Every month, sector audit specialists RSM (they do provider audits for the ESFA) issue a top tip aimed to help providers manage their delivery programmes efficiently. This is based on RSM’s collected experience of auditing providers for the ESFA and conducting mock audits at providers’ request. Karl Bentley writes:
‘This tip is all about two year study programmes and what to do with learners who are 19 on 31 August of the second year. It’s a simple one, they’re still on a study programme so all aims are funded via the study programme. If they start an aim in the second year and they’re 19 at start it cannot be funded via AEB as they’re already on a continuing programme, which is funded as a study programme. Please don’t fund those maths and English resits or anything else the learner wants to do as AEB, the ESFA view this as circumventing the study programme hours and results in double funding‘.