Glossary
Personal learning record
The record of a learner's achievements held against their ULN by the Learning Records Service.
In full
The personal learning record holds the qualifications and achievements recorded against a learner's ULN. With the learner's permission it can be used to check prior attainment at enrolment.
Checking it at enrolment is good practice: prior attainment affects eligibility and entitlement in several funding streams.
Where this comes up
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
Should this be a break in learning or a withdrawal?
The learner has stopped, and the question is whether to record a break in learning, which pauses the programme on the basis that they will return, or a withdrawal, which ends it. The two have different funding and achievement consequences, so the choice is not administrative.
scenario
Tailored learning recorded under the wrong allocation
Non-formula-funded adult provision has been recorded alongside formula-funded delivery. Two allocations, one set of records.
module
Learning support: the evidence chain from need to claim
Need assessed, support delivered, cost recorded, claim made. Every link has to hold, and a gap anywhere makes the claim indefensible however genuine the support was.
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.
scenario
Support that everybody knows about and nobody recorded
A learner receives real, substantial support from their course team all year. The claim is made. Nothing in the records shows the support happened.