Question: What should we know about the Adult education budget (AEB) and advanced learner loads bursary contract for services during the pandemic?

Answer passage (source: UK):
page_title: Guidance Maintaining education and skills training provision: further education providers
section_headers: Adult education budget (AEB) and advanced learner loans bursary contract for services
section_content: For providers funded through a contract for service for AEB and Advanced
Learner Loans Bursary, we will remove the financial year controls set out in
the funding and performance management rules for 2019 to
2020.
This means we will pay any over delivery in the August 2019 to March 2020
period by utilising the April 2020 to August 2020 period funding, up to the
full 12 month contract value. The commitment to fund delivery up to 103% of
adult skills and 110% of traineeships contract values will still apply over
the full funding year.
*[AEB]: adult education budget

Reviewer feedback on this answer:
Provides information such as payment of any over delivery.
This is an excellent answer because it describes the changes made to the AEB & Advanced Learner Loans Bursary during the pandemic, which is what the question was seeking information about. Therefore, this answers the question directly.

Reviewer ratings:
Acceptable
Excellent

Answer passage (source: UK):
page_title: Guidance Maintaining education and skills training provision: further education providers
section_headers: Adult education budget (AEB) and advanced learner loans bursary contract for services
Devolved AEB
section_content: From 1 August 2019, the AEB is apportioned between the ESFA and 6 mayoral
combined authorities (MCAs) and the Greater London Authority (GLA) and the
ESFA is no longer accountable for administering AEB in those devolved areas.
The MCA or GLA will be responsible for agreeing arrangements with their
providers in respect of devolved AEB.
[AEB]: adult education budget
  [ESFA]: Education Skills Funding Agency
  [MCAs]: mayoral combined authorities
  [GLA]: Greater London Authority

Reviewer feedback on this answer:
Context of snippet is who is and who is not responsible.
This answer is bad because it doesn't really talk about the Advanced Learner Loans Bursary, which was a part of the question. The answer talks a little bit about the AEB, but nothing relevant to what the question was asking. Therefore, this cannot be used to answer the question.

Reviewer ratings:
Acceptable
Bad

Answer passage (source: UK):
page_title: Guidance Maintaining education and skills training provision: further education providers
section_headers: Funding
In year recruitment of learners
section_content: We currently use the profile of recruitment throughout the year to determine
the lagged student numbers used in 16 to 19 allocations. For providers who
recruit learners later in the year rather than purely at the beginning of the
academic year, and whose enrolment of new learners in the summer term will
have ceased, we will determine a way to ensure this does not have an unfairly
detrimental impact on future allocations. For example, we could still apply
the current approach of identifying what proportion of student numbers were
recruited after we take the initial data return in the autumn but use full
year data from 2018/19.
Student prior attainment in English and/or maths GCSEs
Three elements within the 16 to 19 funding formula use students’ prior
attainment in English and/or maths, namely:

the condition of funding
disadvantage funding - block 2
level 3 programme maths and English payment

We anticipate that these will continue to be calculated as now following the
alternative plans that have now been published to award grades to students in
the absence of GCSE exams this summer, and so providers will still be
allocated additional funding for young people with low prior attainment in
GCSE English or maths. As further details are published for how the
replacement for exams will work, we will consider these elements in more
detail.
Funding to prepare for and deliver T levels
Allocations have been made to providers who will be delivering the first wave
of T levels in 2020 to 2021 based on planned T level student numbers. We have
already published the approach for applying a tolerance where enrolment of T
level students is below the planned number.
Due to the lagged student number approach, where the level of T level students
recruited means the tolerance would be implemented, only the numbers above the
tolerance would be converted to a full-time band 5 student. Read more about
the tolerance in the How T levels will be funded in 2020 to
2021 guidance.
We will monitor the suitability of this approach over the coming months as we
get nearer to the introduction of T levels.
Industry Placement Capacity and Delivery Fund (CDF) 2019 to 2020
The unprecedented impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) has meant that it is
currently extremely difficult for providers to continue to organise and
deliver industry placements through the Capacity and Delivery Fund (CDF).
Given these exceptional and unprecedented circumstances, providers will not be
penalised for missing specific CDF industry placement targets this academic
year. Funding will not be clawed back if providers can demonstrate how the
funding has and will continue to support your work on industry placement
delivery. We want to make sure that providers are able to maximise the
activity that they are able to carry out during this period to continue to
support the delivery of placements, and to prepare to deliver placements in
2020 to 2021. Activities we would expect to continue to go ahead:

continuing to build relationships with employers and developing engagement strategies for different industries
preparing students for placements (such as through virtual training for work programmes)
ensuring alignment between curriculum planning and industry placement provision
developing matching processes for when students can go on placements again

We will ask for evidence of this through the usual autumn CDF monitoring
process in order to minimise reporting burdens, and we will still look to claw
back funding under the usual arrangements should providers fail to demonstrate
they have continued to support the delivery of industry placements. Providers
must avoid the risk of double funding. We will seek to claw back funding
should providers furlough staff involved in these activities.
Free meals in further education
We expect further education institutions to continue to support students who
are eligible for, and usually receive, free meals in further education, or are
newly eligible, whether they are continuing to attend the provider or are
studying remotely due to coronavirus (COVID-19) related issues. Read further
guidance on free meals in further education funded institutions for 2019 to
2020.
*[CDF]: Capacity and Delivery Fund

Reviewer feedback on this answer:
Context is more of findings of studies then answering the question directly.
This is a bad answer because it doesn't relate to the financial loan programs from the question at all. It provides no helpful information to those who need to knows changes made during the pandemic to their AEB or Advanced Learner Loans Bursary.

Reviewer ratings:
Bad
Bad