page.

This in-year QAR release will provide indicative apprenticeship and education and training QARs based on the 2018 to 2019 individualised learner record (ILR) R10 data. Providers can use this data internally to identify and resolve potential data issues before the ILR R14 hard close on 17 October 2019.

The R12 in-year QAR will use exactly the same calculations as the final QAR will use, unlike the R10 in-year QAR which uses the R10 collection as the end of the year rather than 31 July.

3.2 View Your Education Data update

We will publish 2 QAR data products as we have done before:; a data extract and a dashboard through the View Your Education Data portal. The data extracts will be the same as those we published on the Hub, but you can now also access these from the same location as the QAR dashboard. Please ensure you have the correct access permissions to access these reports.

You will be able access QAR data on the View Your Education Data portal on the morning of Wednesday 31 July. The portal will not be accessible from noon on 30 July, whilst we make these changes.

4. Information: guidance to support preparations for leaving the European Union

As a responsible government we have been planning, and continue to prepare for all eventualities, and that includes managing the impacts of a no deal Brexit if they arise.

The government has published extensive advice on the steps that citizens, businesses and other organisations may need to take to prepare for our exit from the EU. We recommend that the further education sector takes the necessary steps to ensure they are similarly prepared and we know that many of you have plans ready to put into action.

As part of our preparations, we have updated our existing guidance to support the further education sector to prepare for Brexit. The guidance signposts education institutions to relevant information, setting it in the context of how it may affect the education sector. It also contains information on eligibility for places and funding in relation to academic year 2019 to 2020 and 2020 to 2021.

We will be updating it further as information becomes available.

5. Information: small and medium sized apprenticeship employers and supporting training providers lined up to help develop the apprenticeship service

Our expression of interest for small and medium sized apprenticeship employers and supporting training providers to take part in testing the apprenticeship service for employers who do not pay the levy closed on Friday 5 July 2019.

Successful applicants will soon be notified and invited to join online information webinars to run through the service features they will be testing.

You can read more about the next steps in our testing.

6. Information: change in payment dates from August 2019

We are changing the date on which we make payments from August 2019.

We are combining the adult payment dates into one and will pay the following funding streams on the 14th working day of the month:

• adult education budget (AEB)
• apprenticeships
• Advanced Learner Loans Bursary
• European Social Fund (ESF)
• National Careers Service
• 16 to 18 traineeships
• career learning pilots

Any payments relating to these funding streams will reach bank accounts on 20 August 2019, and then on the 14th working day thereafter.

If you have any questions, please contact us via email at payment.queries@education.gov.uk.