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Hi Ruth, This is what we do:
1) we input as a default date at enrolment (or use the same date as the overall programme) and then amend to their actual start/end dates once we know what they are.
2) If they don’t undertake WEX at all we make them a non starter and remove the planned hours for WeX.
3) If they start WEX but drop out in the qualifying period we change their planned hours to represent the hours they have completed to date.
i hope this helps. Kelly.
Thank Kelly Knights, that's useful 😊 1 is basically what we do, and it's nice to know I'm not doing something weird.
My gut feel is to reduce the placement hours, but they very specifically say planned hours, so I'm not sure we should.
Separately, we have a complex issue with WEX and EEP. If a class of 20 are all supposed to do WEX, and all 20 complete the programme but only 19 do the placement, I keep the WEX EEP hours for the one (even though we don't report the aim in the ILR), as it clearly was the plan for them all to do it, but we know things don't always go to plan. Auditors have said that's fine. If only 2 out of 20 do a placement, we do remove the EEP for the other 18 if they don't do some alternative activity. This feels odd, but I can't see another option. Auditors will check, and we can't justify planned hours when there evidently wasn't a realistic plan. Where we draw the line on that is always a challenge.
From experience of being audited on SP you cant keep the hours unless the placement goes ahead or you have sufficient employer evidence to prove it was planned but for some reason didn't, or you can show that other EEP activities make up the planned WEX hours. It is as an add onto the overall programme hours.
If they haven't gone onto the placement we remove the hours completely and revise the plan to remove the aim to avoid the audit risk.
Thanks Chris Roberts 😊 That's really useful advice.
I'm still not sure what to do with the aim record for a partially completed Industry Placement. Withdrawal or Fail? Does it really matter?
I cant comment on industry placements but for WEX we class the placement as achieved if the learner has attended more than 75% of the sessions, and the employer completes a satisfactory mid point and sign off review. We then create a non accredited cert with the completion date as the last date of attendance for the WEX aim for audit.
Placements don't contribute to the QAR stats anyway but they will probably contribute to future funding allocations?
Might be something in this guidance...
Industry placements capacity and delivery fund 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Ruth Canham-James
Closing Work Placement Records and Accompanying Enrolments
Created
Can I just get some opinions on how you close your placement records and accompanying enrolments? I don't find the guidance very clear.
If they don't do the placement at all, obviously no placement entity and take the enrolment out of the ILR altogether. That goes for Industry Placements (IP) and Work Experience (WEX).
If they complete the planned IP or WEX, just close the Placement with an end date. Close the Enrolment as completed and achieved. Do you update the Start Date and Planned End Date of the placement to match the placement record(s)? You can never guess at the start of the year so whatever is on the Learning Agreement is meaningless. Obviously Actual End Date is the end of the last placement.
What if they partially complete the placement?
If it's just WEX, I'd say still close and complete and achieve as the hours on the WEX and EEP on the Enrolment are only planned. If you wouldn't do that, what's your pass criteria for a WEX enrolment?
If it's an IP, obviously that's "not completed" in the portal, but what about the ILR? We do need to record that they did spend time on the IP, so just close the IP as usual. Again, the hours on there are planned, so I'd say don't change them? What about the enrolment? My thoughts are to withdraw with the end date of the placement, or should it be a fail?