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Hi Samantha McCarthy You dont need a formal diagnosis to claim LSF. Our coaches do an Initial Assessment at the beginning of the learners journey to gauge previous issues at school, further education, work etc. (We can start claiming at any point even if we dont at the beginning of their apprenticeship) The learner may not be aware at all they have an ALN or may not want to share this due to feeling vulnerable. We have created a document to break down these barriers, put our learners at ease and let them know that extra practical support is available with whatever tools they need or extra time/visits etc.
I think the key thing is evidence logged of extra support given each time we claim, so our coaches log this extra support, and we do a monthly check before sending the ILR for any new claims or ones we 'switch off' for that month (where there is no evidence logged).
I believe you only have to actually review this every 3 months but we choose to do this monthly to keep a good handle on it and not make any claims that may end in a claw back.
HTH :)
Sam
My understanding is that if the initial assessment highlights that the learner may need LSF then a further assessment needs to be carried out to determine what support is needed, a plan then needs to be agreed & signed by the learner prior to claiming & a monthly log of actual delivery. Any LS should only be in relation to the apprenticeship? Please tell me if I'm wrong or add to this Steve Hewitt. Thanks
That sounds about right Christine. I'm not certain about the "signed by the learner" bit being necessary? But yes, the three steps are:
1. identify the need
2. plan the support required to meet the need
3. evidence that the support has been delivered (and has cost you money over and above what it's costing you to deliver to other learners)
Samantha McCarthy
Learning Support Funding - when can you claim
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Hi,
At the moment, we currently only claim LSF once a learner has been diagnosed through cognassist and a support plan has been set up and in place. However, my manager has asked if we can start claiming earlier than this.
As part of the learner's initial assessment, we send them a Learning Support Needs form which has 4 pages of questions with answers of 'Yes' 'No' or 'Not Sure'. The tutor will then go through this and decide whether this learner needs to go through to cognassist to get a formal diagnosis/ support in place. However, my manager is asking if we can claim at this point from the Initial Assessment. Does anyone know for sure if we can do this? From reading the guidance I'm leaning towards no but she is reading it differently to me!
Many thanks for your help in advance.