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ILR Lens · Free Windows application

See what changed. Know what needs attention.

Your ILR tells a story. ILR Lens helps you understand it. Import your ILR, run assurance checks, compare returns and investigate the changes behind your learner numbers, all from a free Windows application that works locally on your computer.

Download ILR Lens for Windows Explore what ILR Lens can do

Version 1.1.0 · 119 MB · Windows 10 and Windows 11, 64-bit · Read the User Guide (PDF)

  • Free download, no account required
  • Your ILR data is processed on your computer
  • Installer digitally signed by LIMELAI LIMITED
Why it exists

Every ILR return tells you something. Finding out what takes time.

Every return carries important information about your learners, delivery, performance and funding. When learner numbers change, planned hours move or records look unusual, working out what actually happened can take days of spreadsheets. ILR Lens helps you get to the answers faster.

Where the ILR alone cannot settle a question, ILR Lens says so and tells you what to check in your own records.

Built for MIS managers and officers, funding and compliance teams, curriculum managers, quality and performance teams, and senior leaders responsible for assurance, in colleges, independent training providers and other organisations that submit an ILR.

  • Why has our learner count changed since the previous return?
  • Which learners have disappeared, and which have appeared?
  • What changed in planned hours, and for whom?
  • What has moved since R04, the count our allocation rests on?
  • Which records need someone to look at them before we submit?
  • What can we not establish from the ILR alone?
What ILR Lens can do

From one return to the story behind your numbers

The features of version 1.1.0, as its release notes and user guide describe them.

Compare two returns

Import a second ILR and ask what changed between them.

Quick Compare
Who has disappeared? Who has appeared? Why did my student numbers change? What changed for existing learners? What looks unusual? Or run the full comparison, which answers all of them at once.
Change Explorer
Everything that moved between two returns on one screen, grouped by learners, planned hours, learning aims, dates and status, and funding. Every figure opens the students behind it, ready to filter and export.
Build a comparison
Ask your own question in six plain steps, with no XML paths or expressions. Save it with a name and ask it again after the next return.

Understand learner numbers and funding

Follow the movements behind the 16 to 19 count your allocation rests on.

16 to 19 learner numbers and Since R04
Once you hold R04, R06 and R14 for a year, see your student numbers at the dates the funding methodology counts them, and what has moved since R04. ILR Lens keeps what changed in your funded population apart from what financial effect that had. If the right R04 is not in your library, it says so and stops.
Planned hours
Qualification, employability, enrichment and pastoral hours and the calculated total, each shown separately with what moved. A change in the total is not presented as a change in funding, because that depends on the band boundaries and the methodology for the year.
Funding bands
Which 16 to 19 band each student falls in, and who moved band between two returns. Each return is banded against its own year's published rates. Where information is missing from the file, ILR Lens says what is missing rather than treating the student as unchanged.

Assurance and investigation

Run Full Assurance on a return and start with what matters most.

Needs your attention
One entry for each real problem, most important first. Each tells you what was found, why it matters and what to check, with the technical evidence, rule references and DfE sources underneath when you want them.
Learner history
Every learning aim recorded for a learner, year by year, across the returns you hold. A repeated aim is shown as something to look at, not as an error: retakes, restarts and transfers all exist.
Evidence required
Every question ILR Lens cannot answer from the ILR alone, in one place, with what it established and what you need to check in your own records.
Provider specified monitoring
Which PSM A to D occurrences are in use, what values they carry, how many students carry each and what changed since another return, with room to record what each one means at your college.

Keep, export and plan

Import once, ask questions all year, and share what you find.

Snapshot Library and protected R14 baselines
Formal returns and working snapshots in one library. R04, R06 and R14 are protected, and final R14s stay available for next year's cross-year checks without importing them again. Replacing a protected return keeps the earlier one, marked as superseded.
Exports with their context
Any list of students exports to a spreadsheet. Each export starts with a context sheet: which analysis, which two returns, which filters, when it was produced, and which version of ILR Lens and which annual rules.
Return calendar and optional reminders
Every deadline with its academic year, weekday, date and closing time, coping with the autumn when two years are open. Reminders are optional, never mention a student, and arrive when you sign in to Windows rather than at a chosen time of day.
How sure is it?

Three kinds of statement, always kept apart

Every finding is labelled as an official DfE rule, official DfE methodology, an ILR Lens linking method or an ILR Lens observation. ILR Lens never borrows DfE's authority for a question of its own.

What ILR Lens found

A fact about your file, or a condition in published DfE guidance that your data meets.

60 students had their total planned hours decrease.

What it thinks should be reviewed

Something worth a look, where ILR Lens is asking rather than telling, and says so.

The same learning aim appears in more than one academic year. This is information to investigate, not a finding.

What it could not establish

A check that could not run is never reported as a pass, and a student it could not classify is never counted as unchanged.

30 students could not be banded, so ILR Lens cannot say whether they moved.

“Could not determine” never becomes “no change”, and “not checked” never becomes “0 issues”.

How it works

Five minutes from installing to a first useful result

No database, no command line, no server and no technical set-up.

