Advanced Learner Loan Events

November 2019

FE Account Managers, Partner Services

Introduction

Agenda

1 Operational Update

2 Performance Management

3 Complex Administration

4 Financial Monitoring

5 Behind The Scenes

6 Continuous Improvement (inc Enhancements)

Operational Update

Operational Update

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

10000 29

-Apr

13

-May

27

-May

10

-Jun

24

-Jun

08

-Jul

22

-Jul

05

-Aug

19

-Aug

02

-Sep

16

-Sep

30

-Sep

14

-Oct

28

-Oct

11

-Nov

25

-Nov

09

-Dec

23

-Dec

06

-Jan

20

-Jan

03

-Feb

17

-Feb

03

-Mar

17

-Mar

31

-Mar

14

-Apr

28

-Apr

12

-May

26

-May

09

-Jun

23

-Jun

07

-Jul

21

-Jul

04

-Aug

18

-Aug

Num

ber o

f App

licat

ions

is

Monthly Volumes of Applications Received

13/14

14/15

15/16

16/17

17/18

18/19

19/20

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

Provider Unapproved Course

Residency Age Arrears Maximum loan

2nd Access to HE

Ineligible Application Academic Year Comparison

17/18

18/19

19/20

Operational Update

Performance Management

Performance Management

Process Submission Accuracy Time to Complete

Process Submission Accuracy Elapse Time to Complete

Unique Learning Numbers 99%

ULNs to be entered within 6 weeks of learning aim start date Where an application is received >4 weeks after learning aim start date, the ULN must be entered within 2 weeks of the application received date

Verification of Study Programme & Notification of Changes

100% accuracy for approved applications before attendance confirmation

No timescale proposed. It is a condition of Attendance Confirmation that details are correct

Initial Attendance Confirmation 99%

Learner attendance confirmations to be entered within 6 weeks of the learning aim start date if the application is approved Where an application is approved >4 weeks after the learning aim start date, the attendance confirmation must be provided within 2 weeks of the approval date

Subsequent Attendance Confirmations 99%

85% Learner attendance confirmations to be provided by payment drawdown date The payment drawdown date is the Thursday prior to the payment date (which is the 3rd Wednesday in the month)

Withdrawals

99%

60% of withdrawal CoCs submitted within 60 days of notification AND 99% of withdrawal CoCs submitted within 90 days of notification

Suspensions

99%

60% of suspension CoCs submitted within 60 days of notification AND 99% of suspension CoCs submitted within 90 days of notification

Service Standards

Performance Management

Attendance Confirmations - Regional Results

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

110% Sept Oct Nov* Dec Jan Feb* March April May* June July Aug Sept

North

Central

South and West

South East

All Providers

Performance Management

A well thought out process is key to ensuring effective attendance management

Clear understanding of “not in attendance”, for

learners, administration and teaching staff

Attendance Management

Attendance Management Discussion

Thinking of your internal processes, what are the trigger points for notifying and following up on a learner’s absence?

What have you done to establish real time reporting

to enable timely attendance confirmations? Historical and outstanding attendances? How do

you identify them?

Performance Management

Important not to lose sight of previous academic years Ensure you regularly check your attendance and CoC worklists Review Payment Schedule & Attendance Report Use the Payment Instalment Report

Attendance Management

Performance Management

Suspensions

Individual learning provider policy is key

to ensuring consistency

Track suspended learners

Teaching staff to ensure accurate

registers and understand the impact of maladministration

Learner can be suspended for up to

12 months

Application will be auto withdrawn at 12

months+

Performance Management

A withdrawal refers to the point at which scheduled learning, teaching and assessment activities, and other active and on-going engagement ends. A withdrawal applies where the learner has no intention to re-engage, and means there is no further SLC loan liability.

Withdrawals

Do you make strategic use of your CoC worklist to manage your administration of Advanced Learner Loans?

How do you ensure accurate and timely

information from your teaching staff? What are the elements of a well thought

out policy for the administration of Advanced Learner Loans?

Suspensions & Withdrawals Discussion

Performance Management

Suspensions and Withdrawals

Awareness of real time information Option to mark learners as not in attendance, whilst you establish status Follow up with the appropriate action to update the learner record Consider the end date when resuming an application Ensure that any subsequent withdrawals are back-dated to the date of initial suspension

Complex Administration

Complex Administration

• For a learner withdrawing on the 7th November, you simply process a withdrawal CoC reflecting this as the last date of attendance.

Identified some examples where a 'not in attendance' confirmation had been submitted prior to a withdrawal

Attendance confirmation required for the period prior to withdrawal date

Problem False

Complex Administration

• In cases of zero fee reduction, it is necessary to follow up with a withdrawal CoC to enable the process for Compelling Personal Reasons (CPR).

