There have been “a small number of common inconsistencies” between the data learning providers have submitted to the ESFA and data held by the HMRC, the Education and Skills Funding Agency has said. This included cases where apprentices were paid by businesses not listed as their employer, or where the organisation is paying apprentices that were not that listed at the beginning of their training, said the ESFA. 

The analysis is the result of a data sharing pilot between the ESFA and HMRC, supported by the Cabinet Office, and looked at information from 2018 to 2019 and was aimed at combating fraud. 

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‘Common inconsistencies’

It found that there were “a small number of common inconsistencies” between the data submitted in the individual learner record (ILR) and data held by HMRC, including apprentices that were paid by a different organisation to that submitted in the ILR as their employer.

There were also cases where HMRC data suggests the apprentice was not employed by the company identified in the ILR as their employer at the start of their apprenticeship, or the apprentice was not employed for the full duration of the apprenticeship by their employer at the start of their programme, and that the corresponding change to an apprentices employment status may not have been reported in the ILR.

The ESFA said it would write to “a small number of providers we have identified with apprentices meeting those criteria during the next six weeks”.

Association of Employment and Learning Providers chief policy officer Simon Ashworth said: “We note that ESFA are only referring to a ‘small number’ of cases but if any involve fraudulent activity, this is completely unacceptable because it undermines the whole system. Let’s remember though that this is pilot which pulls data from a number of systems and there could be a number of legitimate reasons why the data doesn’t correlate, such as employment through connected companies and outsourced payroll agencies.”