Glossary
Funding year
The year that funding rules, rates and the ILR specification are set for, running from 1 August to 31 July.
In full
The funding year runs from 1 August to 31 July. Rules, rates, the ILR specification and the validation rule set are all published for a single funding year.
Every funding answer belongs to a year. An answer without a year attached is incomplete and is one of the most common ways staff are led astray.
The rules behind this
The further education funding year runs from 1 August to 31 July, and funding rules, rates and the ILR specification are set for that year.
A funding rule is only ever true for a stated funding year. Carrying an answer from one year into another, without checking, is one of the most common causes of an incorrect claim.
Where this comes up
module
Closing the funding year properly
At the final return the year's data is closed: the funding position, the achievement rates and the audit population are all taken from it. Anything you want reflected in that year's data has to be corrected before it.
diagnostic
Continuing or completed learning aims that are now reported as withdrawn on or before 31 July of the previous funding year
If a learner is continuing learning at the final R14 collection at the end of the year, but you record in the subsequent ILR year that they should have left in the previous ILR year, you may have earned funding that you need to repay. This report identifies funding that may be recovered because a withdrawal was reported late. If the error extends into multiple previous years, the recovery could exceed the amount shown as we only show the previous year’s funding.
scenario
The first return of a new funding year fails badly
The first validation run of the new funding year produces hundreds of failures. What is the fastest route to a clean file?
scenario
Working in two funding years at the same time
It is September. The new year's first return is due and last year's final return has not closed. Two rulesets, two datasets, one team.
diagnostic
Changes to actual end date or planned end date after R14 of previous year
The learning planned end date must not change between funding years. You can only amend this date in the first ILR year to correct administrative errors. You must not change this date to reflect slow progress, illness or similar circumstances. If a learning actual end date was recorded for a learning aim in the previous year’s R14 file and the aim continues to be returned in the current year, this date must not be changed. For apprenticeship standards on a programme aim, the learning actual end date must not be changed once the end point assessment (EPA) period has been completed. You must record the date the EPA is completed in the achievement date field, regardless of the outcome.
diagnostic
Continuing learners from last academic year who do not appear in this year’s ILR
Your current year’s ILR must include any learning aims which were reported as continuing in the previous year’s final ILR return, even if the actual end date is in the previous funding year. Aims are identified as continuing when the Completion status is code 1. Failure to report timely and accurate withdrawals data in your previous year’s R14 return may have resulted in a funding overclaim. It may also affect your qualification achievement rates (QARs).
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.
Content reused from GOV.UK is Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence. FEFunding is not endorsed by the Department for Education.