Eleanor Piper commented, 11 October 2023 09:40

@... ours has worked intermittently but this is certainly not the first time it has been unusable. Henry Wish thanks for the update.  I am sure you will be well aware of how time critical this is for us all, and the importance of being able to submit early in order to find and resolve any DLOCKs before the deadline.

1. Online PDSAT - uploads failing

@... ours has worked intermittently but this is certainly not the first time it has been unusable. Henry Wish thanks for the update.  I am sure you will be well aware of how time critical this is f...

Eleanor Piper commented, 10 August 2023 13:16

Hi, just resurrecting this thread as I know the rules have been tightened up this year. We have a learner who is an EU citizen with pre-settled (not settled) status.  Running a right to work check on gov.uk tells me that they have the right to work in the UK until January 2026, which is not long enough for them to complete our 42 month programme. The wording of the funding rules has changed slightly from what Steve quotes above but seems to have the same meaning: 290. Any individual, or relevant family member, who has applied for an extension or variation of their current immigration permission in the UK is still treated as if they have that leave. Keeping this permission applies as long as the application was made before their current permission expired. Their leave continues until the Home Office make a decision on their immigration application. 291. An individual, or relevant family member, is considered to still have the immigration permission that they held when they made their application for an extension. Their eligibility would be based upon this status. The Home Office advice on pre-settled status is this Switching from pre-settled to settled status You can switch to settled status as soon as you’ve had 5 years’ continuous residence, or sooner if you’re eligible before 5 years. The 5 years is counted from the day you started your continuous residence, not the day you were granted pre-settled status. If you do not switch to settled status, your pre-settled status will be extended by 2 years shortly before it’s due to expire. The Home Office may cancel this extension if they think you no longer meet the requirements for it. This suggests to me that he should be eligible for either settled status or an extension of his pre-settled status when January 2026 comes around, so he should be able to start his apprenticeship. How do you read this?   I HATE having to be an immigration law specialist as well as doing my day job!

1. Settled Status

Hi, just resurrecting this thread as I know the rules have been tightened up this year. We have a learner who is an EU citizen with pre-settled (not settled) status.  Running a right to work check ...

Eleanor Piper commented, 06 July 2023 13:40

Thanks Ben.  Earlier neither I nor the As Support could see the ILR mismatches, although I had had the DLOCKs in my data match report. They're showing now so I wonder if this was related to the other gremlins which seem to be affected SLD today.

1. DLOCK_07 - change in TNP for employer-provider apprentice

Thanks Ben.  Earlier neither I nor the As Support could see the ILR mismatches, although I had had the DLOCKs in my data match report. They're showing now so I wonder if this was related to the oth...

Eleanor Piper commented, 22 June 2023 14:25

I'm going to admit I am confused here. At the beginning of the apprenticeship, we set a planned practical end date.  This is the same across the Apprenticeship Agreement and the Training Plan The planned practical end date goes onto the ILR as the Learning planned end date, and the ILR Specification says that it must remain constant and should not change (https://guidance.submit-learner-data.service.gov.uk/23-24/ilr/entity/LearningDelivery/field/LearnPlanEndDate) So far it all makes sense. However, if we pass the planned practical end date and the learner is not ready for gateway, and remains on programme (assuming that a learner is simply slower that expected in completing the programme, and hasn't had a break in learning)............ As above, paragraph 54 in the new funding rules says " the provider must have evidence that the apprentice has an apprenticeship agreement with their employer, from the start of and for the actual duration of their apprenticeship. " But paragraph 56.4.3 says that "the practical period start date aligns with the learning start date in the ILR and the practical period end date aligns with the planned learning end date in the ILR" So how do we update the paperwork to reflect the learner running late and ensure that they are covered by a valid AA through to the completion of EPA, if we can't update the date in the ILR and the paperwork and the ILR need to match? What am I missing here, as it seems self-contradictory?  

1. Actual End Date on Apprenticeship Agreement 2023/24

I'm going to admit I am confused here. At the beginning of the apprenticeship, we set a planned practical end date.  This is the same across the Apprenticeship Agreement and the Training Plan The p...

Eleanor Piper commented, 09 May 2023 13:30

Getting the same error with the sampler (also my reports dashboard not working either)

1. PDSAT sampler - Failed

Getting the same error with the sampler (also my reports dashboard not working either)

Eleanor Piper commented, 30 March 2026 08:15

Has he previously been registered on the same apprenticeship with another provider? Just wondering if this might be the second payment rather than the first (you will get the second payment if he was on programme for <365 days with the previous provider, then started with you).

1. Unexpected additional payments Apps Indicative Earnings Report

Has he previously been registered on the same apprenticeship with another provider? Just wondering if this might be the second payment rather than the first (you will get the second payment if he w...

Eleanor Piper commented, 09 March 2026 11:58

If someone left and came back (e.g., after a Break) they're counted twice. Same learner, multiple prog aims. Thanks Ben James. Is there anything that would exclude an old POT from being counted as a learning aim? Dates, outcome etc? I am struggling to reconcile the number of learning aims quoted with any combination of the number of ZPROGs in my ILR files. I can get close to the number that the DfE have but not quite there.

1. Past Planned End Date AAF Checking learners

If someone left and came back (e.g., after a Break) they're counted twice. Same learner, multiple prog aims. Thanks Ben James. Is there anything that would exclude an old POT from being counted a...

Eleanor Piper commented, 09 March 2026 10:53

Morning everyone, now that the question of learners in gateway has been resolved, can anyone please advise what counts as a learning aim? If only programme aims are counted (as per posts above), why would we have more learning aims than learners  

1. Past Planned End Date AAF Checking learners

Morning everyone, now that the question of learners in gateway has been resolved, can anyone please advise what counts as a learning aim? If only programme aims are counted (as per posts above), wh...

Eleanor Piper commented, 04 February 2026 11:33

I have also raised the question of the Completion Status/Outcome with DfE, as there seems to be a clear conflict between the description on the dashboard ("it will now track the number of apprentices who are past their planned end date and have not yet reached gateway, excluding those who have completed training and are awaiting end-point assessment") and the definition which includes learners coded 1/8. I will share the response when I get it. Martin Outlaw our dashboard also seems to exclude a couple of learners who are past planned end date by more than one day but fewer than 30.

1. Past Planned End Date AAF Checking learners

I have also raised the question of the Completion Status/Outcome with DfE, as there seems to be a clear conflict between the description on the dashboard ("it will now track the number of apprentic...

Eleanor Piper commented, 10 November 2025 16:33

Ruth Canham-James the problem I have had is with the dates for the FS aim.  The start date for FS is after the PPED for the ZPROG - and therefore obviously the real planned end date for FS will be too. I don't know if I am allowed to put start and/or planned end dates for a FS aim that fall after the planned end date for the ZPROG (even if there is no actual end date yet for the ZPROG)? I was assuming that I couldn't.   Emily Fairbrother the response I got today from DfE helpdesk is as follows:  “you can record the engagement on the ILR: open FM 36 aims that relate to that with a start and planned end date matching the engagement using the restart indicator (if there is no funds left to claim then the TNP should be zero) add the functional skills aims and then that’s it.” Does that make sense to you? as I am not sure what they are saying if I am honest.

1. Apprenticeship - Functional Skills after PP end date

Ruth Canham-James the problem I have had is with the dates for the FS aim.  The start date for FS is after the PPED for the ZPROG - and therefore obviously the real planned end date for FS will be ...