ILR funding and monitoring data 2010-11: funding data reconciliation exercise

To:

Heads of HEFCE-funded further education colleges

Of interest to those responsible for:

Student data, Planning, Finance, Audit

Dear Principal

1. This circular letter notifies colleges of the release of the ILR funding and monitoring data 2010-11: funding data reconciliation exercise. This exercise compares the data returned to the Data Service with other data submitted to HEFCE: Higher Education in Further Education Students survey (HEIFES) and Co-Funded Employer Engagement (CFEE) return. In previous years this annual communication was called the ‘Statistics derived from ILR data for monitoring and allocation of funding’, and in 2011 was published as a numbered publication rather than a circular letter, HEFCE 2011/14. A response may be required (see paragraph 5).

2. We will write to all heads of colleges and HEIFES contacts separately, informing of the outcome of this exercise and providing them with the necessary access keys to the outputs. Further information is in paragraph 13.

3. We strongly encourage colleges to review their own outputs accompanying this exercise as it as an essential element of all colleges’ data quality processes. It will help colleges to:

• identify discrepancies between forecasts for within-year HEFCE funding returns, such as HEIFES, and the outturn position for 2010-11
• identify errors in HEFCE funding returns.

4. Our funding allocations are informed by the data provided by colleges. If we find, either through reconciliations with Data Service or other organisations’ data, or any data audit, that erroneous data have resulted in colleges receiving incorrect funding allocations, we will adjust their funding accordingly (subject to any appeals process that may apply and the availability of our funds).

5. Therefore, where discrepancies occur between HEFCE funding returns (such as HEIFES) and the outturn position for 2010-11, and these discrepancies exceed any of the selection thresholds listed in Annex A, we will request a formal response to this exercise. The response, in the form of an action plan, should explain all material differences between the funding return and its re-creation.

6. Any funding adjustments arising from the reconciliation of a re-creation from the ILR student data of 2010-11 HEIFES or CFEE data (HEIFES10 or CFEE10, respectively) are likely to affect the funding previously announced for 2010-11 and all subsequent years.

7. We have notified colleges of the release of the summaries of funding and monitoring data in HEFCE Circular letter 08/2012 ‘ILR funding and monitoring data 2010-11: funding summaries and next steps’. The 2012-13 funding summaries we made available are:

• 2012-13 widening participation (WP) allocations
• 2012-13 teaching enhancement and student success (TESS) allocation.

8. Changes to the exercise since 2009-10 are described in Annex B. Annexes are available alongside this letter at www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/year/2012/cl172012/

9. The ‘Funding data reconciliations’ area on the HEFCE web-site provides further detail regarding the reconciliation exercise (www.hefce.ac.uk/data/famd/fundingdatareconciliations/).

Action required

10. We require selected colleges to make a formal response, as detailed in paragraph 5.

ILR funding and monitoring data 2010-11 exercise outputs

11. The following outputs accompany the 2010-11 exercise:

• HEIFES10 re-creation
• CFEE10 survey re-creation.

12. The algorithms used to generate the re-creations of HEFCE funding returns (that is, HEIFES10 and CFEE10) are the same as those used for the ‘ILR funding and monitoring data: web facility’, HEFCE Circular letter 22/2011, except as detailed in Annex B.

Further information

13. Guidance is available in the funding and monitoring area of our web-site (www.hefce.ac.uk/data/famd/help/). Some areas that may be of interest are:

1. Extranet locations, deadlines and documentation, including technical information (such as algorithms and problems of fit), can be found in the ‘2010-11 funding and monitoring data overview’ (www.hefce.ac.uk/data/famd/lateststatistics/).
2. Information on how to obtain data from the HEFCE extranet can be found in the ‘How to access outputs’ guide (www.hefce.ac.uk/data/famd/help/howtoaccessoutputs/).
3. Guidance on how to submit an action plan in response to this exercise can be found in the ‘HEIFES re-creation action plan’ guide (www.hefce.ac.uk/data/famd/help/guidetoactionplans/heifesre-creationactionplan/).

14. For further information or guidance please contact Alastair Kendall (tel 0117 931 7184, e‑mail ilr_heifes_stats@hefce.ac.uk).

Yours sincerely

 

Sir Alan Langlands

Chief Executive

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