Glossary
Learner (ILR entity)
The ILR record that describes one person: their identifiers, demographics and circumstances for the funding year.
In full
The Learner entity carries the identifiers that locate the person, such as the ULN and the learner reference number, alongside demographic and circumstance information used for eligibility and uplifts.
Everything else about that person's learning hangs off this record, so an error here affects every aim beneath it.
The rules behind this
The ILR is structured hierarchically: a provider header, then one record per learner, and within each learner one record per learning delivery, with further entities for employment status, destination and outcome, learner funding and monitoring, and learning delivery funding and monitoring.
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.
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).
diagnostic
Loans learning not being recorded in ILR
You must accurately complete all ILR fields for loans-funded learners and make ILR returns as required in the ILR specification and the provider support manual.
diagnostic
The ILR file should not have more than one record with the same ULN
There should not be more than one Learner record with the same ULN, except where the ULN is 9999999999
diagnostic
The same learner appears twice
One person has been recorded twice, usually with two different learner reference numbers, and sometimes with two different ULNs. The system treats them as two people.
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.
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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