Customer Help Portal - Frequently Asked Questions

The new Customer Help Portal improves the way you ask us questions and get tailored support. This has replaced the ESFA Enquiry Form.

The portal houses a new, more intuitive contact form, which signposts help articles and guidance to you as you select options that match your query. You are now able to track your query’s progress, and message our customer service team with any extra details. Plus, it will all be stored in your linked DfE Sign-in or MyEnquiry portal account.

With the extensive work of the project team, we’ve mapped out customer journeys through the form and into DfE and ESFA, using automation where we can. We’ll send queries directly to the people who can help, reducing waiting times and getting answers to you as quickly as possible.

FAQs

Q. What is the purpose of the new Customer Help portal?

The Customer Help Portal is a replacement for the ESFA online enquiry form. The new Customer Help Portal is designed to streamline and simplify the process of submitting, tracking, and managing customer enquiries, complaints and/or requests.

New features include:

• Account Sign-in so you can view your previous enquiries/requests 
• Check the status of any live enquiry/request  
• Links to specific and tailored knowledge articles and FAQs during your journey through the Customer Help Portal based on options you select. 

Q. Why the new look?

We believe your journey with us should be simple and we are always looking for ways to enhance customer experience. The new look is part of our ongoing efforts to provide you with a more user-friendly service.

 The new Customer Help Portal will:

• Improve navigation and highlight relevant guidance and web pages that are only relevant to the topic you are enquiring about.  
• Your enquiry will be put into the hands of the best person to deal with it, and it will initiate a one-to-one message feed which will enable us to engage with you on a much more efficient level. 
• All attachments and documents, whether uploaded by you or us will be visible and accessible in one place providing a simple and transparent way for you to contact us. 
• For queries with eligibility requirements, for example complaints, you will be prompted through the new Portal if these have not been met. This ensures you will find out immediately if we can no longer help, reducing unnecessary waiting times.

Q. How do I access the Customer Help Portal?

You can access the Customer Help Portal through our ‘contact us’ tile on our Customer Help Centre. Or you can access the Customer Help Portal here: Home  - Customer Help Portal (education.gov.uk)

If you are a DfE Sign in user then you can simply log in using your account details. DfE Sign-in is how schools, colleges, and other education providers access DfE and ESFA online services. If you do not already have a DfE Sign in account and wish to create one, you can do this here: https://services.signin.education.gov.uk/. If you are a member of the public and therefore do not use DfE Sign In, don’t worry, you can easily create a ‘My Enquiry Portal’ account. 

If you want to use the Portal like a standard webform, you can still submit enquiries, casework, or complaints via the Guest Route – but you will miss out on the benefits above! We will respond to all guest route submissions via email. 

If you decide in future to create an account using the same email you used as a guest - no problem! The Customer Help Portal will link and pull through all those enquiries into your My Enquiry home page.

Q. Will links to the old ESFA online enquiry form still work?

Links to the old ESFA enquiry form will still work, but they will re-route to the Customer Help Portal. We will be working over the following months to replace links to the old form with the new URL and eventually decommission the re-direct.  

Q. What is the Customer Help Centre? 

The Customer Help Centre is where we publish articles in the public domain for customers to self-serve on common themes and queries. This means that you should be able to find the answer to your query quickly. 

For data and/or other returns, we deliver targeted ‘how to’ guides ahead of peak returns on common sticking points for customers. We also have a communities forum for providers to troubleshoot with other providers within their community.

You can find the Customer Help Centre here: https://customerhelp.education.gov.uk/

If you are unable to find an answer to your query within our articles or the communities tab, please submit a query through the Customer Help Portal. 

Q. How can I provide feedback or suggestions for improvements to the Customer Help Portal?

We encourage your feedback and suggestions to improve the portal and your experience as a customer. You can provide feedback using email: programme.improvement@education.gov.uk For all other queries, please use the enquiry portal.