Read the Quick Start Guide (PDF)

  1. Download and install

    Run the installer. It installs for your Windows account only, so no administrator password is needed.

  2. Open it and save your recovery key

    No account and nothing to configure. The first time, ILR Lens shows a recovery key once. Save it somewhere secure: it is needed only if your Windows account is reset or you move to another computer.

  3. Import your ILR

    Choose the .xml or the .zip exactly as your MIS produced it. ILR Lens shows the learners, academic year and return it found before anything is saved, then you add it to your Snapshot Library.

  4. Run Full Assurance

    A large college return takes a few seconds. Start with Needs your attention, then open What else was checked to see which checks need another return, such as last year's final R14.

  5. Compare returns and investigate

    Import another return and use Quick Compare, Change Explorer, Since R04 and learner history to work out what moved and why.

  6. Export what you need

    Export any list of students to a spreadsheet, with a context sheet saying exactly what it contains.

Your ILR data stays on your computer.

ILR Lens processes your ILR locally and does not upload learner data to FEFunding or anyone else. There is no account, no login, no server and no cloud service.

What its documentation states

  • No telemetry, crash reporting, update check or analytics. The application makes no network connections.
  • Everything ILR Lens knows is in one file, %LOCALAPPDATA%\ILR Lens\workspace.ilrlens, encrypted with AES-256 using a key Windows protects for your account.
  • Your original ILR file is only ever read. ILR Lens works from its own copy and never changes your ILR.
  • A recovery key is shown once, the first time. ILR Lens keeps no copy and never sends it anywhere.
  • Diagnostic logs are kept in memory, not written to disk.

What stays your responsibility

  • Spreadsheet exports are ordinary learner-data files outside the encrypted workspace. ILR Lens says so on screen and inside the file.
  • Backups are also outside the encryption. Keep them where your college keeps learner data.
  • Uninstalling leaves your workspace in place and tells you where it is. Deleting it is your decision.
  • Downloading from this page needs no account, email address or form, and sends us no learner information.
Download

ILR Lens 1.1.0 downloads and documentation

The installer and guides are published exactly as they were produced and signed. Nothing has been rebuilt or repackaged.

Installer for Windows

ILR-Lens-Setup-1.1.0.exe · 124,774,232 bytes (119 MiB)

Download ILR Lens for Windows

SHA-256

b059e3dadf85185db19397eb0e9729e08f14ba7bdc06d4d2999c229041527a48

Check it in PowerShell with Get-FileHash .\ILR-Lens-Setup-1.1.0.exe -Algorithm SHA256. The value must match exactly.

Version
1.1.0
Supported systems
Windows 10 version 1809 or later, or Windows 11, on a 64-bit (x64) PC.
Publisher
LIMELAI LIMITED
Code signing
Microsoft Azure Artifact Signing, Public Trust, timestamped
Download verified
Downloaded from the public address and checked against its SHA-256 on 10 October 2026.
ILR Lens 1.1.0 files
FileWhat it isSize
Installer for Windows
ILR-Lens-Setup-1.1.0.exe
The signed installer. This is all you need to install ILR Lens.119 MB
Quick Start Guide
ILR-Lens-Quick-Start.pdf
Five minutes from installing to your first useful result.122 KB
User Guide
ILR-Lens-User-Guide.pdf
The full guide to every screen, privacy, backups and limitations.459 KB
Release Notes
ILR-Lens-Release-Notes.pdf
What version 1.1.0 does, and what it cannot do.125 KB
SHA-256 checksums
SHA256SUMS.txt
SHA-256 checksums for the installer and the three guides.1 KB
Complete package (installer, guides, README and checksums)
ILR-Lens-1.1.0-Windows.zip
All of the above plus the README, unchanged, in one ZIP for IT teams.120 MB
Installing and upgrading

For colleges and their IT teams

Requirements

Windows 10 version 1809 or later, or Windows 11, on a 64-bit (x64) PC. No administrator rights, database, runtime, cloud account or internet connection are needed once you have the installer. It installs into %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\ILR Lens for your Windows account only.

Signed by LIMELAI LIMITED

The installer is digitally signed by LIMELAI LIMITED, the company behind FEFunding.co.uk, so that is the publisher Windows shows. Early downloads may still see a Microsoft Defender SmartScreen reputation warning while the new certificate builds its reputation. Check the publisher and the SHA-256, and follow your organisation's IT policy. Never disable SmartScreen or antivirus to install it.

Upgrading from 1.0

Install over the top. The upgrade is designed to keep your workspace, which lives outside the installation folder, so your snapshots, protected R14 baselines, saved analyses and review decisions are kept and upgraded in place. Take a backup first (Settings and help, then Back up workspace), as you would before any update.

Supported academic years in version 1.1.0

Assurance rules2025/26 and 2026/27
ILR schema2024/25, 2025/26 and 2026/27
Collection timetable2024/25, 2025/26 and 2026/27

A return is always analysed against its own year's rules. New academic years arrive with a new version of ILR Lens, and installing one never changes what an earlier saved analysis said.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

Is ILR Lens really free?

Yes. There is no charge, no subscription, no licence key and no trial period. It is a separate, free product: you do not need the FE Funding Intelligence platform or any other FEFunding service to use it.

