A New Streamlined Funding System for Adult Skills
A New Streamlined Funding System for Adult Skills - March 2013
We are publishing the fourth and concluding update of A New Streamlined Funding System for Adult Skills to the sector that sets out the final description of the new single demand-led funding system for adult skills.
The new funding system will provide a clearer and transparent way of funding adult learning, with a minimal level of bureaucracy.
The document also sets out full details of its implementation in the 2013/2014 funding year, including how providers can prepare and plan for its implementation.
Funding small Award size qualifications
In 'A New Streamlined Funding System for Adult Skills' we announced our intention to only fund small Award size qualifications with a credit value of 3, 6, 9 and 12 from 1 January 2014, with exceptions including some 1 and 2 credit English and mathematics qualifications.
In response to feedback from the sector we are extending these interim arrangements to the whole of the 2013/2014 funding year. From 1 August 2013 until 31 July 2014 the following funding arrangements will apply.
|
Awards – credit value |
Funded amount (£) |
|
1 |
50 |
|
2 |
100 |
|
3, 4 and 5 |
150 |
|
6, 7 and 8 |
300 |
|
9,10, 11 |
450 |
|
12 |
600 |
As part of these arrangements we will expect most learners to undertake Award qualifications with a credit value of 3 and above. The exceptions to this are those we have previously indicated – QCF English and mathematics; stand alone qualifications in the areas of first aid at work, food hygiene and health and safety, within the offer for those who are unemployed; or where the qualification may be offered to learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities.
We understand the value of small award size qualifications however we are concerned about whether they are all of sufficient size to ensure meaningful learning and achievement and to support significant progression and job outcomes. So alongside the extension of these interim arrangements, we will review the position of small qualifications approved for public funding as part of our broader qualifications review work, taking into account the emerging outcomes of the Whitehead Review of Adult Vocational Qualifications announced in 'Rigour and Responsiveness in Skills' (April 2013).
On this page you will find information about the features and arrangements for testing the Agency’s new funding system for adult skills, to be implemented in 2013/14. Importantly, you will find here responses to queries and feedback received from the sector during the period of shadow working.
We are committed to testing the full impact of features we have set out for the new funding system, and are encouraging the sector as a whole to test our assumptions that the new system will work effectively.
Although our end goal is simplification, it is not simplification for the sake of it. Rather, it is the benefits that come with simplifying our processes and systems. Simplification will free resources for providers to enable them to be more accountable, innovative and responsive to students and employers – to focus on outputs rather than inputs.
Since October 2011 we have been working closely with the sector in an open and transparent way to develop the features of the new simplified funding system. This has been documented in our
October 2011 and
February 2012 publications ‘A new streamlined funding system for adult skills’.
The
Funding External Technical Advisory Group has been instrumental in helping us create a system that is not only more simple and transparent, but also fit for purpose. We are now in a position to press forward with testing the system more widely.
If you have any feedback please complete the
feedback form and return by email to the
Funding Systems Team.
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This User Guide should be read alongside The Data Service’s guidance documentation, which is available from
The Data Service website.
2013/14 Simplified Funding Rates
The 2013/14 Simplified Funding Rates catalogue lists all provision which the Skills Funding Agency has approved for public funding in 2013/14 and their funding rates.
This will be updated on a regular basis as new aims and funding rates are confirmed.
For further information or related queries, please email the Funding Systems Team.
24+ Advanced Learning Loans: Maximum Loan Amounts
The 24+ Advanced Learning Loans: Maximum Loan Amounts spreadsheet provides the details of the maximum loan amounts for 2013/14. Maximum loan amounts for Apprenticeships are detailed within this document; maximum loan amounts for Level 3 and Level 4 qualifications are available via a link on the ‘Cover Note’ tab.
This will be updated on a regular basis.
24+ Advanced Learning Loans: Maximum Loan Amounts spreadsheet – last updated 18/02/2013
For further information or related queries, please email the Funding Systems Team.
