LAD Website Supporting Information

The LAD supports Providers returning Individualised Learner Record (ILR) data to the Data Service. Each learning aim has a reference code, for use in ILR returns, and other associated information such as title, awarding body, classifications, funding information and information on whether that aim is valid for use in each year's ILR returns.

There are various ways to search the LAD website, and there are also various formats of downloadable files which can be used in providers' software systems and for more detailed analysis.

On the website a number of tabs display the data for each aim, with some of the most commonly viewed information grouped together on the 'Key Details' tab.

The Learning Aim Database (LAD) has recently implemented system changes to support the 2010/11 teaching year on 21 June 2010.

We will be updating this page in due course with information on the fields that are displayed on the Learning Aim Database (LAD) and details will follow shortly.

Funding/Collection

Use of this option will allow the user to, if appropriate, restrict the aims returned by the search to those aims that belong to a defined Funding Collection stream and are available to new starters. The default is “Any Aim”.

The user must select the required option button.

For Academic Year 2008/09 and 2009/10 the following options are applicable:

Any Aim
16-18 Learner Responsive (16-18 LR)
Adult Learner Responsive (ALR)
Employer Responsive (ER)
Adult Community Learning (ACL)

For Academic Year 2010/11 following options are applicable:

Any Aim
16-18 Learner Responsive (16-18 LR)
Adult Learner Responsive (ALR)
Employer Responsive Apprenticeships (ER App)
Employer Responsive Train To Gain (ER TtG)
Adult Safeguarded Learning (ASL) – Previously Adult Community Learning (ACL)

Aims Search

When using the Aims Search screen, the 'Start Date' will default to '01/08/2010' and the 'End Date' will default to '31/07/2011' for the teaching year 2010/11. These dates can be amended to reflect the period in which you are interested in for the teaching year 2010/11 onwards.

If the 'Any Aim' radio button is selected, then these fields will be disabled.

Once selecting the '16-18 LR, 'Adult LR', 'ER App', 'ER TtG', 'ASL' radio buttons the 'Start Date' and 'End Date' will become operational. If selecting teaching year 2009/10 or prior, the ‘Start Date’ & ‘End Date’ will be disabled as they are not used in the search criteria for those years.

Aims Search Results

For example, if you selected ‘Teaching Year 2010/11’, and the ‘Funding Model Collection’ radio button ‘1618 LR’ and then click on ‘Search’, you will be presented on the Aims Search Results screen with those current Learning Aims in the Funding collection for 1618 LR.

Additionally, in the column 16-18 LR, you will see the status codes against that Learning Aim for that funding relating to the dates that have been selected compared with the dates held for that funding stream to indicate the following.

A - available on that date,
N - not available for new starters on that date,
X - not available on that date,
W - will become available after that date.

(Note: The Aims Search Screen will also display information on Status Codes for other Funding Models associated with the aim)

The status codes in the 5 columns (Funding Models) displayed in the Aims Search screen reflect the ‘Status’ at the 'Start' and 'End' dates of the search range shown above.

Each ‘Status Code’ indicates that for the ‘Start date’ and ‘End date’ that you are entering what is the Status Code for that Learning Aim.

For example, if you see the following Status code below;

AA – Available on the Start Date & Available on the End date

AN - Available on the Start Date & not available for new starters for the End Date entered/selected (And maybe at some point prior to the End date).

For more information about Validity with a particular Learning Aim, select the learning aim from the Aims Search results screen and select the appropriate Funding Tab that you need more information on.

For Teaching Year 09/10 and prior, the Aims Search functionality has not changed and the ‘Aims Search Results’ screen has not changed.

Funding Status

Background

This field was labelled as 'LSC Funding Status Code' before 2010/11 (and still retains the name LSC_Funding_Status_Code in the LAD downloads).

When the Learning Aim Database (LAD) was first released, this field related to Approval under Sections 96 and 97 of the Learning and Skills Act 2000, and also to other aspects of funding from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). Approval under both sections 96 and 97 were managed by a single team at the former Department for Education and Skills (DfES).

