Advanced Learner Loan bulletin - October 2024

Home Office Data Sharing

Home Office Data Sharing (HODS) is now live. This is a major step to improve the application and assessment journey for our customers.

One of the requirements we face is the verification and assessment of customers' eligibility. This is particularly difficult for those with complex residency or immigration statuses.

The previous processes often required manual checks and the submission of additional documentation.

Using HODS, non-UK national learners and their sponsors may not need to send physical evidence to support an application.

We're now asking learners to provide a document number from their passport, ID card or Home Office biometric residency card/permit. We can still perform the validation even if the document has expired.

We expect that this will make the process easier and quicker in most cases.

November drawdown date

Active learners will re-populate on your attendance worklist from 1 November. We'll remind you of this at the beginning of the month.

You'll need to review your attendance worklist and submit all outstanding attendance confirmations by the drawdown date - Thursday 14 November. We'll then release payments for learners who have a positive attendance confirmation before Wednesday 20 November.

Please also make sure to deal with any outstanding attendance confirmations and submit initial attendances for returning learners by the drawdown date. You should also check your Change of Circumstance (CoC) worklist and clear this ahead of the drawdown date.

Change of Circumstance notifications

If you're unable to establish the status of returning learners on the attendance worklist, make sure that you coordinate with the relevant academic staff to suspend or withdraw them.

It's important to meet the service standards, as outlined below:

• You must submit 60% of suspensions and withdrawals within 60 days of notification
• You must submit 99% of suspensions and withdrawals within 90 days of notification

If you submit information late or inaccurately, this could mean that:

• you breach your obligation to adhere to the service standards
• you limit or even jeopardise your ALL funding contract (meaning no recommendation for growth awards)
• there could be an incorrect fee payment made requiring recovery
• learner loan liability and interest will be incorrect

If you have any concerns about meeting the service standards and need support from your Account Manager, please get in touch. We can also offer face-to-face or online workshops to help your academic staff understand the importance of their role. This will also ensure that your organisation is compliant. Sessions can be standalone or built into a staff development day.

October performance management review point

The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) has advised that you'll find out the outcome of the October review point on the week beginning 11 November.

If you’re awarded an increase to your loan facility, you’ll receive an updated contract. You must digitally sign this before ESFA tells us about the increase. Please do this as soon as possible.

If you return this by the stated deadline, you’ll see an increase on the Learning Provider Portal on 11 December. You can find further details in the Advanced Learner Loan funding rules guidance.

Partners Support Desk

Our Partners Support Desk is here to help you with any day to day operational questions you may have. This could be about individual learners, application processing, payments and system issues.

You can contact the support desk on 0300 100 0643 or by emailing lpservices@slc.co.uk.