• Not necessary to follow up with a backdated withdrawal. Our review of performance identified this as an issue with some providers submitting late withdrawal notifications

Problem False

Complex Administration

It is necessary to submit a fee increase request before the learner completes the course.

• Some requests received after course end date which are not in policy

Problem True

Complex Administration

If a restriction has been applied due to lack of funding in a specific academic year, the learner, if applying later, will be made ineligible if the course crosses into that year.

For example: • Course started in 18/19 • Restriction applied to 19/20: 30/06/2019 • Learner applied: 01/07/2019 • Application ineligible

Problem True

Complex Administration

Reverse withdrawals should only be requested in the case of a genuine error. Be aware that although you can confirm attendance for learners without a verified National Insurance Number (NINO) you will not receive payment. Once a learner’s initial attendance has been confirmed (post liability) they can only transfer to a Learning Aim of the same level and type. Suitable control measures in place regarding issue of LAFIL

Summary

ESFA Presentation

November 2019

23

Actions

Roles and Responsibilities

ESFA: • Designate loans qualifications (c3,500) and

maintain list • Calculate maximum loan amounts (single

activity matrix) • Manage provider base

o market entry/exit o issue loans ‘facility’ and loans

bursary allocation o Issue and manage loan

agreements / rules and audit against these

o pay c£50m loans bursary based on ILR

o Managing facilities o provider ‘management’

• ‘Forecast’ management and reporting

DfE policy team: Determine loans policy Sponsorship of SLC

Service Agreement

Student Loans Company: • Deliver and manage full end to end

customer journey from application through to assessment, payment and repayment

• Support provider data transfer • Make c£208m loan payments to providers

on behalf of learners • Monitor and manage provider compliance

against service standards • Provide secure access for providers to the

portal in order to track and administer learner applications as well as monitor loan facility amount and usage

Role of the Territory Managers

• Oversight of the further education provider base to promote high quality sustainable provision in each territory to protect public money and safeguard the interests of learners

• Assessing risk, managing contracts, and targeted support for providers showing signs of future vulnerability in order to avoid the need for intervention

• Manage early intervention and formal intervention and support structural change.

• Facilitate the introduction of new programmes (e.g. T Levels) and market entry (e.g. new providers)

• Work with local stakeholders on delivery of place-based initiatives (e.g. devolution)

How ESFA calculated allocations for 2019/20

Advanced Learner Loan facilities

How ESFA calculated allocations for 2019/20

Advanced Learner Loan bursaries

• In 2019/20, there are three review points:

o August 2019: first review point for increases and new facility requests only

o November 2019: second review point for increases, reductions and new facility requests

o March 2020: third review point for increases, reductions and new facility requests

• We will offer additional funding (within the growth limits) to good performers (subject to providers meeting the criteria set out in the performance-management rules)

• New growth limits in place for 2019/20:

Advanced Learner Loans Performance Management

Facility as at 1 Aug 2019 Maximum facility growth for 2019/20

£0 £50k Up to £100k £50k Over £100k £1.5m or 50% of facility (whichever is lower)

– limited to £750k at a single review point

3

Exception cases

• In the Advanced Learner Loans performance-management rules we have set out the criteria providers

need to meet to be in scope for growth

• Providers can request to be treated as an exception if they don’t meet this criteria

• This is not an opportunity for providers to tell us how much additional funding they need, it’s to

allow providers to request to be in scope for growth if there are exceptional circumstances

• If an exception case is accepted, then the provider’s increase will be calculated using the same

methodology as all other providers who are in scope for an increase

We may increase your loan facility if funds are available and you meet the following criteria: 155.1. You have delivered and met the criteria for increases against the standard national profile at the review points (annex 3, table 1) 155.2. The value of increase is in line with the limits set out in paragraphs 156 to 159 155.3. You have a good track record (see paragraph 130) including the accuracy of ILR returns in the past (where applicable) 155.4. You are not in formal intervention with the ESFA and not under additional conditions of funding or additional contractual obligations

Details:

Provider has requested that we uplift their 2019/20 facility to the same value as their 2018/19 facility

Reasons for not supporting:

• Nationally consistent methodology was used to calculate allocations

• Allocations were based on delivery – if they had delivered their allocation they would have received a similar allocation for 2019/20

• We can’t continue to keep rolling allocations over, tying funding up with providers who don’t deliver stops funding being available for good performers to grow

Exception case examples Details:

Provider has used 74.4% of their loans facility at PMP1. To be in scope for growth they need to have used 75%

Reasons for supporting:

• If we rounded up they would be in scope for growth

• We can see from SLC data that they have submitted applications that haven’t yet been approved which take them over 75%

Details:

Provider has requested a first time facility of £150k when the maximum allocation is £50k for new providers

Reasons for not supporting:

