New Learning Provider Joiner Pack

New Learning Provider Joiner Pack

Contents Contents... 2 1. Welcome and Overview... 3 1.1 How to use this document... 3 1.2 About SLC... 3 1.2.1 Overview... 3 1.2.2 24+ Advanced Learning Loans... 3 2. Getting Started... 5 2.1 The Learning Provider Portal... 5 2.2 Contract Manager... 5 2.3 Primary and Secondary Contacts... 5 3 Business Interactions... 7 3.1 Partner Services Management Team... 7 3.2 Timeline... 7 4 Learning Provider Services (LP Services)... 8 4.1 Learning Provider Portal... 8 4.1.1 Learning Provider Details... 8 4.1.2 Administer User... 8 4.1.3 Applicant Information Service... 8 5 Engagement... 11 5.1 Annual Seminars... 11 5.2 Regional Forums... 11 5.3 121 Visits... 11 5.4 LP Services Website... 12 5.5 LP Bulletins and Newsflashes... 12 6 Contact Details... 13 Partner Services Management Team... Error! Bookmark not defined. LP Operations Services... 13

1. Welcome and Overview 1.1 How to use this document This document is for Learning Providers who have recently become eligible to deliver 24+ Advanced Learning Loans and have a loans facility. It aims to outline the process and procedures Learning Providers need to follow in order to receive 24+ Advanced Learning Loans payments from the Student Loans Company (SLC). Learning Providers should refer to the document in its entirety, along with the User Guide, to ensure all set up procedures are completed in a timely and accurate manner. The User Guide can be found within the LP Services website (www.lpservices.slc.co.uk) Each Learning Provider has a Relationship Manager at the SLC, details of who this is can also be found within the LP Services website (www.lpservices.slc.co.uk). More information on the type of engagement you expect from SLC and your Relationship Manager can be found in section 5 of this document. 1.2 About SLC 1.2.1 Overview SLC is a non-profit making Government owned organisation set up in 1989 to provide loans and grants to students in universities, colleges, training organisations and employers in the UK. We work with Local Authorities in Wales, the Student Awards Agency for Scotland, the Education and Library boards in Northern Ireland, Higher Education Institutions and Learning Providers in England to provide student support in the UK. We also work with partnering organisations such as HM Revenue and Customs, the Identity and Passport Service and the Home Office. SLC are responsible for: Paying loans and grants to students Paying tuition fees to colleges and universities Paying 24+ Advanced Learning Loans to Learning Providers Work with HM Revenue and Customs to collect loan repayments Collect repayments on mortgage style loans issued before 1998 Make maintenance payments to school pupils aged over 16 in Northern Ireland and Wales Pay HE bursaries and scholarships on behalf of universities and colleges Run all the administration and processing associated with these activities 1.2.2 24+ Advanced Learning Loans SLC work together with the Skills Funding Agency (the Agency) and The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to make sure loans are available for eligible learners aged 24 or above, studying at Level 3 and 4 at approved Learning Providers in England. SLC are responsible for; Paying 24+ Advanced Learning Loan fees to Learning Providers Running the administration associated with + Advanced Learning Loans Work with HM Revenue and Customs to collect loan repayments

SLC are not responsible for; Determining eligibility of Learning Providers Determining the eligibility of learning aims, Setting maximum loan amounts for learning aims The Loans Bursary fund The above are all the responsibility of the Skills Funding Agency For more information about the policy behind 24+ Advanced Learning Loans visit the Skills Funding Agency website and review the Policy Overview and FAQ document. The URL is below; http://skillsfundingagency.bis.gov.uk/providers/programmes/24advancedlearningloans/

