Centre News - November 2008

Train to Gain funding - latest news

ILM has welcomed the announcement by Further Education Minister Sion Simon that Level 2 qualifications on the QCF and worth at least 13 credits, should be regarded as ‘full’. This ‘fullness’ is key to funding in England where Train to Gain monies are only available for full qualifications – traditionally only NVQs.

ILM has been lobbying hard for this decision on behalf of all centres and employers who have bitterly complained that the funding rules did not allow them to choose the qualification they needed. Under the new rules an ILM Level 2 Certificate in Team Leading should be treated as a full Level 2 for funding purposes. However there is still concern that the funding will only apply ‘where SSCs (Sector Skills Councils) agree this meets their sector's skill demands’. ILM is working with the Management Standards Centre, the Standard Setting Body for leadership and management (as we do not have a SSC) to ensure that this agreement is met.

Read full details of the Minister’s statement and the follow-up information from QCA.

This news follows on from John Denham’s announcement about the willingness to fund individual units under the Train to Gain funding regime (see below). ILM is continuing to work with the LSC and others to ensure that appropriate ILM units can be funded with T2G and will keep our English centres up to date with the outcomes.

Train to Gain funding

ILM welcomes the Government’s move to repackage £350m of its Train to Gain funding to focus on staff development within SMEs. We believe this will open up opportunities for more employees to access leadership and management training and so improve business efficiency across the UK.

The announcement made by Skills Secretary, John Denham, indicates that the Government has responded to employers’ demands, particularly those from small business owners, for shorter qualifications.

The news means that funding for ILM Level 2 Team Leading and Level 3 First Line Manager units and Awards will be available to everyone, including employees who have already achieved a Level 2 qualification. In addition, firms with just 5-10 employees will be eligible to join the leadership and management programme. In today’s challenging economic climate we hope that centres will be able to take advantage of this increased opportunity.

Please read the briefing document produced by Learning Skills Council which gives the definitive guidance on the new T2G flexibility which commences 1 January 2009. (The extension of the leadership and management programme to those firms with between 5-10 employees commenced 1 November 2008.)

In the tables below we have illustrated how ILM units, which match the LSC business-critical areas, can be built up into full qualifications. For further information contact your ILM Business Manager or email us at customer@i-l-m.com.

A Level 2 Team Leading Award could include unit M2.01 ‘Developing yourself as a team leader’ (1 credit) plus two credits from:

A Level 3 Award could include unit M3.01 ‘Solving problems and making decisions’ (2 credits) plus three credits from:

Centre manual

You’ve told us you find the current format of the centre manual difficult and unwieldy. So this month we have commenced a thorough revision of the manual and we will launch a new version in the new year. In the meantime please access the latest version (version 9) . Please share with colleagues and remember to update all your old copies.

New qualifications

We have launched four new qualifications this autumn.

• Level 3 Award, Certificate and Diploma in Facilities Management
• Level 2 Award in Mentoring for Young Learners

The facilities management qualifications are ideal for learners seeking to develop specialist facilities management skills alongside a solid range of management skills. And the Award in Mentoring aims to develop basic mentoring skills for young learners – an ideal step to gaining specialised skills within a supervised environment.

ILM learner of the year 2009

The ILM learner of the year award celebrates an outstanding learner who has excelled in their chosen qualification, inspired others, or achieved success for their organisation as a result of taking an ILM programme. Centres can nominate individuals who have completed an ILM qualification or an endorsed or development programme during the period 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2008.
Download an entry form

Registration forms and results

The new registration forms contain a section for tutor email addresses. With this information we will be able to send the Schedule of Results (SoR) to tutors as well as your central point of contact. Tutors will be able to check candidate names and so help to increase the accuracy of certificates. (Please report any errors back by return to the sender of the email.)

Important – the SoR is now sent electronically and has been redesigned to speed up the process of receipt and certification. Where the units for a cohort are all the same you can use a single SoR for all candidates – simply enter the appropriate candidate(s) number(s) in at the top section of the form. Where there are differences in units you can copy the form and complete for different candidates. Data, including signatures, can be directly input on the electronic form, which must be emailed to both your External Verifier and ILM Administration Co-ordinator for processing. Please ensure that the ‘assessment method’ is ticked to avoid any unnecessary delays.

