The Offer
We expect to see a curriculum offer that engages the full demographic of residents. In 2018/19 it was found that 73% of participant in CL were female, and only 6% of participants were under the age of 25 despite the stubbornly high youth unemployment rate across the region. As part of the community planning approach CL providers should consider their curriculum intent and its relevance related demographic challenges including age, ethnicity and gender.
It is key that CL offers the building blocks for individuals to improve their own personal health and well-being, before progressing into more formal learning to secure future work. Therefore, CL providers should be clear on the curriculum it establishes for Education for Wellbeing and Education for Work.
In taking forward recent recommendations from the joint WMCA and Adult Community Learning Alliance (ACLA), we will establish a community learning planning approach aggregated to a local authority area level to avoid duplication. We will also implement an outcomes framework agreed with ACLA as part of the community learning planning approach.
In the community learning plan community learning providers will set out their community strategy for the year which will include the following:
- Key local community objectives
- Demographic of target residents
- Delivery locations
- Curriculum intent
- Impact and Outcomes
- Changes to delivery
- Collaboration
- Cost of funding the plan
As part of our joint work with ACLA we have also established an outcomes framework to enable our community learning providers to track and report impact of community learning delivery. The elements that will be captured in the outcome’s framework include:
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Improved health and well being
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Increased integration
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Prepared towards employment
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Improved citizenship
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Improved confidence and resilience
- Developed key life skills
The WMCA also expects that community learning provision will focus on people who are disadvantaged and least likely to participate, including in rural areas and people on low incomes with low skills, and across the WMCA priority groups including young people.
Community learning providers should collect fee income from people who can afford to pay, and use where possible to extend provision to those who cannot
Provision should also widen participation and transform people’s destinies by supporting progression relevant to personal circumstances
- improved confidence and willingness to engage in learning
- acquisition of skills preparing people for training, employment or self-employment
- improved digital, financial literacy and/or communication skills
- parents/carers better equipped to support and encourage their children’s learning
- improved/maintained health and/or social well-being
We also want to see a continued focus on developing stronger communities, with more self- sufficient, connected and proactive citizens, leading to:
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increased volunteering, civic engagement and social integration
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reduced costs on welfare, health and anti-social behaviour
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increased online learning and self-organised learning
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the lives of our most troubled families being turned around
Through collaborative networks, we expect community learning to be able to commission, deliver and support learning in ways that contribute directly to these objectives, including:
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bringing together people from different backgrounds, cultures and income groups, including people who can/cannot afford to pay
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using effective local partnerships to bring together key providers and relevant local agencies and services
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devolving planning and accountability to neighbourhood/parish level, with local people involved in decisions about the learning offer
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involving volunteers and Voluntary and Community Sector groups, shifting long term, ‘blocked’ classes into learning clubs, growing self-organised learning groups, and encouraging employers to support informal learning in the workplace
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supporting the wide use of online information and learning resources
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minimising overheads, bureaucracy and administration
Data and Funding
Community Learning Courses are delivered and reported on the ILR under the following four delivery strands:
Personal and Community Development Learning - learning for personal and community development, cultural enrichment, intellectual or creative stimulation and for enjoyment (in most cases not leading to a formal qualification)
‘Family English, Maths and Language’ - learning to improve the English, language and maths skills of parents, carers or guardians and their ability to help their children
Wider Family Learning - learning to help different generations of family members to learn together how to support their children’s learning
Neighbourhood Learning in Deprived Communities - supports local voluntary and other third sector organisations to develop their capacity to deliver learning opportunities for the residents of disadvantaged neighbourhoods
Please note, non-formula Community Learning funding follows funding model 10. Provider must ensure that they collect data through the ILR for paragraphs 173 to 176.
Non-formula community learning funding
Where applicable, your WMCA-funded AEB allocation will include an amount of non-formula community learning funding. We state this value in appendix 1 of your contract. You must deliver non-formula funded community learning provision in line with the community learning objectives set out from paragraph 192, up to this maximum amount.
Non-formula community learning funding is paid on a monthly profile. You must ‘attribute costs’ for eligible residents, up to the value of your non-formula community learning allocation. This should include the cost of delivering learning and any support costs, in line with resident and learning support, paragraphs 157 to 171. You must record these costs in the resident’s learning plan.
If we fund you through a grant or financial memorandum, you have the flexibility to use all, or some, of your non-formula community learning funding in line with the AEB formula-funded methodology (funding model 35), to meet local demand.
If you use all, or some of your non-formula community learning funding to deliver formula funded non-regulated provision that may be similar to community learning, you must:
- Provide a rationale to the WMCA on why this is the case
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follow the WMCA funded AEB formula-funded methodology and submit ILR data under funding model 35
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337.3. enrol residents following WMCA funded AEB eligibility requirements, you must not use your non- formula community learning local fee remission policy.
If we fund your organisation through a contract for services, you do not have this flexibility, and we will reclaim unspent non-formula community learning funding at year-end.
You can support residents aged under 19 if they meet both of the following. They are:
- a parent, carer or guardian attending a wider family learning or family, English, maths or language course
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funded through non-formula community learning using funding model 10 in the funding model field (refer to ILR guidance for more information)
You must not use non-formula community learning funding for learning that is eligible for funding through an advanced resident loan.
Pound Plus and local fee remission policy
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Pound Plus - the ‘Pound’ represents the public pound, the ‘Plus’ is everything else that you can generate in addition to your non-formula community learning funding allocation, such as fee income, funding from other sources, resources in kind and other sources of revenue / sponsorship / volunteering.
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You must have in place a ‘Pound Plus’ policy. You must invest Pound Plus fee income / savings for the people who most need, and can least afford, community learning provision.
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Local fee remission policy - you must have in place and operate a fair and transparent community learning local fee remission policy that requires individuals to pay a course / tuition / joining fee, but also sets out clear eligibility criteria for those individuals who, due to their circumstances, qualify for either partial or total fee remission.
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Your Pound Plus and Local Fee remission polices must be available on your website and/or in the venues you deliver community learning to eligible residents.
Partnership working
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Partnership working underpins the community learning objectives and is critical to developing and delivering an effective community learning offer in a given locality.
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You must engage and work closely with a wide range of relevant partners and stakeholders in your local area to help shape your community learning offer to engage specific groups. These could include specialist partners, such as health, Jobcentre Plus and schools, and voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations.
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We expect you to work with other providers in your local area, who may be in receipt of non-formula community funding to support progression. We expect you to develop a strategic, efficient community learning offer to reduce duplication of courses in a locality, and signpost residents to other partners as and when appropriate.