• We have to ensure all providers are treated fairly. It would not be fair to other providers if we gave this provider more than the published maximum allocation

• The growth limits are in place to ensure public funds and learners are protected

• We want to stop rapid growth that can result in poor quality provision

31

Funding Rules Monitoring (FRM)

2019 to 2020 funding year

Background

What is funding monitoring? • Helps us to assure various ESFA funding streams:

– Apprenticeships (levy, non levy and programmes started before 1 May 2017) – Adult education budget (including 19-24 traineeships) – Advanced Learner Loans

• Supports the development and communication of clear policy and funding rules • We publish suite of FRM reports every month following ILR data submission. These are available on the Hub (data

collections tab). • Follow-up activity includes contacting providers directly and issuing funding recoveries at year-end.

Process How do we do this? • We analyse the data submitted in monthly ILR returns:

– Data quality issues (may affect things such as qualifications achievement rates) – Funding errors (learner may be ineligible, or error has resulted in overclaim)

• Data is compared to other sources:

– Other providers’ data returns (current and previous years) – Student Loans Company (SLC) – Employer data such as Companies House – Apprenticeship Service

• Specialise in identifying data errors and other issues which cannot be validated in ILR currently or

detected through other tools such as the provider data self assessment toolkit.

Supporting documentation • Financial assurance: monitoring the funding rules for post-16 funding for 2019 to 2020 • List all areas we are investigating in that funding year

– Brings rules from several documents together in one place • Funding monitoring reports: user guide

– Provides overview of how/why queries are identified, including report logic – Explains what action needs taking to resolve issues including evidence requirements – Explains what action we will take to verify funding claims and ensure they are correct

• Funding monitoring reports: known issues log – Identifies any issues that may be affecting reports – Advises providers and indicates when issues will be resolved

• https://www.gov.uk/guidance/esfa-financial-assurance-monitoring-the-funding-rules

Timescales • ILR submission closes 4th working day of every month

• Processing and analysis of the data approximately 2 weeks

• Suite of reports published externally after quality assurance date for all providers with data in

scope for FRM (this is usually around the 20th of each month)

• Follow up activity includes contacting providers directly, via letter or through territorial teams

• We may pass some information directly to other teams: – Ongoing audits – Investigation is required to determine issue and resolution

Key themes • Accuracy of data:

– Ensuring consistency of data between ILR and what SLC report to us – Checking for under/over reporting of data in ILR

• Learner protection: – Ensuring learners aren’t exposed to debt that they should not be liable for – Ensuring changes of ownership / managment are reported accurately and in a timely manner – Reviewing prior attainment

• Value for money: – Ensuring funding which is automatically triggered by ILR data reflects loans delivery reported to us by

SLC – Ensuring loans funding is not drawn down too quickly by providers

Useful Docs

Advanced Learner Loans funding and performance management rules 2019 to 2020 Advanced Learner loans catalogue 2019 to 2020 Learning and Funding Information Letters 2019 to 2020 Advanced Learner Loans Maximum loan amounts 2019 to 2020

Financial Reporting

Learning Provider Portal SLC use start and end dates to profile the payments made to provider Learning Provider will complete the LAFIL using this information Learner will enter the dates at the point of application It is the Provider’s responsibility to make sure that this information is correct and submit the appropriate CoC to make necessary changes

Data Returns

LPs have reported learning aims being retrospectively removed from LARS/not being updated meaning learners unable to apply in good time and potentially impacting on ability to be at required usage by review point

SLC review of provider compliance against service standards part of ESFA decision making process

Provider may be asked to correct identified errors prior to growth being agreed

Data share file is not sent at the point providers are notified of a growth award

Provider has to sign and return revised contract before it is sent to the SLC

Factors to Consider

Financial Reporting

Five financial reports available via the LP Portal ‘Learner Search’ screen

• Payment Schedule and Attendance Report

‘Financials Home’ tab • Remittance Report • Loan Facility Details • Loan Position Report • Payment Instalment Report

Loan Facility Details

An overnight batch runs daily

Includes learners with a status of “approved” or “approved awaiting signature”

Includes learners with a status of “NINO not verified

Includes suspended learners as payments still scheduled

Includes learners whose learning aim started in a previous AY and are still in learning

Learners missing evidence are not included

Can be reconciled via the Payment Schedule & Attendance Report

Loan Facility Details

Live Information for the current AY

Loan Facility Details

Loan Facility Percentage Used Message on LP Portal Email Generated

80% ×

90% ×

100%

Warning messages

Payment Instalment Report

This will highlight any learners where attendance has been confirmed but payment not released as NINO not yet verified

A recent enhancement to the report means that you are now able to use the hyperlink to navigate to the Detailed Learner Information page and add a ULN then toggle back to the report

This section details potential payments which are not yet included in the Loan Facility Details report

