About FEFunding

FEFunding provides free, independent resources for people who work with further education funding, the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) and funding compliance in England.

What FEFunding is

FEFunding explains the official rules that govern post-16 funding in England and gives practical tools for applying them. It is written for the staff who work with those rules every day in colleges and training providers: MIS and funding teams, finance, curriculum planning, quality, audit and senior leadership.

The site includes:

• the FEFunding Academy, with explanations of funding streams, the ILR, returns and funding assurance, a lookup of ILR validation rules by their official code, the funding monitoring reports, and guidance on being ready for a funding audit;
• guidance for each funding stream, the national funding rates and the key dates for ILR returns, taken from the official data collection timetable;
• free tools, including ILR Lens for comparing ILR returns on your own computer, and the maths and English condition of funding calculator.

Why FEFunding exists

Funding, data, reporting and compliance are not ends in themselves. They exist to serve learners.

Colleges should be able to secure the funding they are legitimately entitled to, comply with the relevant rules and make the best possible use of the resources available to provide the teaching, support and opportunities learners need to succeed. Accurate data and sound compliance make that possible: they protect the income a college has earned and keep learners at the heart of everything a college does.

FEFunding was created to make that work easier, by bringing together official funding information, clear explanations and practical tools. Behind it is a simple principle: see the potential in every learner.

About the founder

Ben Sonoiki, Founder

Ben Sonoiki has nearly 20 years' professional experience in further education in England, specialising in management information systems (MIS), learner data, the ILR, funding compliance, business intelligence, SQL-based reporting, data quality and funding assurance.

Working for colleges, Ben has led their responses to government funding assurance reviews, dealing directly with government auditors on reviews covering 16 to 19 education funding, adult skills funding and apprenticeship funding. Throughout his career, he has also supported and helped ensure compliance with funding rules in different professional roles.

Ben is a qualified teacher in England. His current professional work focuses on MIS and business intelligence.

Outside his professional work, Ben runs youth groups in his local community and volunteers in other ways to support young people, including organising events and activities that build confidence, help them discover their abilities and open up opportunities. He recognises each young person's individual strengths, abilities and potential, whatever their disability, additional needs, background, personal characteristics or circumstances. Some young people need additional support, encouragement and the right opportunities to thrive; the point is not to ignore their challenges, but to make sure no one is defined or limited by them. That belief is what drives FEFunding.

How content is checked

FEFunding's values explain why the site exists. They do not decide what it says about the rules.

FEFunding's editorial standard is that every factual funding or compliance statement rests on an official source for the correct funding year. The site keeps four kinds of content distinct:

• official government funding rules and published figures, with their source;
• FEFunding's own explanations, interpretations and worked examples, which are labelled as such;
• automated checks that compare the site against its official sources and quotations;
• reviews by a person, which are claimed only where the review took place and is recorded.

That standard applies to every page, but it does not mean every existing page has had a full review by a person. The editorial and source-verification policy explains how content is checked, what is checked automatically and how to report a mistake.

Independence

FEFunding is independent. It is not operated by, affiliated with or endorsed by the Department for Education, Skills England or any other government body. Where it reproduces official text, that text is Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence.

FEFunding explains the rules; it does not make funding decisions. For decisions about your own college's funding, allocation or data, the official guidance and the Department for Education remain the authority.

Who operates FEFunding

FEFunding is operated by LIMELAI LIMITED, company number 16486216, registered office 86-90 Paul Street, London, England, EC2A 4NE.

Contact

Email hello@fefunding.co.uk, or see the contact page. Please do not send learner personal data.