A common misconception was that code 98 related to Section 98 of that Act; in fact the code 98 was chosen for consistency with code values in Individualised Learner Record fields, where code 98 is typically used for 'Other' or 'Unknown' values.

Changes

In April 2010, Section 97 of the Learning and Skills Act was repealed and was replaced by the Skills Funding Agency Funding Confirmation Process, and the LSC was replaced by the Skills Funding Agency and the Young People's Learning Agency (YPLA).

Funding of provision by the YPLA is still strongly linked to Approval under Section 96 of the Learning and Skills Act 2000, which relates to provision for learners who are not yet 19. This information is still shown in the Funding Status field, where code 01 relates to Approval under Section 96.

Provision confirmed for funding by the Skills Funding Agency is through the Skills Funding Agency Funding Approvals Process (further information regarding this can be on the Qualifications and Credit Framework website http://qcf.skillsfundingagency.bis.gov.uk/qcf-funding/confirmationfunding/).

There is a new Skills Funding Agency Approval Status Code field which will show the outcomes of the Skills Funding Agency approval process for Adult Learner Responsive and Train to Gain provision.

As the YPLA and the Skills Funding Agency are separate organisations with different funding policies, there may be divergence between whether provision is funded by the Skills Funding Agency and/or the YPLA. Therefore it is no longer practical to record both YPLA and Skills Funding Agency approval in a single field.

In addition to the Skills Funding Agency Approval Status Code, the new Validity Details and Funding Details, which link to the 'Tabs' in the LAD Aim Details screens, show more information on whether and when each learning aim is funded within the individual funding models.

Code 98 will continue to relate to provision which is not approved under Section 96 or Section 97 of the Learning and Skills Act 2000, and which is not an Access to Higher Education course recognised by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA). However from 2010/11, following the repeal of Section 97, this means that increasing volumes of provision will have a value of 98 in this field. The Validity and Funding details for individual funding models, and the Skills Funding Agency Approval Status fields should be used to determine whether provision is funded for learners aged 19 and over.

Approval and Accreditation Dates

There are several date fields on the "Shared" tab on the LAD website which relate to Approval and Accreditation. In the LAD download files, they are held in the All_Annual_Values table. These fields are in the Their use has changed over the years as various policies have changed.

For 2010/11, these fields are being populated as follows:

Accreditation start date - taken from Ofqual who describe it as "The first date that awarding bodies can register candidates for a qualification."

Operational centre start date - taken from Ofqual who describe it as "The date when the qualification will become operational in centres."

Accreditation end date - taken from Ofqual who describe it as "The last date on which awarding bodies can register a candidate for a qualification."

Certification end date - taken from Ofqual who describe it as "The last date on which a certificate may be issued by the awarding body."

Combined Start Date - this is called "Approval_Start_Date" in the database downloads, and relates to the start of Approval under Sections 96 and/or 97 of the Learning and Skills Act 2000.

Since April 2010, Section 97 has been repealed, so in 2010/11 data, this field only relates to Section 96 Approval. For Adult learners, the dates when qualifications are funded are held in the Validity Details sections of LAD as described above.

Combined End Date - this is called "Approval_End_Date" in the database downloads, and relates to the end of Approval under Sections 96 and/or 97 of the Learning and Skills Act 2000.

Validity heading

This table shows whether and when a particular aim is valid for use with a particular funding stream (eg. Adult Learner Responsive) and/or ILR collection (eg. ASL).

Funding heading

This table shows the funding rates and programme weightings that apply for a particular aim for a particular time period.

Current Provision

An aim reference flagged as 'current provision' is the most current code for new starters (for use in ILR data), but other codes may still be valid for use in ILR data.

This field is intended to help users to find the correct code in LAD searches, but does not affect ILR Validation rules. A code which is not current provision can still be the correct code to use in ILR data. A code may also be current but not fundable by the Skills Funding Agency or Young People's Learning Agency.

For example if a learning aim has an accreditation end date of 31 December, its 'current provision' status would be changed in the new year, but the code would still be valid for learners who started in that teaching year before 31 December. Also, that code would continue to be valid into the next teaching year for continuing learners who started before the accreditation end date.

Providers should not change learning aim codes in their ILR data solely because a code is not current.