ILR Data Management FAQs

1. Should a college include every learner in the ILR?
2. Should a college or training provider include enrolments for learners that never attend?
3. If a learner transfers from one course to another, what is the new course start date?
4. How accurate does the start date need to be?
5. What is the appropriate treatment for recording a learner who is enrolled on a National Diploma (2 year) but fails to reappear for year 2?
6. What should a college do if a learner's Individual Learning Plan is altered?
7. How should Skills for Life spiky profiles be recorded for achievement?
8. How should a learner who transfers between funding streams be recorded in the ILR?
9. Should Guided Learning Hours be amended to reflect actual hours delivered?
10. How quickly does the learning aim reference need to be agreed and recorded?
11. Are there any circumstances when the details recorded in the learning aim reference field (A09) can be changed after the funding start period?
12. Do key skills, functional skills and Skills for Life qualifications have to be agreed and reported within the funding start period?
13. What are the rules for recording ESOL qualifications?
14. What should be recorded when a learning aim has not been approved for funding or published on the LARA?
15. Can a college send an ILR return describing only part of its provision, e.g. if it wishes to demonstrate to its Skills Funding Agency contract managers that it has exceeded agreed delivery on part of its contract in order to make a case for an in-year increase of allocation?
16. If a college sends all of its data monthly, does the data need to be complete and error-free?

1. Should a college include every learner in the ILR?

A college must include a record on the ILR for all learners whose learning aims are delivered by it, apart from those that are delivered on behalf of a school or on behalf of a Higher Education Institution (this data relates to non-FE provision that recorded in either the schools data return or the HESA return by the school or HEI which is directly funded for it).

A college must report data about sub-contracted in school learners or those sub-contracted in from an HEI on the ILRSUBCON return. This is an aggregate data return, which is sent at the same time as the ILR returns for learner responsive funded learners, indicating the total numbers of learners in each subject area.

Learning aims delivered on behalf of a local authority (for LR and ASL learning) must be included on the ILR.

A learning aim recorded on the ILR where the college does not receive funding for it directly from the Skills Funding Agency or Young People's Learning Agency (YPLA) must be recorded using code 99 in the Funding model field and the organisation from which any funding is received recorded as a Learning Delivery Funding and Monitoring (FAM) record in the Sources of funding field where applicable.

For example:

college delivering ASL provision for the local authority - learning aim must be included on the ILR and recorded with code 99 in the Funding model field and a Learning Delivery FAM record for Sources of funding as code 108
college delivering the technical certificate of an Apprenticeship for an independent private provider - learning aim must be included on the ILR and recorded with code in the funding model field and a Learning Delivery FAM record for Sources of funding as code.

2. Should a college or training provider include enrolments for learners that never attended?

A provider must include learners who have attended one episode of learning. If the learner withdraws without completing one episode of learning - for example, without attending the first class - then they must not be included in the ILR.

3. If a learner transfers from one course to another, what is the new course start date?

If a learning aim is closed as a transfer (code 4 in the Completion status field) there should always be a new learning aim record for the aim that the learner has transferred to. The start date of the new learning aim cannot be any earlier than the actual end date of the learning aim that the learner has transferred from. The start date may be the same as the actual end date of the aim that the learner has transferred from, or it may be slightly later if there is a delay in the learner starting the new aim.

We do not intend to give prescriptive guidance as to the exact time period in which it is allowable to record a transfer, as it will vary for different learners. For example, if a learner withdraws from their course just before the Easter holiday, they may not be able to start on the new aim until term re-commences. The transfer should take place as quickly as possible to ensure that the learner does not drop out completely. From a data recording perspective, the key point is that if one aim is recorded as transferred from, then there should always be another learning aim record recorded for that learner to show what they have transferred onto.

4. How accurate does the start date need to be?

The learning aim start date should be accurate to within a week.

It is important that where a learning record spans across more than one academic year that the start and planned end dates recorded are identical between academic years. These data fields are used for matching records between academic years for success rate purposes. If the dates do not match, there is a risk that a second 'ghost' record will be created, and the provider's success rates negatively affected.

