ProblemConfirmed errorASFDevolvedApprenticeships16–19

A funded learner has no eligibility evidence on file

This is wrong and needs correcting. It is not a judgement call.

Funding year2026–27Awaiting verificationReviewed18 September 2026See the sources Report an issue

In plain English

Funding has been claimed for the learner, but the college cannot produce the evidence that they were eligible for it. The claim may be entirely correct and still fail, because at audit the evidence is the claim.

Why it matters

An unevidenced claim is recoverable. Where the gap is systematic, the finding is extrapolated across the population, so a small sample failure can produce a large adjustment.

Funding

Unevidenced claims are recoverable. Where the gap is systematic, the recovery may be extrapolated across the population rather than limited to the records tested.

Performance

None directly.

Audit

This is one of the most common audit findings in further education, and one of the most avoidable.

Most likely causes

Ranked, because in practice a few causes explain most cases.

common
The evidence was seen at enrolment but not retainedVery common where evidence is checked visually at a desk and not scanned. The check happened and cannot be demonstrated.
common
The evidence was retained but cannot be locatedFiled inconsistently, held by an individual, or in a system nobody thinks to search. Retrievability is part of evidence.
occasional
The evidence required for this basis of eligibility was misunderstoodDifferent bases of eligibility need different evidence. Holding the wrong document is the same as holding none.
occasional
The learner was not actually eligibleSometimes the evidence is missing because it never existed. Establish this before deciding how to respond.

Check these first

Establish which basis of eligibility was claimed, because that determines what evidence is required.
Check the enrolment file, the document store and the student record system before concluding the evidence does not exist.
Check whether this is one learner or a pattern across a cohort, an area or an enrolment period.
Check the rules for the year for what evidence is actually required, rather than assuming.

Fields involved

Learner funding and monitoring recordsLearning delivery funding and monitoring recordsEmployment statusPrior attainment

How to investigate

Start with what basis of eligibility was claimed. Everything else follows from it.
Search thoroughly before concluding. A great deal of evidence exists and is simply not retrievable.
Quantify the pattern: if a whole enrolment period is affected, that is a control failure that needs a management response.
Where the learner was genuinely ineligible, treat it as a funding issue and correct the claim.

In your system

These steps are system-neutral: they describe what has to be true in the data, which is the same whatever software your college runs. We do not publish supplier screen paths we have not verified, because menu locations differ by version and by local configuration, and a confidently wrong instruction is worse than none.

System-neutral

Identify the basis of eligibility recorded against the learner.
Search every place evidence may have been stored, including scanned enrolment packs and admissions records.
Where the evidence exists but is hard to find, file it properly and record where it is.
Where the evidence genuinely does not exist, seek it from the learner where that is still possible and proportionate.
Where it cannot be obtained, escalate the claim for a decision rather than leaving it unresolved.

Building your own map of where each of these lives in your system is the most useful induction document an MIS team can have. How to build one.

How to fix it

Where the evidence exists, file it so it is retrievable and record where it is.
Where it can still be obtained, obtain it and record when and how.
Where the learner was not eligible, remove the claim rather than leaving it to be found at audit.
Record the decision and the reason, whichever way it goes.

Stop this happening again

Fixing the record clears this case. A control is what stops the next one, so each of these names what to do, who owns it and how often.

An enrolment checklist that requires the eligibility evidence to be captured and stored before enrolment completes.

Owner: Enrolment, admissions or registry staffFrequency: Every enrolment

A monthly sample of enrolments tested for retrievable eligibility evidence, with the result reported.

Owner: Funding or compliance officerFrequency: Monthly

A single, searchable location for eligibility evidence, so retrievability does not depend on who filed it.

Owner: Head or director of MISFrequency: Continuous

The rules behind this

Official requirement

Adult Skills Fund eligibility depends on the learner's age, residency and circumstances, and the provider must hold evidence of eligibility before funding is claimed.

Recommended good practice

Evidence is strongest when it is created at the time of the event it describes and is retrievable without reconstruction. Evidence assembled after a query is asked is weaker and takes longer to produce.

Sources

These are the official documents this page rests on. Where a figure, a deadline or an exact rule matters, the document is the authority and this page is the explanation.

Adult Skills Fund funding and performance management rules 2026 to 2027 (opens in a new tab)

GOV.UKOfficial funding document2026–27Awaiting first verification

Advice: funding regulations for post-16 provision (opens in a new tab)

GOV.UKOfficial funding documentAwaiting first verification

Content reused from GOV.UK is Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence. FEFunding is not endorsed by the Department for Education.