Glossary
Audit trail
The record of how data reached its current state, including who changed it, when and why.
In full
An audit trail connects the current record to the events behind it: the enrolment, the changes, the authority for each change and the date it was made.
Unexplained changes between returns are a standard audit query. Recording the reason at the time is far cheaper than reconstructing it later.
The rules behind this
When learner data is changed after it has been reported, the reason for the change and the authority for it should be recorded. An unexplained change between returns is a common audit query.
Where this comes up
module
Being ready for a funding audit
What an audit tests, how sampling turns a few errors into a large adjustment, and the preparation that actually helps.
scenario
A returning learner is enrolled as a new person
A learner returns after two years. The enrolment search does not find them, so a new record and a new ULN are created.
diagnostic
Learning support is claimed but the evidence chain is incomplete
A learning support claim has been made, but one of the links in the chain is missing: the assessment of need, the record of support actually delivered, the cost of delivering it, or the recording that triggers the claim.
diagnostic
Planned hours do not match the timetable that is actually delivered
The planned hours recorded for 16 to 19 students do not reconcile to the timetable being delivered, so students may be in the wrong funding band.
diagnostic
A funded learner has no eligibility evidence on file
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.
scenario
An adult learner withdraws in week six
A learner on a fully funded adult qualification stops attending six weeks in. Follow it from the tutor noticing to the audit test.
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.
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