Important – January performance management review point

The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) is reviewing its criteria for growth awards. They'll tell providers the outcome of the review point by the week starting 13 February. Some of you may be eligible for this.

If you qualify for the growth award, please send a digitally signed version of your revised contract to ESFA as soon as you can. This means we'll be notified of the increase as soon as possible.

Learning Provider Portal training for beginners

We'll be running a series of online training events for beginners in February. These are aimed at new providers and staff new to managing Advanced Learner Loans.

The training will cover business to business processes and the Learning Provider Portal. It will also focus on the administration of loans, financial reporting and best practice to help you achieve the service standards.

We sent out invitations to register earlier today, so please check your inbox for further details.

Academic staff workshops

Following feedback from the seminars at the end of last year, we'll be offering an online workshop for your academic staff.

This will cover service standard requirements, the impact of non-compliance and sharing examples of good practice. The aim is to help your academic staff understand the importance of their role in ensuring that your organisation is compliant.

If you'd like to arrange a session, please let your FE Account Manager know.

February fixed quarter

The February fixed quarter drawdown deadline is Thursday 9 February.

You need to submit attendance confirmations by this date to ensure payment on Wednesday 15 February. This will allow us to release payments for learners who have a positive attendance confirmation.

If you miss the drawdown date, payment will be made the following month.

You should also submit confirmations of non-attendance and notifications of any change of circumstances as soon as you can. This is to ensure that learners are entering repayment at the correct time and their funding is in line with their true entitlement.

Please see our payment and drawdown calendar for all confirmation, drawdown and payment dates.

There is more information about confirming attendance in the Learning Provider Portal user guide.