EFA Funding guidance for young people 2014 to 15

Student Eligibility Guidance 2014/15 – v1

- published within Funding regulations – Section 3

- EFA Young People’s Funding Implementation Team

Funding Regulations - Section 3Relationship between fees and eligibilityWhy the EFA issues student eligibility guidanceSummary of the main paragraphs in Section 3In the final section of this presentation are some slides with Questions and Answer examples to assist in implementing the guidance.

2

Relationship between fees and eligibility

This presentation is intended to help institutions understand the student eligibility guidance (SEG) and why the sector has student eligibility rules. In particular:

• to identify who is entitled to EFA funding under the regulations;

• confirmation that all EFA funded students should not be charged tuition fees;

• includes the references to the EFA SEG rules that are included within document Funding Regulations – Section 3 with the relevant student eligibility compliance evidence in Section 6.

3

Why do we have student eligibility rules ?The rules exist, so that: some students are ineligible! Why?

• Institutions can charge full cost/overseas fees to students (only those with Home Office Tier 4 immigration status)

• Institutions are protected by the Fees and Awards Regulations when charging students overseas fees.

• Government guarantees on “free education” are honoured by institutions.

• Institutions ensure public funds are only being claimed for eligible students (increasing public pressure on this issue).

• To ensure consistency with HE provision and institutions

4

Residency eligibility - contextParagraph references:

• Paragraph 20-24• Determination of student eligibility.

• Paragraph 22• Eligibility must be determined at start but then extended

for whole programme and remain eligible for follow on programmes.

• Paragraph 23• Once a student enrolled the institution expected to take

all reasonable steps to ensure the student can complete their programme

5

Student eligibility regulationsParagraph references:

• Paragraph 25 Definition of Ordinarily resident.• Paragraph 26 Fees and Awards Regulations (the law).

EFA eligibility concessions for following students• Paragraph 27 Discretion for students not meeting 3 year

rule.• Paragraph 28 Discretion for 16-18 year old students only.• Paragraph 29 Individual students with exceptional

circumstances.

6

Supplementary student eligibility guidanceParagraph references:

• Paragraph 30 Definition of EEA• Paragraph 32

• Explanation of immigration stamp: “No Recourse to Public Funds” and why this does not affect individual student eligibility

• Paragraphs 52 -54• Advice on institution normal recruitment areas – need to

agree the recruitment area with institution normal funding body/Agency if recruiting outside expected areas

7

Student eligibility guidance

The Rules themselves

As set out in Funding regulations Section 3

8

Paragraph 26Summary of Fees and Awards Regulations (the law on eligibility)

• Summarises “Fees and Awards Regulations”• (a) Settled Status / Ordinarily Resident in UK for 3 years

(i – iv) UK and other EU nationals and children• (b) Students studying under reciprocal exchange

agreements• (c) Children of Turkish workers (any age) where lawfully

employed in UK

9

Paragraph 27Eligibility without 3 years prior residency as required by paragraph 26

• Additional student eligibility concession from Fees and Awards Regulations – where 3 year prior residency rule is NOT required.

• (a) Refugees and their spouses or children or those • with humanitarian protection (HP)• discretionary leave (DL)• exceptional leave to enter or remain (ELE/ELR)

10

Paragraph 27 (continuation from previous slide)

Eligibility without 3 years prior residency as required by paragraph 26

• (b) Recently settled status – any of below within the last 3 years

• those with indefinite leave to enter or remain• right of abode• British citizenship

11

Paragraph 28Eligibility concession for young people aged 18 or under at start of programme

• (a) Those who are accompanying/joining parents who have right of abode/leave to enter or children of diplomats.

• (b) Those who are dependants of teachers in UK on teacher- exchange schemes.

• (c) Unaccompanied British (or EEA) Citizens or those whose passports have been endorsed to show either the right of abode in UK or to show that they have no restrictions on working in the UK

• (d) Asylum seekers• (e) Those who are (including unaccompanied Asylum

Seekers) placed in the care of social Services or those in receipt of Section 4 support

12

Paragraph 29Exceptional circumstances

• Must be unique to the individual student.• Cannot be used to fund groups of students.• Not to be simply defined as students who would be

ineligible under paragraphs 26-28.• Funding body approval required for each and every student

funded under this paragraph.• This paragraph is the only one within the Funding guidance

documents where the general advice in paragraph 14 does not apply. For these very exceptional cases, Institutions should seek prior confirmation of the eligibility of any individual students from the EFA

13

Ineligible students for fundingParagraph references 33-37

• Paragraph 33 • Students must only be funded once at any one time.

