Learners with Learning Difficulties and or Disabilities
We work with a number of colleges and learning providers on the provision of tailored learning and training for Learners with Learning Difficulties and/or Disabilities.
Working with Learners with Learning Difficulties and/or Disabilities...
If you are a college or training provider working with Learners with Learning Difficulties and/or Disabilities, visit all the latest, where you can find the relevant guidance notes and the latest issue of Update, our weekly round up of business critical information and news for the sector.
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Mental Health Further Education Website
In partnership with the Skills Funding Agency, NIACE launched its interactive Mental Health Further Education website on 1 February 2011. The website supports a growing ‘e-community’ of learners, practitioners, carers and others with an interest in adult learning and mental health.
The website allows free membership, a regular e-bulletin, a virtual library, electronic discussion forum, moodle and webinar on-line learning programmes and links to other related websites.
Guidance, information and announcements…
The Skills Investment Strategy published in November 2010 states that learners with Learning Difficulties and/or Disabilities remain a priority for the Government and that they will have the same entitlements and access to provision as other learners
Support for Learners with Learning Difficulties and/or Disabilities is available through the Additional Learning Support (ALS) fund. The level of ALS determines whether learners are funded by Skills Funding Agency or the Young People’s Learning Agency (YPLA) as shown by the table below:
|
16-18 |
19-24 |
25+ |
|
No ALS |
YPLA |
The Agency* |
The Agency |
|
Low Level ALS up to £5,500 per learner |
YPLA |
The Agency |
The Agency |
|
High Level ALS £5,501 - £19,000 per learner |
YPLA |
YPLA |
The Agency |
| Exceptional ALS amounts over £19,000 per learner |
YPLA |
YPLA |
The Agency |
|
S139A/140 Learning Difficulty Assessed learner placed on Specialist Provision |
YPLA |
YPLA |
n/a |
*The Skills Funding Agency for the purpose of the table is written as 'The Agency'.
Learners with Learning Difficulties and/or Disabilities can attract co-funding for some courses and full funding for others, depending on which course they are interested in and whether they fall into a fee remission category, for example, if they receive Job Seeker’s Allowance.
Fee remission categories that qualify a learner for full funding will be listed in the 2011/12 Skills Funding Agency funding requirements to be published shortly.
Additional Learning Support (ALS) - Information for Providers
There is a Costs Form that can be used for different levels of ALS. ALS costs below £19,000 are met from the learning provider’s allocation. Exceptional ALS (any amount above £19,000) is met from a central Skills Funding Agency budget. In all cases a copy of the Costs Form should be retained by the provider for audit purposes:
(a) ALS costs below £5,500
For ALS costs below £5,500, providers are not obliged to complete the Costs Form. However, for audit purposes, providers are required to keep records of how they supported the learners and the associated spend, and the Costs Form is a useful way of doing this.
(b) ALS costs above £5,500 but below £19,000
The Costs Form should be completed for learners over 25 years of age requiring over £5,500 of support, funded by the Skills Funding Agency. It should include all ALS costs for these learners, not just those above £5,500.
(c) Exceptional ALS (costs above £19,000)
The Costs Form should be used initially as an estimate for each learner whose ALS costs exceed £19,000. This estimate should be submitted to the provider’s Account Manager at the beginning of the learner’s programme.
The 2011/12 Additional Learning Support Costs Form is now available for use in the autumn. For 2010/11 learner returns please continue to use the 2010/11 Additional Learning Support Costs Form.
The Costs Form should then be used for a final claim at the academic year end and submitted to the Account Manager for approval. If the claim is approved, a confirmation letter will be sent to the provider. Payment of the claim will be made after 30 November.
Further information on the 2010/11 ALS can be found in the Skills Funding Agency Adult Learner Responsive Funding Requirements 2010/11 guidance document. Information about the 2011/12 ALS will be available shortly in the 2011/12 Skills Funding Agency funding requirements.
Funding guidance for the year 2008/09 and earlier published by the Learning and Skills Council can be found in the LSC archive.