2. Getting Started 2.1 The Learning Provider Portal The Learning Provider Portal is an online portal that allows eligible Learning Providers to administer loans. Functionality includes; View Learning Provider data Create users and manage user details Create and manage SLC contacts View and Export learner information Apply changes to learner applications Confirm learners in attendance to allow payments to be made View financial reports For more information go to 4.1.3 LP Service, Applicant Information Service. 2.2 Contract Manager The Skills Funding Agency informs SLC when they have deemed Learning Providers eligible to deliver 24+ Advanced Learning Loans and have a loans facility. SLC received limited organisational information for eligible Learning Providers, such as name and UKPRN, as well as the details of the contract manager this is the person who is listed on the UK Register of Learning Providers. This information can be found on their website (www.ukrlp.co.uk). As the contract manager is initially the only contact SLC have for an eligible Learning Provider, they will receive a New Provider Welcome Email from SLC containing the joiner pack and asking them to nominate two lead business contacts; a primary business contact and a secondary business contact. The details of the primary and secondary contact should be added to the Microsoft Excel document (filename contact template for primary and secondary contact ) and returned to SLC within 10 working days of receiving the New Provider Welcome Email. 2.3 Primary and Secondary Contacts The primary and secondary contact should be key people with the organisation who will be responsible for managing the business to business administration functions underpinning 24+ Advanced Learning Loan. They should also be the people who will be able to roll out access to the portal within their organisation or be able to delegate this to others. These people will be SLC s contact points for communicating further information and updates in relation to the administration functions in the portal. Once the details of the primary and secondary contact have been received, SLC will create full user access to these individuals. SLC will also create them as contacts within the portal. Once the two lead business contacts have access to the Learning Provider Portal they should undertake the following actions; View and check details of the organisation o As SLC receive this information from the UK Register of Learning Providers (UKRLP) if any updates to these are required the UKRLP website must be updated. The Skills Funding Agency will then inform SLC of any updates and the portal will be updated

Set up other colleagues with access to the portal, ensuring they have the correct user roles for the tasks they are required to complete. o A list of user roles can be found in 4.1.2 LP Services, Administer User Create other key contacts, detailing those colleagues who SLC can use as a point of contact for specific queries. o A list of contact types can be found in 4.1.1 LP Services, Learning Provider Details NOTE When contacting SLC, the LP Operations Services Helpdesk will only provide information to those members of staff who are registered as a contact on the Learning Provider Portal.

3 Business Interactions 3.1 Partner Services Management Team The Partner Services Management Team manages, develops and maintains business products, services and relationships with external organisations, partners and stakeholders. They support Learning Providers who offer learning aims that attract 24+ Advanced Learning Loans. The Partner Services Management Team also, in partnership with Learning Providers, inform the design, development and roll-out of products and services, gathering feedback and ideas regarding enhancements to current services, changes to processes by operationalising policy or requests for new services. The Partner Services Management Team coordinates and gathers this feedback through; One to one business/service reviews with individual Learning Providers Communication Forums on a regional basis IT Advisory Group Learning Provider Advisory Group The Partner Services Management Team provides business to business relationship information, advice, training and guidance to institutions and communicates this via; The Partner Services Management Team page of SLC corporate website http://www.slc.co.uk/services/further-education.aspx Regular release of information bulletins via email or on the LP Services website Annual Administration Seminar Annual Regional Forums Workshops and representation at various sector conferences 3.2 Timeline 2014 2015 April/May June/July August Sept October November December January February March April May Learning Providers Produce LaFILs for prospective Learners Annual Administration Seminar attendance First 2014/15 initial attendance confirmation Addition of learner ULNs and quality assurance of learner application data using the Learning Provider Portal Fixed quarterly attendance confirmation Annual Regional Communication Forum attendance Fixed quarterly attendance confirmation Fixed quarterly attendance confirmation Ongoing activity such as initial 2 week attendance confirmations, CoCs, input of ULNs and input of non mandatory fields. Learners 2014/15 Cycle Opens Apply for 24+ Advanced Learning Loan Start 2014/15 Learning Aim from August Student Loans Company 2014/15 Learner data available Annual Administration Seminar Ongoing 121's with Learning Providers August September Ongoing monitoring of Learning Provider activity October November Annual Regional Communication Forums December January February March April Ongoing monitoring of Learning Provider activity May