• Paragraph 34• Overseas foreign students are usually ineligible for

funding as immigration status enables them to access UK education as full cost overseas students.

• Paragraph 37• Channel Islands and Isle of Man residents ineligible as

their own independent government responsible for their funding.

14

Ineligible students for fundingParagraph references 52 -58 and 22 -23

• Paragraph 52• Institutions not expected to jeopardize public reputation

through any active recruitment of students living outside England.

• Paragraph 55• Students from other parts of UK usually not eligible as

they have their own funding arrangements – Scottish, Welsh or NI students.

• Paragraphs 22 – 23• Students who do not have the legal right to reside in UK

for the full duration of their studies usually ineligible.

15

Tuition fees and other chargesThe conditions set out in paragraph 16

• Wording in paragraph 16 unchanged from previous year• a–b No tuition fees should be charged for under 19 students• c - No enrolment, registration or exam fees if reasonable

attendance when charges can be made for re-sits• d - Voluntary contributions• e - Instrumental tuition• f - 19-24 LLDD students must not be charged tuition

fees• g - Optional extras

16

Questions and Answers on Student eligibility guidanceThe following slides give examples in a Question and Answers format of student eligibility issues for which institutions may want further clarification from their funding body (including any written evidence)

17

Student funding eligibility (Q & A)The general context in replying to questions from institutions:

• The EFA advises institutions that they have the primary responsibility in determining most individual student eligibility questions and individual written consent not normally given by EFA.

• This advice is written into Funding regulations as contractual advice in paragraph 14.

• All funding auditors should be aware of the paragraph in auditing any provision on behalf of the funding agencies.

18

Student funding eligibility (Q & A - 1)Q1 A college in Lancashire is approached by a student living in Gretna Green (Scotland) seeking EFA funding to attend the college to follow an A level programme? The student states that both parents work in Lancashire and will transport him to and from college each day.

A1 The EFA guidance supports individual students being able to attend provision outside the institution normal catchment area (including the funding of individual students from Scotland and Wales). For such students the institution is expected to only approve individual students (see paragraph 14) and not groups of students. BUT it is not acceptable for the college to actively recruit in such areas and the college is not expected to be advertising in Scotland for FE students. No institution should actively recruit students living outside England (or the UK).

19

Student funding eligibility (Q - 2)

Q2 A college considers whether they can include on their ILR return a school sixth form pupil doing one part of their diploma programme at their college as the school have said they cannot fund the student as the programme is not taking place in the school?

20

Student funding eligibility (A - 2)A2 The student MUST not be entered on the college ILR as a funded EFA 16-18 student. The funding should be recorded on the school census return as that is the home establishment of the student and the college should contract with the school for the funding of the student. The college may put the student on their ILR recording that the student is otherwise funded by the EFA.

For such provision, although the school is sub-contracting its delivery they will not need to apply the full sub-contracting control regulations as the contractor is also a “directly funded” institution (that is an institution directly funded by either a LA or EFA). This is seen as collaborative provision as set out in paragraphs 92-93.

21

Student funding eligibility (Q & A - 3)Q3 Is a student aged 15, or under, eligible for post-16 EFA funding?

A3 It depends on the individual student circumstances.

• Paragraph 46

• new 14-16 funding arrangements for approved colleges

• Paragraph 47

• elective home educated students – includes those using post 16 institutions for exam purposes

• Paragraph 48

• level 3 “jumpers” – those who have jumped at least a year during pre 16 education years and achieved a full Level 2

• (answer continued on next slide)

22

Student funding eligibility (Q & A - 3)Q3 Is a student aged 15, or under, eligible for post-16 EFA funding?

A3 (answer continued from previous slide)

• Paragraph 49

• exceptional cases for institutions not approved for new funding arrangements covered in paragraph 46

• Paragraph 50

• short summer programmes for year 11 students not fundable.

23

Student funding eligibility (Q & A – 4,5)Two eligibility questions on whether 3 years prior residency needed.

Q4 Do refugees need 3 years residency to be eligible?

A4 No, anyone granted refugee status by UK Government is eligible since being so recognised regardless of length of residency in UK (Paragraph 27(a).

Q5 Do those granted British citizenship or given permanent settled status need 3 years residency before being eligible?

A5 No - paragraph 27 (b) or paragraph (28) confers student eligibility without the need for 3 years residency. The concessions in these paragraphs are intended to confer eligibility on those who fail to meet the normal 3 year under paragraph 26 BUT for whom UK Government has granted extended immigration rights to remain in UK.