5. What is the appropriate treatment for recording a learner who is enrolled on a National Diploma (2 year) but fails to reappear for year 2?

The ILR should record the outcome of the learning aim that the learner set out to achieve as recorded in their Individual Learning Plan. Consequently, if a learner sets out to complete a National Diploma and later withdraws from the aim at the end of the first year, then in the ILR:

the Learning aim reference field should be that for the National Diploma
when the learner withdraws, the Completion status field should be set to code 3, meaning the learner has withdrawn, and the Outcome indicator field should be set to code 3 meaning no achievement
the National Certificate should not be recorded on the ILR as this was not the learning aim that the learner set out to achieve and for which funding was generated.

Success in FE is always measured against the outcome of the learning aim that the learner set out to achieve. The same principle applies to all "nested" qualifications where the learner does not complete the learning aim as agreed at the start.

Nested qualifications - guidance for providers to use when designing a curriculum that is based on 'nested qualifications' is now available. It is approved by Ofsted.

6. What should a college do if a learner's Individual Learning Plan is altered?

Providers are expected to have identified and agreed with the learner by the end of the funding start period, the learning aim and the level that is being undertaken. This should be recorded in the learner's Individual Learning Plan and signed by the learner as part of their Learner Agreement.

If circumstances change and the provider and learner agree that it is in the learner's interests to transfer to a different learning aim, then this should be recorded in the Individual Learning Plan and agreement to it confirmed with the learner's signature. The original learning aim should be closed and recorded as a transfer using code 4 in the Completion status field and a new learning aim opened with new start and planned end dates, as appropriate.

Providers must not just amend the Learning aim reference in these circumstances.

7. How should Skills for Life spiky profiles be recorded for achievement?

Providers are asked to record the learner's final achievement outcome grade in the Outcome grade field of the ILR for all Skills for Life provision.

For Entry Level Skills for Life provision, a single learning aim is recorded and the learner may achieve at either Entry Level 1, 2 or 3. Providers should record the level at which the learner has achieved in the Outcome grade field.

This should be possible in all cases for the approved Certificate in Adult Numeracy and the Certificate in ESOL Skills for Life, because both of these qualifications are awarded at the level of the lowest unit achieved.

Functional Skills in English and Maths at Entry Level are currently a single unit. Learners can take assessments at each level - Entry 1, Entry 2 and Entry 3 - and will be certified accordingly, so their final outcome grade can be recorded.

The Certificates in ESOL Skills for Life are accredited and approved at each of the steps of Entry level, so learners can be enrolled onto a Certificate in ESOL Skills for Life Entry 1 qualification and, if achieved, the outcome grade should correspond with the level of the award.

For the Certificate in Adult Literacy, learners may achieve at different Entry levels for the three separate components (speaking and listening, reading, and writing). Where this is the case, providers are advised to record the overall achievement level as that of the lowest achieved. For example, if a learner achieved Speaking and Listening = Entry 3, Reading = Entry 2 and Writing = Entry 1, then providers should record the achievement grade as that of the lowest level. This is in line with how final grades are awarded for the Certificate in Adult Numeracy and Certificate in ESOL Skills for Life award.

8. How should a learner who transfers between funding streams be recorded in the ILR?

The current advice from the Skills Funding Agency and YPLA funding policy teams is that a learner should not move funding streams in the middle of a learning aim, and that they should remain funded on the funding stream on which they started, even if their circumstances change. For example, learners who turn 19 during the second year of a course will continue to be funded from the 16-18 LR funding stream. An unemployed learner who starts an NVQ under the Adult Learner Responsive (ALR) funding model would continue to be funded using this model, even if they become employed.

9. Should Guided Learning Hours be amended to reflect actual hours delivered?

The Guided Learning Hours (GLH) recorded are those that are planned at the outset and recorded on the learner's learning agreement. They should not be altered unless the delivery arrangements change significantly. For example, if a teaching session had to be cancelled due to tutor absence, then the planned GLH would not need to be amended. The current specification defines changed delivery arrangements as:

where revised delivery arrangements result in a change to the GLH for all learners in a group, then the GLH field should be altered for all learners in the group
where revised delivery arrangements result in a change to the GLH for an individual learner and the actual Guided Learning Hours differ by 20% or more from those originally planned, the GLH should be updated for the learner.

