Glossary
Hard close
The point after which a funding year's data can no longer be amended.
In full
A hard close fixes the data for the year. Nothing after it changes the funding, the performance measures or the audit population for that year.
The distinction from earlier returns matters: in-year returns can be corrected at the next one, a hard close cannot.
The rules behind this
The final return of the funding year is the last opportunity to amend that year's data. After it closes, the funding position, the performance measures and the audit population for the year are all fixed.
Where this comes up
scenario
Results arrive after the final return has closed
A batch of awarding organisation results for last year arrives in November, after the final return closed. What can be done?
module
The collection year: what each return is for
Fourteen returns, each restating the whole year. Three of them matter more than the others, and knowing which is most of the job.
diagnostic
An aim has ended but no outcome has been recorded
The aim has an actual end date, so the system knows it finished, but nothing records whether the learner achieved it. The achievement rate calculation treats an aim with no achievement recorded as a non-achievement.
module
Getting it right at the front door
Most funding-critical data is captured at enrolment. Front-door quality is the cheapest data quality there is, and the only kind that scales.
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.
scenario
A bootcamp outcome is achieved but never recorded
A learner gets a job after a Skills Bootcamp. Nobody records it, and the outcome milestone is not claimed.
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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