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Confirmation of Apprenticeship Data Requirements for Higher Education Providers (HEPs)

Contents: Requirements for the 2015/2016 funding year  |  Requirements for the 2016/2017 funding year  |  Useful sources of Information

Requirements for the 2015 to 2016 funding year (1 August 2015 to 31 July 2016)

1. Providers must send an Individualised Learner Record (ILR) return for higher and degree apprenticeships to the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) for the following learners:

  • 16- to 18-year-old apprentices (for both apprenticeship frameworks and standards)
  • Apprentices aged 19+ who are undertaking an apprenticeship standard.

For 19+ apprentices undertaking an apprenticeship framework, the ILR return is optional. If you do not return an ILR for these learners, then there is a requirement to send a quarterly aggregate report to the SFA instead.

2. In addition to returning an ILR, you must also include all learners undertaking higher or degree apprenticeships in your HESA student record return where the learning being undertaken is within the normal HESA coverage.

3. You must send your ILR return to the SFA by uploading it to the data collections web portal – the Hub.

4. You must send ILR data as detailed in the ILR collection timetable – Appendix A of the ILR specification.

5. After you upload your ILR file to the Hub, you will be able to download validation error and funding reports for your learners.

6. Learners must pass all the ILR validation rules in order to earn funding.

7. There are different options available to you to create an ILR return:

  • Use your existing MIS software – you may need to procure additional functionality to do this
  • Use the ILR data entry tool provided by the SFA on the Hub
  • Work with a partner, for example, an FE college.

8. Where the HE qualification being undertaken is not listed on our Learning Aims Reference Service (LARS) database, for example for a foundation degree or degree awarded by an HEI, you will need to request that the learning aim is added to the LARS.

9. See section 12.4 and 12.5 of the ILR Provider support manual for further information about recording data about higher and degree apprenticeships.

10. The ILR provider support manual will also give you additional information about all aspects of the ILR.

Requirements for the 2016 to 2017 funding year (1 August 2016 to 31 July 2017)

11. The requirements to send both an ILR return and HESA return that applied in 2015 to 2016 will continue to apply for 2016 to 2017 until April 2017. From April 2017, with the introduction of the new funding methodology, you will need to send a monthly ILR return for all apprentices, including 19+ frameworks. Further information will be published in the autumn about the new funding and data arrangements.

12. For 2016 to 2017, HESA are developing functionality to produce an ILR file for apprenticeship standards from a HESA Student record submission to assist providers. To use this facility, you will need to complete the additional fields that have been added to the HESA student record for apprenticeship standards.

13. This service will be available from August 2016 to allow you to create an ILR file in time for the first return of 2016 to 2017 in September 2016.

14. If you wish to take advantage of this optional new service then HESA will supply an ILR file back to you for apprenticeship standards and you will need to upload it to SFA’s data collection Hub. You are responsible for ensuring that the data meets all the SFA’s requirements as detailed in the ILR Specification and that the validation rules are met.

15. Further details about this are available on the C16051 Student Record coding manual.

16. The new ILR fields in the HESA return only need to be completed if you want HESA to create your ILR file for you. If you are creating an ILR return via an alternative system, then these new fields do not need to completed in the HESA student record.

17. For 2016 to 2017, HEIs do not need to complete the Learner HE and Learning Delivery HE datasets on the ILR for higher and degree apprenticeships as this data will be included on your HESA return.

Useful sources of Information

ILR Specification and ILR Provider Support Manual

HESA Student Record Coding Manual

For help with HESA generated ILR files, contact HESA in the first instance: [email protected]

For help with SFA systems and ILR returns contact: [email protected]