This section details potential payments which are included in the Loan Facility Details report

Role of the Account Manager

To manage the relationship and Service interactions between SLC and Learning Providers

Tailored 121 account reviews

Implementation plans for policy and process changes

Performance and compliance monitoring

Most frequently, actions relate to untimely attendance confirmations and late withdrawal notifications

Performance & Monitoring

Guidance, Best Practice

FE Engagement Programme

Escalation Point

Policy and Process

Advice and training on

the LP portal

Continuous Improvement

Continuous Improvement

An ongoing effort to improve products, services, and processes. Incremental improvements based on feedback directly from users

Enhancements

Continuous Improvement Digital Signatures

Digital Signatures

Continuous Improvement

Continuous Improvement

Digital Signatures

Digital Signatures

Continuous Improvement

Digital Signatures

Continuous Improvement

Digital Signatures

Continuous Improvement

Digital Signatures

Continuous Improvement

Learning Provider Portal Enhancements Payment Instalment report – Hyperlink on students name

Attendance Worklist Screen Changes

Ability to search for multiple required confirmations

Attendance Worklist

Colour Coded First Attendance Confirmation and Hyperlinked required confirmations

Attendance Worklist

Pop up to allow multiple attendance confirmations to be completed at once

Minor Enhancements

Application id added to search and screen in Learner Search and results screen

• Attendance Worklist export now in CSV format with additional fields Learning Aim title, course location and course trainer.

• Reinstate Auto cancelled applications after ULN has been entered.

Minor Enhancements

We are currently considering the following enhancements for future release • Allow COCs for multiple learners for a change of course end

date. • Allow the end date to be changed after the end date has

passed

Future Enhancements

Have you used any of the new enhancements implemented in the last 12 months? Do you find them useful?

What else would you like to see introduced?

Enhancements discussion

Behind The Scenes

Behind the Scenes Learning Provider Support Line Experience

Behind the Scenes

Application

LAFIL Application Assessment

Pre- liability

View Learner Information Check and amend Information / CoCs ULN Entry

Attendance

Initial confirmation Fixed Quarters

Post-liability

Advise of ongoing changes Suspension / Withdrawal CoCs

SFE Process Overview

Identify prospective learner

Information & Guidance

Accurate LAFIL issued to learner

Learner applies online Provide ID and residency evidence

Check status via online account

Sign and return online declaration Monitor online account Advise SLC of any

changes

Behind the Scenes

Learner Journey

Behind the Scenes

Common Queries

LPs providing redacted versions of the learners

Online Declaration.. Reinstating cancelled

applications Attendance

confirmation in advance.

Incorrect course codes at the start of the academic year.

Behind the Scenes

Learning Providers increasing the tuition fee, although the entitlement amount has not

updated.

Learner is required to submit a Loan Request Form to increase their

loan amount

Learner is linked to an incorrect learning aim. LP is unable to

perform a Learning Aim Details CoC to amend this, as

attendance has been confirmed and Tuition Fees released.

Cannot change to a learning aim of a different

level and type once attendance has been

confirmed.

Withdrawal CoC submitted in error, the learner has suspended

and plans to return in 2020.

If the learner has changed their mind after

originally withdrawing they will be required to

reapply when they return to learning

Common Queries

Behind the Scenes Common Queries

Attendance confirmed and tuition fees paid although the learner is entitled to their first level 3 fee entitlement/ waiver. Can the application be cancelled?

Applications cannot be cancelled once tuition fees

have been released.

Learner has resumed learning however the application was not resumed and is now at the status

of Auto-withdrawn 12 month suspended.

Suspension period cannot exceed a 12 month

duration otherwise the application will be auto-

withdrawn from the original suspension date.

Course start date incorrect on the learners application, unable to perform a CoC to amend this?

Attendance confirmed and Tuition Fees released.

The course start cannot be changed once tuition fees have been released. The

start date must be amended prior to the initial attendance confirmation

(pre-liability stage)

Learning Providers and Brexit

The European Union (EU) has agreed to extend the Brexit deadline until the 31st January 2020 AoC staff have produced a 21 page College Readiness Pack to help those in leadership positions work through the issues. Learners in the 2020/21 academic year will remain eligible for Advanced Learner loans, whether a deal for leaving the EU is in place or not.

https://www.aoc.co.uk/funding-and-corporate-services/brexit

General Update

SLC’s corporate and repayment websites are live on www.gov.uk/slc. The move means that all repayment information and guidance is available in one location. The repayment threshold for post-2012 (plan 2) loans will rise to £26,575 from 6 April 2020. LP Portal Training events – registration opened 21st November

Register Now! - https://www.events-slc.co.uk/events-schedule

Thank you

FE Account Managers Partner Services

lpservices@slc.co.uk

www.lpservices.slc.co.uk/