Glossary
ILR specification
The technical definition of the ILR for a funding year: every field, its format, and its valid values.
In full
The ILR specification defines the structure of the return, the fields it contains, their formats and the values each may take, for one funding year.
It changes between years. A field or code that was valid last year may not be valid this year, which is why the specification for the correct year is the only safe reference.
Where this comes up
module
The anatomy of the ILR
What is actually inside the Individualised Learner Record: the entities, how they nest, and which fields carry the funding.
module
How further education funding actually works
Colleges are not paid a block grant for teaching. They are funded through several separate streams, each with its own rules, and each earned by recording delivery in the ILR.
diagnostic
A learner left weeks ago but is still showing as continuing
The learner has stopped attending, but the ILR still shows their aim as open with no actual end date, so the system believes they are still in learning and keeps generating funding for them.
module
From a learner walking in to funding arriving
The full chain: a learner event, the operational action it triggers, the source data it creates, the ILR fields it populates, validation, funding, reports, evidence, performance and audit.
diagnostic
An aim is on the ILR but generates no funding
The aim validates and appears on the ILR, but generates no earnings. Validation and funding are different tests: a record can be perfectly valid and still not qualify for funding.
diagnostic
An apprentice is on the ILR but is not generating any payments
The apprentice exists on the ILR and looks correct, but no earnings are being generated for them. Apprenticeship funding depends on the ILR and the apprenticeship service agreeing, so a record that is perfect in one and absent or different in the other produces nothing.