Quals 16-19 LDNS and Validity

None of the aims have had their LDNS extended beyond 31/07/23 yet. We're expecting that to be updated in the next 2 or 3 weeks though.

Exactly which ILR error are you getting on the achievements?

Hi Ruth, I've just caught up on the LDNS thread from last week actually which was really helpful regarding the 31Jul23 LDNS concern. 

The first issue is to do with a validity end date issue that we missed. Some of our learners should have finished the course by 31Aug22 but have continued into this academic year to complete it. (Due to the complex needs of our learners and covid factors for the duration of their time with us). The awarding body is looking like they will be agreeing to certificate these learners when they complete this academic year. The issue is we can't close the learning aim in this academic/funding year as the ILR makes the learner invalid as ESFA cannot fund the course this year due to the validity end date being 31Aug22.

However, regardless we still need to end the learning aim at some point and assign the outcome. If we put the dates pre Aug22, this will close the learning aim and not invalid - however the learners were not complete at that time so not quite accurate. There would also be a discrepancy with what the R06 showed.  However if we close the learning aim at the actual date the learner completed (in this academic year) then the learner becomes invalid upon submitting the ILR. So we aren't sure what is best to do and ESFA weren't particularly understanding the scenario. 

To be fair - it could be me not explaining it very well....

We are in a bit of a conundrum about it and how to sort.

Thanks Emma 

If it's a choice between not having it in the ILR at all (which leaves last year's record hanging, and is automatically a withdrawal I think?), and adding a false actual end date because you were forced to by ESFA data, I'd go with the latter, and just keep really good notes. Sometimes Awarding bodies do agree to stretch deadlines, but nobody thinks to update the validity end dates for the ILR.

Did this not also error in R06? If it did, then those rows won't have been counted in R06. Also, changing data between returns is really normal and common, as each essentially just overrides the last one for most purposes.

Thank you for your advice and guidance on this Ruth - the more we are trying to decide on a solution, the more the solution of adding the false end date to fit in with the ESFA data validity. Yes I've started a full document with all information relating to it - just in case. 

No, This didn't error in R06 oddly. It only became an error when we have had an early leaver and tried to close the aims. That's when the error showed up - in our R08 submission (we have apprenticeships so complete returns every month). Since this we've identified a few that will have this issue at the end of this academic year. 

Thanks Emma

So how will the next ILR have a discrepancy with what R06 showed? You mean that they were continuing at the time? Again, that's not unusual to be notified of a completion really late. I assume we report stuff most months as continuing, that we find out later wasn't actually continuing at the point. Nobody would notice that.

You could try going back to the service desk with the two options. Give them the exact ILR error code, and say you can only think of excluding them from the ILR leaving the records hanging in 21/22, or entering a false end date, and see what they say. There's definitely precedent for entering false data because there was physically no other option. I've had permission to do it a couple of times for other reasons.