Welcome What is the ILR? Please ensure that you have the volume turned on so that you can hear the commentary.

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WelcomeWhat is the ILR?

Please ensure that you have the volume turned on so that you can hear the commentary.Hello Im Chris Kelland from the Skills Funding Agency. Were often asked if there is an easy guide to the ILR.Something for people who work in the Further Education sector and hear about the ILR, but dont really know what it is. Well, ILR is short for the Individualised Learner Record. Essentially, it is a set of data that is collected in a standard format about each learner in the FE system. I'll tell you briefly what sort of data is collected, explain why it is so important to the FE sector and point you to further help and guidance. 1The individualised learner record data is a collection of information about learners and their learning.

What is ILR data?

The ILR is not a single paper based form that gets signed, input into a computer and then filed. It is an ongoing collection of information about each learner and their learning journey. It is a record of the learners status when they first enrol at the provider, what learning they do, whether they successfully complete the course and whether they then progress on to further learning or move into employment. 2Most ILR data is information that providers would record as part of their own business processes

Information about the learner and their learning: Learner name, date of birth, contact details etc. Learning courses or learning aims, start date, planned end date etc.

Information is updated in year and again when the learning endsWhat is collected?

The vast majority of ILR data is information that colleges and training organisations would record as part of their own business processes. For instance, at the start of their learning, there are various bits of data collected about the learner such as their name, their date of birth, their contact details and so on. There is also information collected about what learning they plan to do. What course is it, when does it start and when do they plan to finish. Some additional data may be needed for specific types of learners. So for Apprenticeships information about the Apprentices employer is needed, whereas for young people doing A-levels at a college, the Education Funding Agency needs to know how many hours of teaching are planned for the learner that year so that they can calculate what funding is due. Most of this information will be recorded in a learning agreement between the learning provider and the learner. If there is a change in circumstances, say because the learner changes course, then the provider would update their learning agreement with the learner and also pass on that update to the funding agencies through their next ILR data return. 3For learning providers It is used to calculate the government funding earnedFor the Skills Funding Agency, EFA, Ofsted and other government departmentsTo ensure effective use of public moneyTo monitor quality, and performanceTo monitor equality and diversityTo show what impact skills funding has on learners and the economyTo support future planning

Why is ILR data important?

The ILR is vital for colleges and training organisations in the Further Education sector, because it is used to calculate the government funding that they have earned for the training they have delivered.From the governments point of view, this data collection is an auditable record of what public funds have been claimed and for what purpose. Each year the government tells the Skills Funding Agency what the priorities are for that year. Recently the priority has been Apprenticeships and so the Agency will collate all of the ILR data and monitor how well it is meeting the governments priorities and take action if necessary. As well as funding, the ILR is used to generate national statistics and to provide information for future learners through websites such as FE Choices. This lets future learners see what proportion of learners successfully complete courses at various training providers performed. Ofsted also uses ILR data to give an indication of how well organisations are performing. They can compare providers against national averages or even against other similar learning providers. ILR data provides a rich source of information for those looking at local planning, so local enterprise partnerships can see what skills training is going on in their area, identify any skills gaps and commission future courses that will meet local needs.

4Collated and sent on a regular basis to the SFA

What happens to ILR data?

Providers generate an ILR file that includes data for all of their learners and send that electronically to the Skills Funding Agency on a regular basis. There is a collection timetable that sets out which types of learning providers have to return data and when. Most providers will send ILR files in monthly, but some will just return data on a quarterly basis or even less frequently than that. When ILR data is received, it goes through some checks to make sure that the data is of a good quality and comes from a provider with a funding contract. Once a file passes these validation checks, there is an automated funding system that looks at the data and calculates how much funding has been earned. For some providers this will directly calculate their monthly funding payments. After each data collection, the Agency gives funding reports back to learning providers so that they can see what funding they have received and what the funding was for. It is vital that the data returned is correct. Providers are audited to make sure that the data they are submitting is accurate and to check that the learners were eligible for funding. Any discrepancies may lead to providers having to return public money. 5For the ILR specification and Provider Support Manual:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/individualised-learner-record-ilr

For feconnect: http://www.forums.theia.org.uk

Email: [email protected] to go for more information?

This has been a very high level view of the ILR, there is far more detail available. There are a few of key links on this slide. If you are involved in capturing or returning ILR data, then it is well worth reading our Provider Support Manual. This tells you more about each of the types of agency funding and the data that is required for each. It also explains how to record various scenarios in the ILR, such as what to do if a learner moves from one course to another. There is an ILR specification that covers in detail all the data collected in the ILR and how it should be recorded and coded. The main audience for the specification is MI managers who are responsible for returning ILR data and for software writers who produce MI systems for learning providers.We also run an online forum, called feconnect, for those working with data in the FE sector. It is a great place to go for peer support. I hope this has been useful. If you have any questions or comments, you can contact me and my colleagues at the email address shown. 6www.gov.uk/sfa