HEFCE Circular 14/96
Continuing Vocational Education (CVE) Development Funding: Monitoring of 1995-96 Academic Year
To Heads of HEFCE-funded Institutions
Heads of DENI-funded Universities
Of interest to those responsible for Planning; Student Data
Reference 14/96
Publication Date September 1996
Response by by 22 November 1996
Enquiries to Kate Nickols (0117 931 7311)
email k.nickols@hefce
Executive Summary
1. Institutions that received Council funds in 1995-96 to develop Continuing Vocational Education (CVE) are required to return a report on their progress during the year. This circular gives broad guidance on the structure of the progress report.
2. These reports, supplemented by relevant data from HESA records, will inform the Council's decisions about allocations for 1997-98.
3. Reports should reach the Council by 22 November 1996. Confirmed allocations for 1997-98 will be included in the recurrent grant announcement for that year.
Background
4. CVE is activity which contributes to updating employment-related skills and knowledge. The Council's funding for CVE aims to support the development of such activities, with a view to making them sustainable in the longer term. An extract from the original invitation to bid, setting out the objectives and scope of funding in more detail, is at Annex A.
5. Institutions submitted plans for a portfolio of CVE activity for a four-year period (1995-96 to 1998-99). The plans informed the Council's funding decisions, which were announced in Circular 11/95 'Continuing Vocational Education (CVE) Development Funding: The Outcome'.
6. Circular 11/95 set out final allocations for 1995-96 and indicative allocations for the following three years. It explained that the Council's decisions on final allocations for 1996-97 to 1998-99 would depend on its budget, and on annual monitoring information from HESA data and reports provided by each institution. (The allocations for 1996-97 were confirmed in March 1996).
Report Structure and Content
7. CVE is diverse and there are no standard arrangements for its delivery. Institutions should evaluate their progress against the objectives and targets in their original proposal (or the revised proposal where the original was scaled down in the light of the funding awarded).
8. The report should not be longer than four sides of A4 paper. It should cover the period August 1995 to July 1996 and concentrate on the main issues, including:
The major uses of the development funding.
a. Main achievements in the reporting period, for new initiatives and established CVE activities.
b. Any areas of under-achievement against the plan, with a note of any special circumstances and modifications made for the future.
c. Key developments in any collaborative relationships.
Data on CVE Activity from HESA records
9. The HESA data on CVE activity will complement the reports, providing a wider picture. Activity can be 'flagged' as CVE in both the HESA Individualised Student Record and Non-Credit Bearing (NCB) course returns (field 52 in the individualised record and field 11 in the NCB return for 1995-96).
10. Where HESA data raises significant queries about the volume or nature of CVE activity, the Council will discuss these with individual institutions. There will be no reduction of funding from the indicative levels without prior discussion.
Timetable for Confirmation of 1997-98 Allocations
11. The confirmed 1997-98 allocations for CVE will be included in the general grant announcement for that year.
Deadline for Return of Reports
12. Reports should reach the Council by Friday 22 November 1996.
13. Returns and enquiries should be addressed to:
Ms Kate Nickols
Institutions and Programmes Division
HEFCE
Coldharbour Lane
Bristol BS16 1QD
Telephone 0117 931 7311
Email k.nickols@hefce.ac.uk
Annex A
CVE Development Funding: Objectives and Scope
An important objective for the Council is to encourage institutions to make CVE an integral part of their strategies. In particular CVE funding is aimed at:
- a. Meeting the lifetime learning needs of people at work, as identified by employers and individuals.
- b. Expanding the availability of flexible teaching, learning and accreditation for people in work.
- c. Encouraging an active role for HEIs in wealth creation and in regional and local development.
CVE is defined as activity which contributes to the updating of employment-related skills and knowledge to meet the needs of employers and employees (including the self-employed and unemployed). This may include short and long training programmes, CVE-related consultancy and research and evaluation of activity. It is intended that CVE development funds should contribute both to the quantity and the quality of CVE provision. Institutions may use such funds both for the development of new and innovative areas of activity and the re-orientation or revitalisation of existing activities. Funds are primarily to cover the initial costs associated with establishing activities, or developing existing ones, and can also be used to support the development of infrastructure. Funding is not intended to contribute to the costs of running courses once they are established.
CVE funding may support all areas of employment except postgraduate medical and dental education funded by the Department of Health, and INSET (in-service education for teachers).
Extract from Circular 28/94 'Continuing Vocational Education (CVE) Development Funding'.