4 Learning Provider Services (LP Services) 4.1 Learning Provider Portal The link to the Learning Provider Portal can be found on the Learning Provider Services Website www.lpservices.slc.co.uk (Please note that the optimum browser for the system is Chrome, however you can also use Firefox and Internet Explorer (IE) 8 & 9.) 4.1.1 Learning Provider Details When the Skills Funding Agency has deemed Learning Providers eligible to deliver 24+ Advanced Learning Loans they pass details of the organisation to SLC. These details can be found on the Learning Provider Details tab within the Learning Provider Portal. This section of the portal is split up into two areas. Learning Providers are responsible for maintaining both of these sections. Profile The Profile section holds Learning Provider Organisation details as well as contact details of the Contract Manager. If the information displayed in the live system is incorrect, providers must update details on the UK Register of Learning Providers website (www.ukrlp.co.uk) these will then be shared with SLC. For more information visit section 5 of the User Guide Contacts SLC will automatically populate the Contacts section with the nominated primary and secondary business contacts. It is important that these contact details are correct and kept up to date to allow SLC to liaise with providers effectively. All users can view these details but only a user with the User Administrator user role can create and edit contact details. For more information visit section 6 of the User Guide 4.1.2 Administer User SLC will automatically contact the nominated primary and secondary business contacts as users within the Learning Provider Portal. They will have Super User rights meaning they will have access to all areas of the portal, including the ability to create users. Only users with the User Administrator user role can view this tab and subsequently create and maintain users. For more information visit section 7 of the User Guide 4.1.3 Applicant Information Service Once a learner has submitted an application for a loan, the details of the learner s application will be visible via the Applicant Information Service. The Applicant Information Service includes the facility to view, make updates and changes to learners application details and view financial reports, access to which will depend on your user role. View Learner Information The Learner Information section of the portal provides users with visibility of learner applications. Learner application details can be viewed at both pre and post approval stages and depending on the access role, users will be able undertake the following actions:

Search and view details of learners application information Use a number of filter options to perform searches for an individual learner or for multiple learners. View individual detailed learner Information. View learner assessment history Export learner information and assessment history information for your own data management purposes Add learner ULN, which is required before providers can confirm attendance and SLC can make payments Make updates to further reference data fields if required For more information visit sections 9 to 12 of the User Guide CoC Home As part of managing learners applications via the Applicant Information Service, users will be able to make changes to learners application information if their study plans change. Only users that are a CoC Administrator can make changes but there must also be an active CoC Contact to submit changes to SLC. There are a number of changes that providers can make to a learner s application but each is either classified as Pre Liability or Post Liability. A pre liability application is one that does not have a positive attendance confirmation. An application starts as pre liability and remains as so until the Learning Provider confirms initial attendance. A post liability application is one that has received a positive attendance confirmation. Once the Learning Provider has confirmed that the initial attendance confirmation is yes the application becomes post liability. Some changes can be made both pre and post liability but others are restricted to either pre or post liability. No matter the liability of an application, a key point to remember is that, an application must be approved before a provider can submit a CoC. For more information visit section 13 of the User Guide Financials Home The Financials Home section of the Applicant Information Service provides learning providers with a view of the loan position and statement of all payments made. Financial Administrator users will be able to view this information on screen and export reports. For more information visit section 14 of the User Guide Attendance Home Attendance confirmation is the process for a Learning Provider to confirm to the Student Loan Company that a learner is engaged on their learning aim. The Provider is initially required to do this two weeks after the start of the learning aim, this is called the initial liability point, and will be the first point for attendance confirmation. The Provider is then required to confirm the learner s ongoing attendance quarterly, for the 1st of the month, for the duration of the learning aim. The quarterly attendance confirmation points will be fixed as 1st August, 1st November, 1st February and 1st May.

In the months between quarters, attendance (and therefore loan liability) will be assumed for the 1st of the month and payment will be made to the provider monthly. Please refer to Appendix D in the User Guide for the Attendance and Drawdown Calendar for more information. The learner s loan application should be at a status of approved and the application must be populated with ULN. The Provider will not be able to confirm attendance for a learner before their 24+ loan application has been approved or is missing the ULN. Attendance can, however, be confirmed when a learner does not have a verified National Insurance Number (NINO) but payment will not be made. These learners will shows as Not Progressing to in the Loan Position Report. Users with Attendance Administrator user access will be able to view, save and submit attendance confirmations for learners. For more information visit section 15 of the User Guide

