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Steve Hewitt, thanks. Yes, you are right about that being daft, in fact it is really misleading. I have had several distraught colleagues come to me thinking that their quals were no longer fundable, when really they are still fundable.
Where was this Loans LDNS thing ever explained? It's absolutely absurd that an aim that is still eligible for Adult Skills funding, should have the Adult Skills LDNS already expired. I would never have know that was acceptable until you mentioned it previously Steve Hewitt. I'd have just told staff it wasn't fundable, because that's what the learning aim data is saying.
I am mid-correspondence with them about it (because I was trying to work out what the 24/25 model might look like). It seems the reason all of those aims have 10 Nov 22 LDNS for ADULT_SKILLS is because, and I'm not joking, they didn't want to break people's R14s...
I have pointed out that that is not how R14 works, my dudes...
In fact, the "best" place to see Funding availability and end dates appears to be the Quals spreadsheet:
Qualification Downloads - List of Qualifications approved for funding (education.gov.uk)
which does, at least, confirm our suspicions on the two aims above...
Steve Hewitt I know what you mean about the spreadsheet, and I use it myself. It's a shame that is is not more user-friendly, though, and shown as a link on FALA.
Every qualification has three relevant dates for funding (shown on the FALA website, but the spreadsheet has only 2 dates, with different names).
1) Funding start date, shown on the website as valid from, shown on the SS as FundingApprovalStartDate
In an example I just looked at, these two dates did not match.
2) Funding end date, shown on the website as valid to, this is absent from the SS
3) LDNS, shown on the website as LDNS, shown on the SS as FundingApprovalEndDate
For an example I just looked at, it did resolve the difference between LDNS for Adult Skills and ALL and show the correct LDNS.
Did you notice that the website shows the download was updated on 19/12/22, but the date of snapshot in the SS is 22/11/22?
They're not even the same dates labelled differently! Just picking a random aim (not one we deliver);
60174523
AEB LDNS 31/07/2023
Loans LDNS 31/07/2023
LegalEntitlementL2L3_FundingApprovalEndDate 31/12/2022
L3FreeCoursesForJobs_FundingApprovalEndDate 31/12/2022
So what's true? That's why we don't use that spreadsheet. There are several examples like that. If they would just use the Adult Skills LDNS to represent reality, that would be good.
Ruth Canham-James, The date discrepancy in your example is clear and very disappointing. I have not noticed any such discrepancies in the quals that we deliver.
Is there any other download available that shows the funding availability dates for each funding stream? I have been looking for such a download that also includes the subject areas - a useful column that is omitted from this download.
The LARS download itself has everything in, but it's cumbersome to work with as the data is spread across tables/sheets. It's csv, mdb or psv. Finding the right sheet/table can be a challenge if you don't use them often.
Does anybody know of a guide to using the LARS database download?
I've been looking through the MDB file and comparing it to the FALA website, but it is really confusing.
Take aim 50113811 for example. (OK, I know it is not a L3, so it is a deviation from the title of this thread, but bear with me)
On FALA it is fundable for new starts under adult skills up to 31/7/23, and the weighted rate is £941, and it is fundable under local flexibility rules. Where can I find this data in the database?
I've looked in the following tables:
Core_Lars_Funding, but this does not have it listed under Adult Skills. Are we supposed to use the old "Matrix" classification in this table, which does have the correct weighted rate for adult skills?
Core_Lars_Validity, This does have it listed in a category named "Adult_skills" with dates to match FALA
Coming back to Level 3 aims and fundability under the NSF. Looking at the two aims that I supplied in my first post, it is complicated to reach the same conclusions from this database that I reached from FALA.
With regard to the funding amount in the Core_LARS_Funding table, the Matrix rate is the new one, and it encompasses everything other than apprenticeship English and maths (which has the category "APP_MAY_2017_EM"), OLASS, ESF, and something called APP_ACT_COST, which I have no idea about. The funding categories with LDNS on the FALA website are on the Core_LARS_Validity table. So the LDNS and funding rate sit separately. There aren't generally different funding rates per category for one aim, except for Apprenticeship English and maths, so Matrix covers that.
Since we now know the AEB LDNS dates can have expired but the aim still be fundable under NSF, you need to look at the Core_LARS_LearneringDeliveryCategory table. 45, 46,48 and 49 are NSF/FCFJ, and if their "Effective To" hasn't expired, you're still ok for NSF/FCFJ on that aim, despite what the Adult Skills LDNS is saying.
Regarding your aims;
60332025 - The only non-expired categories are 12 and 13 (loans) and 56 (Free Courses for Jobs – MCA and GLA only flexible delivery qualifications). So no legal entitlements or FCFJ, it doesn't matter what the LDNS is. The category names are in the CoreReference_LARS_Category_Lookup table.
60332037 - Non-expired categories are 12, 13, 46 and 49, so all good for FCFJ. That's all you need to check. If you want the amount, it's the matrix rate.
Peter Hancock
Quals fundable by L3 Free courses for jobs offer
Created
I would like to check understanding of the rules that determine whether a qualification is fundable for new starts from the L3 FCFJ offer in non-devolved ESFA-funded areas.
I think there are two elements that must be in place:
1) The LARS category code list must include at least one of the following codes:
45 National Skills Fund Level 3 Free Courses for Jobs rate 1
46 National Skills Fund Level 3 Free Courses for Jobs rate 2
48 National Skills Fund Level 3 Free Courses for Jobs only
49 National Skills Fund Level 3 Free Courses for Jobs - short qualification
2) Last date for new starts (LDNS) must be either
a) LDNS for Adult Skills must not have expired at the date that learning begins, OR
b) LDNS for Advanced learner loan must not have expired at the date that learning begins
If I am correct, then:
3) 60332025 is NOT fundable, because it does not have one of the category codes 45, 46, 48 or 49.
4) 60332037 IS fundable, because
a) it does have at least one of the category codes 45, 46, 48 or 49, AND
b) the LDNS for Advanced Learner Loan is 31/07/2023.
Are there any other factors relating to the qualification?