Do I need an account?

No. There is no account, no login and no registration, and you do not need to give an email address to download it.

Does FEFunding see our ILR data?

No. ILR Lens processes your ILR on your computer and does not upload learner data to FEFunding or anyone else. It has no account, no server and no cloud service. Downloading the installer from this page does not send us any learner information either.

Which versions of Windows are supported?

Windows 10 version 1809 or later, or Windows 11, on a 64-bit (x64) PC. ILR Lens is available for Windows only.

Do I need administrator rights?

No. The installer installs ILR Lens for your Windows account only, into your own profile, and does not ask for an administrator password. If your college blocks applications it does not recognise, your IT team will need to allow it.

Why does Windows name LIMELAI LIMITED as the publisher?

The installer is digitally signed by LIMELAI LIMITED, the company behind FEFunding.co.uk. That is the legal name on the code-signing certificate, so it is the name Windows shows.

Windows showed a SmartScreen warning. Is something wrong?

The installer's signature is valid and publicly trusted, but Microsoft Defender SmartScreen builds its reputation for a new signing certificate as downloads accumulate, so early downloads may show a warning. Before going further, check that the publisher shown is LIMELAI LIMITED and that the file's SHA-256 matches the one on this page, and follow your organisation's IT policy. If you are unsure, ask your IT team. Never turn off SmartScreen or your antivirus to install it.

How do I check the download has not been altered?

Compare the installer's SHA-256 with the value on this page. In PowerShell, run Get-FileHash .\ILR-Lens-Setup-1.1.0.exe -Algorithm SHA256 in the folder you downloaded it to. The checksums for the guides are in SHA256SUMS.txt. A digital signature shows who published a file and that it has not changed since; it is not a guarantee that software is free of every possible fault.

How do I upgrade from version 1.0?

Install the new version over the top. The upgrade is designed to keep your workspace, which lives outside the installation folder: your snapshots, protected R14 baselines, saved analyses and review decisions are kept and the workspace is upgraded in place. As with any software update, take a backup first: Settings and help, then Back up workspace.

Which ILR files and academic years can it read?

The ILR file you export from your learner record system, as XML or as the ZIP your MIS produced. Assurance rules cover 2025/26 and 2026/27. A return from another year can be imported and stored, but ILR Lens will not run one year's rules over another year's return.

Does it replace our MIS or DfE validation?

No. ILR Lens is an assurance and investigation tool. It does not replace your MIS, FIS, the Submit Learner Data service, DfE validation or professional funding judgement, and it does not guarantee that a return is correct. It helps you find things worth checking.

Where is our data stored, and what about exports?

In one encrypted file in your Windows profile (%LOCALAPPDATA%\ILR Lens\workspace.ilrlens), encrypted with AES-256 and a key Windows protects for your account. Spreadsheet exports and backups are ordinary files outside that encryption, so your college's usual information governance rules apply to them.

How do I report a problem or suggest an improvement?

Inside ILR Lens, open Settings and help and choose Send feedback or report a problem, or email ben@fefunding.co.uk. Please never send an ILR file or any learner information.

What it cannot do

Limitations, stated plainly

Each of these is shown in the application when it is relevant. None is a silent gap.

  • FRM30 cannot be completed. It is reported as could not check, with the reason, and never as a pass.
  • The 16 to 19 population is not a complete reproduction of DfE's. ILR Lens applies the conditions the published guidance states, and the screen names which conditions were applied and which were not.
  • The PDSAT and monitoring reports are named, not reproduced. ILR Lens tells you which reports DfE expects you to check before a mandatory return; it does not claim to have run them.
  • There is no AS to A level linking and no Extended Diploma prior-learning screening.
  • Reminders arrive when you sign in to Windows, not at a chosen time of day.
  • Apprenticeships, and English and maths, are out of scope for this version.

Independence and attribution

ILR Lens is an independent assurance and investigation tool. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or a product of the Department for Education. It does not replace your MIS, FIS, the Submit Learner Data service, DfE validation or professional funding judgement, and it does not guarantee that a return is correct.

ILR Lens includes LARS Learning Delivery v011, published by the Department for Education and used under the Open Government Licence v3.0. It also applies rules derived from published DfE funding and assurance guidance; each rule records the document it came from, shown in the application under Settings and help.

Created by Ben Sonoiki. Published free by FEFunding.co.uk. Software publisher: LIMELAI LIMITED. Feedback and problems: Settings and help in the application, or ben@fefunding.co.uk. Please never send an ILR file or any learner information.

ILR return readiness

Deadlines, checklists and guidance for each return, including the final R14, in the FEFunding Academy.

Open the readiness hubs

Error and assurance lookup

What an ILR error or funding assurance check means, and what to do about it, with the official source.

Look up a check

Other free tools

Calculators, planners and checkers for everyday funding questions, in your browser and with no login.

See all tools

Download ILR Lens for Windows

Free, with no account. Your ILR data stays on your computer. Windows 10 and Windows 11, 64-bit, version 1.1.0.

Download ILR Lens for Windows Checksums and guides