24

Ineligible – foreign students (Q & A - 6)Q6 Are those with immigration permission (Home Office Tier 4 students) to reside in the UK as foreign students eligible for public funding?

A6 No. In particular for 16-19 students the following groups of 16-19 students are normally ineligible for EFA funding:

• Foreign students (HO Tier 4 students) - see paragraphs 34 and 35 - who are normally given immigration leave to study in UK as they are expected to pay the full economic cost of attending any publicly funded UK education or training institution. The fees for such students for full time courses will be very substantial and are available to education institutions as additional non-state funding.

• (continued on next slide)

25

Ineligible – foreign students (Q & A - 6)Q6 Are those with immigration permission (Home Office Tier 4 students) to reside in the UK as foreign students eligible for public funding?

A6 (answer continued from previous slide)

But dependents of Tier 4 students are treated differently for funding purposes:

• Young people resident in UK in education and/or training whilst their parents are legally and temporarily resident in UK (this includes children of Tier 4 Foreign Students) are not usually defined as a foreign student but as a dependant and are usually eligible for funding under paragraph 28.

26

Ineligible students (Q & A - 7)Q7 Are those with no legal immigration permission to reside in the UK eligible for public funding? (answer continued on next slide)

A7 No but some caveats apply to this statement:

• The EFA recognises that young people living in England who were also living here during their childhood may have certain legal rights to access education and training whilst the Home Office (HO) resolve their immigration status.

• In offering any final decisions on eligibility the EFA takes into account court decisions on when individuals are liable for deportation and the timescales for any final Home Office immigration decisions.

• The differences between students already attending programmes and those identified prior to enrolment are explained on next slide

27

Ineligible students (Q & A - 7)Q7 Are those with no legal immigration permission to reside in the UK eligible for public funding? (continued from previous slide)

A7 No but some caveats apply to this statement:

• Institutions who have recruited students whom they subsequently find have no legal right to remain in UK should consult their EFA Territorial team before making any final decision on the students eligibility. Institutions should seek to clarify the immigration permission before enrolling students where immigration permission is uncertain at enrolment time.

• Such students should be encouraged to resolve their immigration status with the Home Office at their earliest opportunity.

28

Funding eligibility by age (Q & A - 8)Q8 Are any students aged 19 on the 31 August 2014 funded by the EFA at ILR funded institutions in 2014/15?

A8 No – the general answer - but following two exceptions:

• those students aged 19-24 with a Section 139A Learning Difficulty Assessment or a Education Health and Care Plan and for whom the EFA has agreed funding;

• Students completing learning programmes in sixth form colleges started whilst they were aged under 19 at the start of their first year of study (these appear on Row D of the Funding Claim Report but are only recognised for EFA funding purposes at sixth form colleges).

• All questions on the funding rate for students attending Skills Funding Agency (SFA) funded provision should be addressed to the SFA.

29

Student funding eligibility (Q & A - 9)Q9 Can a year 11 student be recruited in the same funding year by a post 16 institution?

A9 The guidance on year 11 student recruitment for summer programmes as they complete year 11 is in Funding Regulations Section 3 paragraphs 50 to 51. This confirms that the EFA will not count year 11 students for future lagged 16-19 funding purposes where the study is in the same teaching year as their year 11 school attendance.

(answer continued on next slide)

30

Student funding eligibility (Q & A - 9)Q9 Can a year 11 student be recruited in the same funding year by a post 16 institution?

A9 (answer continued from previous slide)

Paragraph 43 confirms young people can legally leave school from the last Friday in June as a completion date for year 11.

Paragraph 44 confirms that such students are counted for Government statistical purposes for the year as part of the year 11 group and should NOT usually be part of the post 16 cohort of students for the same year.

Paragraph 49 allows for the small scale recruitment of students who enter the UK for the first time during the normal year 11 school education group.

31

Student enrolment forms (Q & A - 10)Q10 Do the EFA accept electronically signed learning agreements (unsigned learning agreements/enrolment forms are an issue when found in any funding audit) as providing appropriate funding audit evidence?

A10 Institutions usually expect students to sign a learning agreement/ enrolment form when first attending their programme (legal, health and safety and data protection reasons). The EFA accept electronic signatures where this has been obtained on institution premises – see paragraph 126.

Students attending institution premises for their actual programmes usually provide all necessary funding audit evidence of existence through registers – which may be electronic or written. The EFA have issued combined detailed requirements on learning agreements and/or enrolment forms in paragraph 127.

32

EFA Funding guidance for young people 2014 to 15

Student Eligibility Guidance 2014/15 – v1

- published within Funding regulations – Section 3

- EFA Young People’s Funding Implementation Team