Unique Learner Numbers (ULNs)

ILM encourages all centres to get their learners set up with a Unique Learner Number – the number that will allow them to record their qualification credit through a Learner Achievement Record (LAR).

The ULN system has been created by Managing Information Across Partnerships (MIAP) , a UK wide initiative delivering streamlined information management systems for the education sector. MIAP, operated by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), is running the Learner Registration Service (LRS) and overseeing the distribution of Unique Learner Numbers (ULNs).

The LRS issues a ULN to every person in education and training aged 14+. Learners will use the same ULN throughout their education, building up a Learner Achievement Record (LAR).

ILM centres are responsible for obtaining ULNs for their learners and will need to be registered as a Learner Registration Body (LRB) in order to open an account and gain access to the learner registration service (LRS). Full information on this process can be found in (Appendix H in previous versions).
 
The revised candidate registration form and Walled Garden have provision to capture the ULN of each candidate. By providing this information at the point of registration, ILM can add the results to the candidate’s learner achievement records.

Centre events

The number of centre events has increased for 2008-09. Come along for qualification support, development, news, networking and more.

Introducing ILM
These intensive one day courses are ideal for new centre staff or individuals who have started in new roles eg as programme manager or centre contact. The event covers many topics to help you get the most from ILM including: qualifications overview, centre management, ILM endorsed and development programmes, marketing, membership, resources and new developments. Email events@i-l-m.com for a booking form and further information.

One free place is offered to newly approved centres (to be used within one year of the approved date)

Leadership, Coaching and Enterprise Seminars
Throughout 2009 we will be running a series of half-day seminars on leadership, coaching and enterprise. Open to all ILM centres, tutors and members, these events start with a buffet lunch and feature an expert speaker followed by an open discussion with a panel of local business leaders, coaches or entrepreneurs. Email events@i-l-m.com for further information and a booking form.

Where	When	What
London	20 January 2009	Coaching
Manchester	27 January 2009	Enterprise
Glasgow	3 February 2009	Leadership
Southampton	10 February 2009	Leadership
Chepstow	25 March 2009	Coaching
Belfast	14 May 2009	Coaching
Nottingham	24 June 2009	Leadership
London	1 July 2009	Enterprise

Cost: £69+VAT per person for ILM centre staff, tutors, members and studying members; £89+ VAT per person for all other attendees

Inside information

Who’s who?
Every ILM centre is allocated a Business Manager, a Quality Manager, Quality Consultant and Customer Service Coordinator for all administrative queries.

Make sure you know your contacts - download and view a UK map with all the relevant contact details.

Free membership
ILM studying membership is free and open to learners and tutors of any ILM qualification or programme. Plus the range of benefits has just increased so it’s an ideal time to remind learners and tutors to activate their membership. 

• Who?
  Studying membership is open to learners on any ILM qualification or endorsed or development programmes plus their tutors

• How?
  Learners should visit www.i-l-m.com/activate and complete a few simple steps activate their membership
  
  Tutors should visit www.i-l-m.com/activate and select ‘Tutor’ when asked which ILM qualification they are studying for

• When?
  Studying membership can be activated anytime

• What?
  New benefits include online modules from Harvard Business Publishing and money-saving discounts on leisure services. See the full range here

• Cost?
  Studying membership is free of charge and lasts a year for learners (can be extended if the learner’s programme is longer than a year) and indefinitely for tutors

More membership info
Please ask us for free copies of the ILM studying membership leaflet at customer@i-l-m.com. These small brochures are ideal to give out at induction. Also if you’d like a PowerPoint presentation about ILM membership or any further membership literature email us at membership@i-l-m.com. 

To help us engage learners with membership please provide an email address for each learner (preferably home email) and a house number/name as a back-up in case of problems with email delivery. (Please note postcodes do not apply to centres in the Republic of Ireland or international centres).

VRQ overview
Gain a quick overview of the entire ILM VRQ offering.

Keep an eye on expiry dates
Don’t get caught out - remember to consult  for details of the expiry dates for registration and certification in relation to all qualifications.

Learning resources
ILM provides centres with a range of resource materials. and order through the customer service team customer@i-l-m.com.