10. How quickly does the learning aim reference need to be agreed and recorded?

Providers are expected to agree and accurately record the learning aim being undertaken on the ILR by the end of the funding start period. This applies to all types of learning aim apart from ESOL. See separate FAQ on ESOL for guidance on recording ESOL.

The funding start period is defined as follows:

Course Length	Funding Start Period
Less than 2 weeks	Enrolment and at least one course activity
Between 2 and 24 weeks	Enrolment and final attendance for at least the first two-week period of the programme
24+ weeks	Learner attends for 6 weeks or more

If the learner changes their learning aim during the funding start period then the learning aim details (including the start and planned end date) can be amended on the ILR record.

If a learner changes their learning aim after the funding start period then this must be recorded as a transfer. The learning aim record will need to be closed and recorded as “not achieved – transferred” and a new learning aim added.

Learning aims that are recorded as “not achieved – transferred” do not currently generate any funding and are excluded from the success rate calculations.

11. Are there any circumstances when the details recorded in the learning aim reference field can be changed after the funding start period?

The data entered into the Learning aim reference field can be changed only after the funding start period to correct data that has been entered incorrectly. This does not include cases where the aim is incorrect because the learner has changed the learning aim that they are undertaking. The learning aim reference must never be changed between reporting years for learners whose learning continues from one teaching year to the next.

12. Do key skills, functional skills and Skills for Life qualifications have to be agreed and reported within the funding start period?

Yes, the standard rule of agreeing and accurately recording the learning aim within the funding start period applies. Any changes to the learning aim after this time should be recorded as a transfer.

13. What are the rules for recording ESOL qualifications?

We recognise that for ESOL qualifications, the funding start period may not be long enough to agree and accurately record the level of qualification being undertaken by the learner, and that a provider’s funding can be affected by recording large numbers of transfers.

Until further notice, providers are advised that they should agree and record the level of ESOL qualification that the learner is working towards as soon as possible after the learner starts.

14. What should be recorded when a learning aim has not been approved for funding or published on the LARA?

If a learning aim has been accredited by an awarding organisation and is awaiting approval for funding but is not yet available on the LARA, then a provider should enter the nearest equivalent aim (in terms of type of provision and funding rate) into the Learning aim reference field and enter a Learning Delivery Funding and Monitoring (FAM) record for Learning delivery monitoring of LDM118 to indicate that the learning aim reference recorded is being used as a proxy for the actual learning aim that is being undertaken.

Once the actual learning aim reference is available from the LARA providers must update the code recorded in the Learning aim reference field and remove the FAM record of LDM118.

In all cases, proxy learning aims must be amended (and code LDM118 removed before the end of the academic year or before the learner completes or withdraws from the learning aim.

Providers should take into account that some accredited qualifications may not be approved for funding.

15. Can a college send an ILR return describing only part of its provision, e.g. if it wishes to demonstrate to its Skills Funding Agency contract managers that it has exceeded agreed delivery on part of its contract in order to make a case for an in-year increase of allocation.

A college must ensure that the data it sends by any particular return date is fit for the purposes described for that return. Each college must decide for itself what data it sends in addition to the data essential to meet that requested at any particular return date. The information authority secretariat considers that some providers may find it easier to send full returns at each return date after the first full return in December 2011 rather than attempting to extract and send data only for provision requested at a particular return. However, this is a decision that each college must make for itself.

16. If a college sends all of its data monthly, does the data need to be complete and error-free?

The data a college sends needs to be fit for the purposes described in the timetable (available at http://www.theia.org.uk/ilr/ilrdocuments/201112_ilrdetail.htm). Only 16-18 Apprenticeship data is requested monthly. At a return where data is requested only to drive payment of 16-18 Apprenticeships then data for this provision needs to be complete and error-free, while data sent for other provision sent with it can be both incomplete and contain errors.