5 Engagement 5.1 Annual Seminars The 24+ Advanced Learning Loan Administration Seminars are held in or around May/June. The first annual seminar was a one day event which was held in a central location. Subsequent years have seen this increase to three one day seminars held in the three SLC relationship management regions; the North, the Midlands and East Anglia and the South. This event lets SLC look back at the successes and challenges of the previous year and look to update providers with our latest plans and service design for the upcoming year. The seminar is aimed at administration and student support managers, financial managers and practitioners in Colleges, Training Organisations and Employers. Both existing and new staff from Finance, Student Services, Admissions and Welfare benefit most from attending, Technical staff also find this a useful seminar to attend. Details and presentations from the 2013 event can be found on the LP Services website at the following URL; http://www.lpservices.slc.co.uk/news-and-upcoming-events/seminars.aspx 5.2 Regional Forums The Relationship Managers run a series of communication forums once a year. Learning Providers are invited to attend the forums by their relationship manager. Due to available spaces not all organisations will be invited to attend every forum. If an organisation is not invited, providers can get in touch with their Relationship Manager to request a 121 meeting to discuss topics covered in the forum. The forums offer Learning Providers a chance to receive updates on current and future services and to provide feedback to SLC. The feedback received is used to improve and develop the services SLC offer. The forums also provide an excellent environment to share best practice with peers from neighbouring organisations and are aimed at administration and student support managers, finance managers and practitioners who are responsible for the business to business interactions between SLC and the provider. In order to ensure that the topics covered at the forums reach the correct people at institutions SLC would expect that all attendees cascade the information presented at the forums to the relevant parties at their institution. 5.3 121 Visits The Relationship Managers are available all year round to meet with providers on a 121 basis, free of charge. Relationship Managers can offer the following types of meetings; Formal presentation to staff about the end to end business process surrounding the 24+ Advanced Learning Loan product Informal presentation prompting discussion points surrounding internal business processes and procedures Detailed presentation of organisation progress and compliance including attendance, change of circumstance and finance figures Catch up if the organisation was unable to attend seminars or forums

Present as part of a wider event including consortiums etc Other bespoke meeting requests For the purposes of 24+ Advanced Learning Loans the UK is split up into 3 regions; The North Including the North East, North West, Yorkshire & Humberside and Scotland The Midlands and East Anglia Including the East Midlands, West Midlands, East Anglia, Central counties and Wales The South Including the South East, South West, London and Thames Valley Find out who the Relationship Manager is for your region at the following URL; http://www.lpservices.slc.co.uk/contact/fe-loans-product-consultants.aspx 5.4 LP Services Website The LP Services Website is designed and maintained by the Partner Services Management Team in order to deliver providers up to date information and guidance. It also provides access to the LP Portal which hosts a number of key services that support the delivery of 24+ Advanced Learning Loans. Further information on each of these services along with user guides, technical specifications and service definitions can be found on the LP Services website; http://lpservices.slc.co.uk/ The site is also regularly updated with Bulletins, Newsflashes and detailed information on forthcoming seminars and events hosted by the Student Loans Company. The link in which to access the LP Portal, where all these services are hosted can be found on the front page of the site or of the purple menu bar at any time. The LP Website is now part of the wider Student Loans Company corporate website which provides further information on all aspects of the work the Student Loans Company undertakes as well as providing links to and further information on, our various stakeholders; http://www.slc.co.uk/ 5.5 LP Bulletins and Newsflashes LP Bulletins are issued by the Partner Management Team informing institutions of any relevant announcements or forthcoming changes, these are usually issued before key launches of the LP Portal. News emails are issued on an adhoc basis as required informing providers of any important messages in between issues of the bulletin. The bulletins and newsflash are issued to nominated primary and secondary business contacts within each institution, who are asked to disseminate this within their institution as appropriate. Latest and previous copies of the bulletins can be found at the following URL; http://www.lpservices.slc.co.uk/news-and-upcoming-events/news-and-bulletins.aspx

6 Contact Details Partner Services Management Team The team acts as a primary point of contact for providers with regards to general advice, best practice, business to business queries and future developments. They can be contacted by emailing LPservices@slc.co.uk LP Operations Services The department manage the day to day running of business to business systems. The department also work with institutions regarding operational queries and issues. Should you have queries of an operations nature, please contact LP Operations Services on; 0300 100 0643 or LP_Operations_Services@slc.co.uk