Correspondence

ESFA Update local authorities: 9 December 2020

Published 9 December 2020

This correspondence was withdrawn on 29 December 2021

This has been withdrawn as it’s out of date.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

Applies to England

1. Latest information on coronavirus (COVID-19)

The Department for Education has published guidance about COVID-19 in educational settings for staff, parents and carers, pupils and students on GOV.UK.

Please check GOV.UK regularly for updates.

2. Action: post-16 contract variations – check for yours during December

There are a large number of contract variations to be published during December. These variations will need to be signed by 31 December (16 to 19) or 5 January (adult). ESFA aim to publish these as early as possible, but this may be after your establishment has closed for the Christmas break.

Please ensure your contract authoriser checks periodically through December, especially if they do not have access to the email account where they would receive alerts. Contract variations awaiting signature in MYESF can be accessed from any device as long as you have your logon and password as it is a web-based solution found on Manage your education and skills funding. Any variations signed after these deadlines will trigger increased payments in the following month.

3. Action: complete the dedicated schools grant (DSG) assurance statement for 2019 to 2020

We have now published guidance on how chief financial officers (CFOs) should submit their DSG assurance statement and note to the accounts for 2019 to 2020.

CFOs should upload their completed statement and note to the accounts to ESFA document exchange by 12 January 2021.

4. Action: launch of DfE exam support service claims process

The DfE exam support service claims process is now live.

We have also published guidance to help you use the DfE exam support service.

Schools and colleges can use the service to make claims to cover costs, including:

• any net loss for exam fees charged by awarding organisations
• venues for alternative sites (externally booked)
• any net loss for invigilation (externally sourced)

The deadline for submitting a claim is 6 April 2021.

5. Information: National Skills offer

5.1 Level 3 adult offer

From April 2021, any adult aged 24 and over who wants to achieve their first full level 3 qualification will be able to access almost 400 fully funded courses to get the skills they need to boost their careers.

This £95 million investment is part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee announced by the Prime Minister in September 2020. The courses on offer will deliver a wide range of skills in many jobs and sectors.

This investment comes from the £2.5 billion National Skills Fund, the Fund will support immediate economic recovery and future skills needs by boosting the supply of skills that employers require.

5.2 Skills Bootcamps

As part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee the Prime Minister also announced a series of Skills Bootcamps. Complementing the Level 3 adult offer, new Skills Bootcamps offer free, flexible courses of just 12-16 weeks, giving people the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills and fast-track to an interview with a local employer.

On 2 December £43 million was announced as part of the National Skills Fund to extend Skills Bootcamps further across the country from April in 2021. DfE are keen to engage with interested parties who will design, develop, and implement a new flexible training model of digital or technical training (up to 16 weeks), to meet the needs of employers and to address the skills shortages vacancies in different regions of England. If you are interested, please register by 14 December at 3pm with your organisation name, contact details and job titles (maximum of two attendees per organisation) to E-mail: ELIPT.MAILBOX@education.gov.uk.

Further information on both the level 3 offer and skills bootcamps can be found on GOV.UK.

6. Information: newly devolved continuing learners within the adult education budget

We have now calculated the final value for newly devolved continuing learners within the adult education budget (AEB). If the value of your continuing learner funding has changed, an updated allocation statement is now available via Manage your education and skills funding.

This funding is a part of overall ESFA funded AEB allocations and we will not manage it separately.

We have used the R14 (October 2020) data return to calculate funding for learners that were in learning in 2019 to 2020 but did not complete their programme by 31 July 2020 within North of Tyne.

If your allocation statement has been updated, your contract will also be updated shortly. We advise providers promptly sign agreements to ensure payments are made on time.

For more information, please see the 19+ allocations technical guidance.

If you have any queries, please use the ESFA online form.

7. Information: qualification achievement rates

Qualification achievement rates (QARs), usually published for certain post-16 providers, were suspended for 2019 to 2020 due to coronavirus (COVID-19).

For 2020 to 2021, the approach for QARs will align with that for school and college performance tables. For 2020 to 2021, QARs will not be published but will be produced and shared securely with providers, Ofsted and DfE.