Merge pull request #332 from DFE-Digital/npq-1878-eligibility-post

Npq 1878 eligibility post

app/posts/register-for-an-npq/2024-02-01-capping-funded-spaces.md

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 ---
-  title: Capping the number of funded courses 
+  title: Autumn 2024 – Capping the number of funded places 
   description: Designing processes to monitor and cap the number of funded scholarship places paid per recruitment cycle. 
   date: 2024-02-01
   related:
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ From Autumn 2024, the budget will significantly reduce and need to be managed mo
 
 ## There were some structures already in place that would help with capping  
 
-- The policy team were working on funding eligibility changes. These changes would help to align the level of demand for funded spaces with the number of spaces available. 
+- The policy team were working on funding eligibility changes. These changes would help to align the level of demand for funded places with the number of places available. 
 
 - Contracts define the target number of participants – per provider, per NPQ. 
 
@@ -92,9 +92,11 @@ These are now being worked through with all teams and providers involved.
 
 - Finance statements updated to look at the funded-space field, rather than funding eligibility to ensure payments are only made to those with a funded space. 
 
+- Ensuring there were no registrations created under previous eligibility rules and where the person had not started the course. This was to ensure they wouldn't be given a funded space if they were now not eligible for funding. To prevent this we expired these registrations before reopening the service. 
+
 - Ways to communicate capping to participants.
 
-![A diagram showing the different actions of NPQ participants, lead providers and DfE throughout a recruitment cycle. Highlighted are the parts that are changing for Autumn 2024, in order to deliver capped numbers of funded spaces.](/register-for-an-npq/capping-funded-spaces/option1-first-digital-changes.png)
+![A diagram showing the different actions of NPQ participants, lead providers and DfE throughout a recruitment cycle. Highlighted are the parts that are changing for Autumn 2024, in order to deliver capped numbers of funded places.](/register-for-an-npq/capping-funded-spaces/option1-first-digital-changes.png)
 
 ## Changes made to the registration service 
 
@@ -114,7 +116,7 @@ These are now being worked through with all teams and providers involved.
 
 - Capped numbers are not kept to, meaning a more rigid cap is needed. For example, through the API or in financial statements.  
 
-- Participants create multiple registrations for the same NPQ to try to get a funded space. We would need to look at better ways to communicate spaces to participants, so they can easily find a provider who has a funded space available.  
+- Participants create multiple registrations for the same NPQ to try to get a funded space. We would need to look at better ways to communicate places to participants, so they can easily find a provider who has a funded space available.  
 
 - Participants swap providers more often to get a funded space. We may need to update the manual processes currently in place.  
 

app/posts/register-for-an-npq/2024-03-30-partial-closure.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
-  title: Partial closure of the registration service 
-  description: Changes made after receiving support requests from users struggling to register for another NPQ, who have previously registered. 
+  title: Autumn 2024 – Partial closure of the registration service 
+  description: A closed state of the service where users could still access past registrations and sign up for email alerts about registration reopening. 
   date: 2024-03-30
   related:
     items:
@@ -13,45 +13,7 @@
 
 ## Background
 
-We are no longer able to provide scholarship funding for all national professional qualifications (NPQs). In response to this, policy personnel have been involved in reviewing and iterating the scholarship funding eligibility criteria for NPQ courses.  
-
-The following NPQs are still fully funded for eligible teachers and leaders working in publicly funded schools and 16 to 19 settings: 
-
-- headship 
-
-- early headship coaching offer 
-
-- leading primary maths 
-
-- special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs) 
-
-### NPQs with targeted scholarships  
-
-If you are: 
-
-- in the top 50% of schools with the highest proportion of pupils who attract pupil premium funding; 
-
-- a 16 to 19 setting identified as having high disadvantage; or 
-
-- a highly disadvantaged early years setting 
-
-The following NPQs are fully funded for eligible teachers and leaders: 
-
-- early years leadership (for the EYL NPQ only) 
-
-- executive leadership 
-
-- leading behaviour and culture 
-
-- leading literacy 
-
-- leading teacher development 
-
-- leading teaching 
-
-- senior leadership 
-
-To implement these changes, we needed to close the service on 2 April 2024 and make key updates to the NPQ Register service and gov.uk guidance. 
+We closed the service between 2 April to 1 July 2024 due to [eligibility changes](/register-for-an-npq/eligibility-changes) and to make key updates to the NPQ registration service and GOV.UK guidance. 
 
