Glossary
Withdrawal
A learner leaving an aim before completing it, recorded with an actual end date, a withdrawal completion status and a reason.
In full
A withdrawal ends the aim. It sets the actual end date, the completion status and the withdrawal reason, closes the funding period and enters the aim into the achievement rate calculation as a non-achievement.
Timeliness matters as much as accuracy. A withdrawal recorded weeks late leaves funding claimed for a learner who had gone and creates a visible correction at the next return.
The rules behind this
When a withdrawal is recorded changes both the funding earned and whether the aim counts in the achievement rate. Recording a withdrawal late is not a neutral administrative delay.
Not to be confused with
A withdrawal ends the aim. A break in learning pauses it with the intention that the learner returns. The funding and achievement-rate consequences are different.
Where this comes up
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.
module
Withdrawals, breaks and restarts
How leaving is recorded, why the date matters as much as the fact, and where the line falls between a break in learning and a withdrawal.
scenario
An apprentice goes on long-term sick leave
An apprentice is signed off work indefinitely. Deciding between a break in learning and a withdrawal is a funding, performance and evidence decision all at once.
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
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
A learner transfers to a different course in October
A learner decides the course is not right for them and moves to a different one. Two aims have to be handled correctly.
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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