On-demand webinar

Ask the Inspector: 2023/24 apprenticeship learning support funding rule changes

Name: Ask the Inspector: 2023/24 apprenticeship learning support funding rule changes
Start: 2023-07-21T00:00:00.000Z

Marina Gaze, former Deputy Director for FE and Skills at Ofsted, on the 2023/24 learning support funding changes, evidencing support, and SEND. Recorded in 2023.

Recorded · 21 July 2023

This is an older recording. Some of it is out of date: see what's still relevant and what has changed.

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Ask the Inspector: 2023/24 apprenticeship learning support funding rule changes

Speakers

Dr Louise Karwowski
Former VP Neuro-inclusion Training, Cognassist
Marina Gaze
Former Deputy Director, FE and Skills, Ofsted, Independent

Ask the Inspector: the 2023/24 funding rule changes

Dr Louise Karwowski, Director of Education at Cognassist, and Marina Gaze, former Deputy Director for FE and Skills at Ofsted, explore the learning support funding changes that came in for apprenticeships in August 2023.

What we cover

The 2023/24 learning support funding changes and what they meant for providers
Essential practice for evidencing support under the updated rules
Improving support for learners with SEND and high needs
Marina's top tips for apprenticeship providers

For the rules as they stand now, see learning support funding. The first Ask the Inspector, from 2021, is here.

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Recorded July 2023 · reviewed October 2026

What's still relevant

Why a learning support screening exercise at initial assessment is still required, and what it should lead to.
Initial assessment is still an eligible cost inside the apprenticeship price, while a further detailed assessment of individual needs is still not fundable.
Why the learner agrees the support plan in writing, and why it's shared with the employer only with their consent.
Practical advice on recording the barrier, the adjustment, its delivery and its impact, and on checking that support is working.

What's out of date

Who sets and checks the rules (from 42:11). The speakers talk about the ESFA and say it might ask to see the evidence. Now: The ESFA closed on 31 March 2025, apprenticeship funding rules are now set by DWP, and DWP and DfE may examine and investigate claims.
Monthly reviews (from 4:09). The support plan must be reviewed with the learner every month. Now: Reviews are required at least every 3 calendar months, the first one month after adjustments start, and can be light-touch where a permanent disability is stable.
Rule 29 (from 2:55). The screening requirement is described as funding rule 29 of the 2023/24 rules. Now: In the apprenticeship funding rules for August 2026 to July 2027, screening is paragraph 43 and initial assessment is paragraph 27.
The inspection framework (from 5:59). Quality of education and the three I's are presented as the lens of the inspection framework. Now: The renewed framework, in use since November 2025, grades each evaluation area separately in a report card with no overall grade, and doesn't require the three I's.
SEND and overall effectiveness (from 11:10). Provision for learners with SEND and high needs is described as always considered under overall effectiveness. Now: Inclusion is graded in its own right, and provision for learners and apprentices with high needs is graded separately.