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Learning journey · Finance director or finance manager
Finance director, new to further education
Six weeks to understand how the college is funded, what puts the income at risk, and which questions to ask MIS. No ILR technical detail beyond what a finance leader actually needs.
By the end you will be able to
- Explain how each of the college's funding streams is earned and when it is settled
- Read an allocation statement and reconcile it to the return behind it
- Run a monthly reconciliation conversation that produces decisions rather than reassurance
- Ask MIS questions that expose a problem rather than invite reassurance
- Understand where the funding audit risk actually sits
The plan
Six weeks is a suggestion of pace, not a schedule. Skip anything you already know, and come back to the rest whenever it suits you.
Week 121 minutes
How further education funding actually worksColleges 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.12 min Building a funding map for your collegeA funding map sets out every stream a college receives, how each is earned, when it reconciles and what data drives it. It is the fastest way for a finance or leadership newcomer to become useful.9 min
Week 227 minutes
16 to 19 funding: how the formula worksStudent numbers, band, national rate, retention, programme cost weighting and uplifts. Where each element comes from, and which of them your own data controls.11 min Reading an allocation statementWhat an allocation is, which elements are formula-driven, which are lagged, and what to reconcile it against.8 min R04: the return that sets next year's 16 to 19 allocation8 min
Week 325 minutes
Adult Skills Fund: earning, evidencing and reconcilingAn allocation you have to earn, with eligibility that must be evidenced before you claim, and a reconciliation at the end that can reduce what you keep.11 min Reconciling funding month by monthHow to compare what the return earned against what you expected, explain the movement, and stop year-end surprises before they form.8 min Why did income move when recruitment was strong?A finance director new to further education sees earnings fall in a month where recruitment was strong. The explanation is in the mechanism.6 min
Week 420 minutes
Apprenticeship funding: price, band, service and evidenceA price negotiated with each employer, capped by the band maximum, paid monthly with a completion element, and dependent on the ILR and the apprenticeship service agreeing.12 min Learning support: the evidence chainNeed 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.8 min
Week 524 minutes
What good evidence looks likeEvidence is not paperwork for its own sake. It is the demonstration that a funded activity genuinely happened as recorded, and it has three properties.8 min Being ready for a funding auditWhat an audit tests, how sampling turns a few errors into a large adjustment, and the preparation that actually helps.10 min A governor asks what the funding risk actually isAt a board meeting, a governor asks what would have to go wrong for the funding position to be materially misstated. What is a good answer?6 min
Week 616 minutes
Questions to ask MIS, and what a good answer looks likeA set of questions that a finance or senior leader can ask without being an ILR technician, each with the answer that should reassure you and the answer that should not.8 min R10: the year-end position while it can still be changed8 min Generate your first audit readiness checklist (optional)10 min
Learning record
FEFunding Academy: FE funding for finance leaders
This is an FEFunding Academy learning record. It confirms that the named person completed this Academy learning path. It is not a regulated qualification and does not imply accreditation or endorsement by any government department or awarding organisation.