Glossary
Retention factor
The element of the 16 to 19 formula that reflects how many students completed their main aim.
In full
The retention factor adjusts funding for students who stay on or complete: for academic programmes, at least one of the academic aims; for vocational programmes, the core aim. Students on 2-year programmes count as retained in year 1 if they are in learning on the last working day in June. It is calculated from historic ILR data.
It links data quality directly to income: recording leavers late or incorrectly changes the retention factor and therefore the funding, in a later year.
Where this comes up
module
16 to 19 funding: how the formula actually works
Student numbers, band, national rate, retention, programme cost weighting and uplifts. Where each element comes from, and which of them your own data controls.
diagnostic
Retention
Retention. Review areas: Completion details.
scenario
An enrichment session is cancelled in November
A weekly enrichment session counted in planned hours is withdrawn after half term. Nobody thinks of it as a funding decision.
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.