Additional Learning Aims with Incorrect Funding Values in the Learning Aim Reference Application (LARA)
On 10 April 2012, 110 new learning aims were uploaded onto the Learning Aim Reference Application (LARA) for Adult Learner Responsive (ALR) and ER Other (ER) provision. Regrettably, due to an error which has now been corrected, the aims were uploaded with incorrect Standard Learner Numbers (SLN) and Programme Weighting Factors (PWF).
Details of such aims and the correct funding values can be found here.
Employer Responsive Other Funding Rate Alignment and funding of GCSEs and Functional Skills
The introduction of freedoms and flexibilities and single Adult Skills Budget allows all providers, including many training organisations for the first time, to deliver classroom provision. The consequence of this has been to highlight differences between the funding rates in Adult Learner Responsive (ALR) and Employer Responsive (ER) Other provision, due to the different drivers used to set rates historically.
This will not be an issue in the longer term. Under our testing of a new streamlined and simplified funding methodology, to be introduced from 2013/14, the aim is that there is a single funding rate for every learning aim regardless of the mode of delivery.
The differences in funding rates have been created as a result of the simple pricing structure used in the old employer based training programme which set 3 principal rates for Level 1 and 2, Level 3 and above, and Adult Basic Skills Certificates. These differences have been there for a number of years but the ability of training organisations to deliver classroom based learning this year has highlighted them as anomalies.
To help the transition to the new streamlined rates, we are making some limited changes in 2011/12. The extent to which we are able to align has been restricted by the funding available. To ensure stability, we are only aligning rates upwards, that is where the rate in ER is lower than that paid in ALR. We will, therefore, be aligning approximately 600 learning aims with the greatest difference, to match the funding rate paid in ALR. In addition, we are also aligning approximately 200 learning aims that currently have a lower than standard rate to the appropriate standard ER Other funding rate. As stage 1 of these changes we have changed the Standard Learner Number (SLN) values in LARA, the next stage is to align any differences in Programme Weighting Factors (PWF), these changes will be implemented in LARA next week. Where learning aims have a last date for new starts prior to the start of 2011/12, these have not been changed as we have prioritised other learning aims ahead of these given the limited impact these will have on the simplification process.
Details of which learning aims have been increased can be found in the Employer Responsive Other Funding Rate Alignment and funding of GCSE’s and Functional Skills document.
A further tranche of over 1,100 aims have been raised in October 2012 to further support the move to the single budget processes. A full list of these amended aims is now available:
Employer Responsive Other Funding Rate Alignment - October 2012.
As part of the freedoms and flexibilities of the Adult Skills Budget we also want to ensure as far as possible learning aims are available in both the ER Other and ALR funding streams. In ER Other we have now made available Functional Skills and GCSE qualifications in English, Maths and Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
The funding rate for Functional Skills has been set at 0.12 Standard SLNs. The funding value has been set based on the recommendation of the Funding External Technical Advisory Group that advises the Agency on funding rates and is based on the average time taken to deliver Functional Skills in ALR.
GCSE qualifications have two listed funding rates in ALR. These rates are based on 100 guided learning hours (glh) for programmes delivered during the day and 60 glh for programmes delivered in the evening. To provide consistency these rates will also be applicable in ER Other.
Through the existing ER Other funding methodology and ILR we do not have the facility to assign an evening rate. Therefore the ER Other rate on LARA has been set at the higher value of 100 glh. Where delivery takes place in the evening providers need to use ILR field Proportion of Funding Remaining to reduce funding by 40 per cent.
ITQ and IT User Qualifications – Assessment of Current Funding Rates
As part of our ongoing work to ensure we have a consistent set of funding rates, we have been carrying out a thorough assessment of ITQ and IT User qualifications where they have been highlighted by some awarding organisations as unnecessarily different. There are currently a number of anomalies in the funding rates assigned to similar qualifications and we are continuing our work to correct these anomalies in 2012/13 where there is no negative impact on providers. Further details of the current situation and steps towards the consistent 2013/14 position are available.
For more information, please contact the Funding Systems Team.