 Closing the service also gave us the opportunity to review registrations that were in the system. We asked course providers to confirm which registrations had not ‘started’ so that we can update the service. This meant that old registrations that had not started a NPQ course would not progress using the old eligibility rules. 
 

app/posts/register-for-an-npq/2024-05-10-senco-npq.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
-  title: Introducing the special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO) NPQ 
-  description: Changes made after receiving support requests from users struggling to register for another NPQ, who have previously registered. 
+  title: Autumn 2024 – Introducing the special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO) NPQ 
+  description: Addition of a new NPQ to the service, including questions specific to this course. 
   date: 2024-05-10
   related:
     items:
@@ -35,11 +35,9 @@ During this time, a review of our funding policy was in progress which meant tha
 
 We next needed to give the opportunity for our users to register for the SENCO NPQ.  
 
-Within the registration flow we introduced new SENCO-specific questions to give policy extra information on those registering for the course. Included in these additions was a new flow for users which allowed them to express an interest in completing an NPQ and sign-up for email updates for when the registration service opens. [Read more about the partially closed service](/register-for-an-npq/partial-closure/). 
+Within the registration flow we introduced new SENCO-specific questions to give policy extra information on those registering for the course. This helps DfE understand the number of people registering for the SENCO NPQ who have a statutory need to do the course (the course needs to be completed within 3 years of starting a SENCO role). This ultimately provides data to inform budget conversations. 
 
-We added a question asking when users intend to start their NPQ course (which cohort, such as ‘before November 2024’). This is to help manage registrations so that users register at the correct time. 
-
-These new features were also part of our usability testing. 
+There were other, non-SENCO specific, changes made during this time which were also part of our usability testing. Such as the [partially closed service](/register-for-an-npq/partial-closure/) and [capping funded spaces](/register-for-an-npq/capping-funded-spaces/). 
 
