The consolidation and review of the funding rules has resulted in noticeable changes this year. However, it is important to note that the majority of these changes are clarifications rather than significant policy changes.

While funding rule changes may seem overwhelming, we want to assure you that the impact of these rule changes is minimal this year and we are here to help. We have made necessary adjustments in Aptem to ensure your compliance with the 2023/24 funding rules. The following sections detail how Aptem can support you with these changes.

Existing Aptem functionality that supports the new rules

If the employer is not able to attend the Initial Assessment discussion or tripartite reviews, there must be evidence that they were given the opportunity to contribute and have been sent relevant information after the meeting, for review and signature.

Aptem’s review functionality allows you to include the employer in these discussions giving them the opportunity to contribute. If they are unable to attend the review, it can be sent to them for review and signature. 

Enhancements to our functionality

• In July 2023, we made a series of changes to the ILR, namely implementing the 2023/24 ILR schema, simplifying and updating learning delivery and HE entry, and adding collection requirements for community learning. The option to select the 23/24 schema for ILR batch file exports was made available well in advance of the first ILR return. 
• With the end of ESF match funding, in August 2023, we removed all references to the European Social Fund from our compliance paperwork.
• Also in August 2023, we updated the order in which compliance documents are presented to learners and employers. This allows them to sign the Apprenticeship Agreement before the Training Plan, whilst the contents of the Training Plan are being finalised.
• In the September 2023 update, we have provided customer administrators the option to delete evidence that learners have uploaded as part of their eligibility checks. This will allow admins to verify a learner's eligibility without the need to retain these sensitive documents.

Further enhancements to come

We are making progress towards some of the other changes. The following changes, while not essential to maintain compliance, are logical enhancements.

Upcoming

• We will provide an option to unlock the learning plan if the apprentice has not signed the Training Plan within the first 42 days. We note from our roundtable discussions that not all providers desire this level of flexibility, so this will be an option that you can choose to enable. 
• We will be adding an 'active learning' reason to the Break in Learning (BiL) tracker. Reporting on these breaks will allow you to identify issues with your processes and improve them to reduce the impact of BiLs.

Considering  

• Currently, the ESFA has not published a new Training Plan template. Our current Training Plan is compliant, and you can customise it with enhanced text. 
• We are considering active learning monitoring tools to provide an early warning to intervene before a learner has to go onto a BiL. 

We hope this overview enables you to plan for the changes associated with the 2023/24 funding rules. If you have any questions please speak to your Customer Success Manager.