Eligibility for WMCA residency funding
Providers must make sure an individual is eligible before claiming funding for them. It is your responsibility to check the eligibility of the resident at the start of each adult learning aim, and only claim funding for eligible residents. To be funded by the WMCA, residents must meet the following criteria:
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On the first day of learning, a resident must be: Aged 19 or older on 31 August within the 2021 to 2022 funding year and reside in a residence with a WMCA postcode and meets the conditions of funding set out eligibility sections
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The WMCA recognises that a resident (from outside) the WMCA who is unaware of the funding changes due to devolution of the AEB may wish to undertake learning in the WMCA. Most grant providers will have an AEB allocation from the ESFA for non-devolved areas. Where a grant provider does not have an ESFA allocation then we will discuss directly with the provider if this can be supported. We expect these cases to be minimal but will keep this under review and seek feedback from you during the year.
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Residents residing in residences that do not have an eligible WMCA postcode will not be funded by the WMCA. They will be funded via the relevant Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA), Greater London Authority (GLA) or ESFA. It is the provider’s responsibility to ensure that the relevant funding is secured from the relevant funding body in 2020/21 for their residents. The ESFA post code checker can be found here.
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The age of the resident on 31 August in the funding year determines whether the resident is funded through the WMCA’s AEB methodology. Residents aged 18 or below, or residents aged 19-24 with an Education Health Care Plan, will continue to be funded by the ESFA’s young people’s funding methodology.
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All individuals aged 19 or over on 31 August 2021 who are continuing a programme they began aged 16 to 18 (‘19+ continuers’) will continue to be funded by the ESFA’s young people’s funding methodology.
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Where the WMCA refers to a resident’s age being 19, this relates to the resident being aged 19 on the 31 August within the funding year they start a learning aim. For all other purposes, the age of the resident is taken at the start of each learning aim.
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Residents will be eligible for funding for the whole of the learning aim or learning programme if they are eligible for funding at the start, even if the duration is for over one year. You must reassess the resident’s eligibility for funding for any further learning they start.
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If an individual starts a learning aim or programme and is not eligible for funding,WMCA will not fund their learning while they remain ineligible.
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You must not fund a resident who is unable to complete a learning aim in the time they have available. Any adult resident aged 19 or over must be able to achieve the learning aim or learning programme within the time they have available.
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Where we refer to the Employment Status of the learner, this relates to the learner's status on the day they begin their programme of learning.
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You must not fund a learner who is unable to complete a learning aim in the time they have available. Any learner, of any age, must be able to achieve the learning aim or programme within the time they have available.
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Providers must make sure an individual is eligible before claiming funding for them.