 #### List of changes: 
 

app/posts/register-for-an-npq/2024-07-11-reviewed-registrations.md

@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+---
+  title: Autumn 2024 – Reducing registrations that need to be manual reviewed   
+  description: To save policy time were certain registration types that could now receive their funding outcome within the service. 
+  date: 2024-07-11
+  related:
+    items:
+    - text: Lucid frame of changes made
+      href: https://lucid.app/lucidspark/e33a4231-5282-4a1f-b98d-694b4295d6cc/edit?view_items=z~2kQ7904z5N&invitationId=inv_31cc941f-c63c-4ac5-95fc-2775e26969fc 
+  tags:
+  - registration flow
+  - admin tool  
+
+---
+
+## Background
+
+There has always been some routes within the registration service that result in the user receiving an 'in review' funding outcome. This is shown when the service cannot determine if the person should be eligible or not and is then reviewed manually by the policy team. 
+
+Previously, this was the outcome for all users who selected 'other' for 'what setting do you work in?'. With the exception of 'As a lead mentor for an accredited initial teacher training (ITT) provider' which has always received an outcome in the service. 
+
+The policy team have reviewed a large number of registrations with this setting and after analysis the outcomes of those reviews were now confident to give an outcome in the service. 
+
+Around 2.25% of registrations need manually reviewing. This takes the policy team around 5 hours per week. It is estimated that by giving more funding outcomes in the servic, policy time spent reviewing would be reduced to 1 hour per week. 
+
+## Changes we made 
+
+Alongside the user-facing changes, we also made updates to the admin tool to help manage the process of reviewing easier for the policy team. 
+
+### Eligibility changes 
+
+For the question 'How are you employed?', when the users chooses: 
+
+- 'In a hospital school' or 'young offender instituation' and chooses the Maths, SENCO, headship or early headship coaching offer courses = eligible for funding. 
+
+- 'Other' = not eligible for funding any NPQ. 
+
+### Recording if a user has been referred by the return to teaching service
+
+These user are eligible for funding for all NPQ courses. 
+
+Previously, users referred by the return to teaching service would answer 'other' to 'How are you employed?' and would their registration would then be reviewed by the policy team. As that route would now receive an automatic not eligible outcome, we needed a way for these users to still be reviewed. 
+
+A new question was added after 'do you work in England?' if the user answered 'yes'. This asks, 'did a return to teaching adviser refer you to this service?'. If a user answers 'no' they continue as normal through the service. If they answer 'yes' they skip all the employment questions and are taken straight to the 'choose an NPQ' question. And receive the funding in review outcome. 
+
+![Screenshot of the new question. It reads "Did a return to teaching adviser refer you to this service?" Followed by a details component, which is closed by default "What is a return to teaching adviser? This is a one-to-one service where an adviser supports you with: finding and applying for teaching vacancies, accessing courses to enhance your subject knowledge or teaching practice". Followed by radio buttons with the options 'yes' or 'no' and lastly, a green 'continue' button.](/register-for-an-npq/2024-07-11-reviewed-registrations/referred-by-rtta.png)
+
+### Changes to help users select the correct options 
+
+Sometimes policy see that users have selected options in the flow that do not match their employment. So we made some changes to make it clearer. These included: 
+
+#### On the 'what setting do you work in?' question
+
+- New hint text under the question to deter users entering inaccurate information about their work setting in order to get a eligible for funding outcome. It was felt this could be more likely when funding places and eligibility was more restricted. 
+
+- New hint text under the 'a school' option. This was added to reduce the number of users who use the 'other' option by mistake. 
+
+- Hint text under the 'other' option has been updated to include more examples and change the order so users don't as easily see 'local authority' listed and use that option by mistake (when they should use 'a school'). 
+
+![Screenshot of the 'what setting do you work in?' question. It reads: "What setting do you work in?", then hint text "You must make sure the information you provide is correct, as your course provider will check your details.". Then radio buttons "Early years or childcare", "A school" with the hint text "This includes local authority maintained schools.", "An academy trust", "A 16 to 19 educational setting" or "Other" with the hint text "For example a virtual school, initial teacher training (ITT) provider (including ITT lead mentors), hospital school, young offender institution or other local authority setting.".](/register-for-an-npq/2024-07-11-reviewed-registrations/setting-question.png)
+
+#### On the 'how are you employed?' question
+
+The content for the 4th radio has changed from 'As a supply teacher employed by a local authority' to be more accurate about the roles this covers. 
+
+It is also hoped this change will reduce the number of users who choose this option when they are not working in a teaching role.  
+
+![Screenshot of the 'how are you employed?' question. It reads: "How are you employed?", followed by radio buttons "In a virtual school (local authority run organisations that support the education of children in care)", "In a hospital school", "In a young offender institution", "As a teacher employed by a local authority to teach in more than one school" with the hint text "This could be as a supply teacher or peripatetic teacher.", "As a lead mentor for an accredited initial teacher training (ITT) provider" or "Other".](/register-for-an-npq/2024-07-11-reviewed-registrations/how-employed-question.png)
+
+#### Employment questions 
+
+Previously, after answering the 'How are you employed?' question (and if their answer was not and ITT mentor) users were asked 'what is your role?' and 'what organisation are you employed by?'.
+
+This has now changed. If they answer: 
+
+- 'In a hospital school' or 'young offender instituation', they are only asked 'what organisation are you employed by?'. This is so their organisation can be checked against eligible lists to see if they are eligible. 
+
+- 'Other' they are not asked either question as the registration is no longer reviewed, so we don't require this information. 
+
+## Potential future changes
+
+### Emailing users with their funding outcome
+This is currently in progress. Previously, not all users were notified after their registration had been reviewed and a funding outcome was reached. We have now created templates for these emails and hope to automate the send of these soon. They would give the funding outcome and if they user is not eligible, a reason why (in the same way as the service does). 
+
+### Referred by return to teaching service question
+This question is now asked to the vast majority of people completing a registration, however the number of people this is relevant for is low. In future, we could move this question further into the flow. For example, after a user answers 'other' to 'How are you employed?' and before their funding outcome is given. 
+
+### Eligibility and employment questions
+
+We might be able to check within the service whether the organisation for someone who works in a hospital school or young offender institution is on an eligble list, and therefore give a funding outcome within the service.