R14 is the hard close of the funding year. Once the mid-October deadline passes, no further changes can be made to that year’s Individualised Learner Record (ILR) data, and whatever sits in the return is what your funding is based on. Providers who treat ILR data quality as a year-round discipline, rather than a September task, consistently find R14 straightforward. Aptem Apprentice supports that discipline with Process Automation Trackers that keep learner records current, live Power BI dashboards that surface issues month by month, and migration rules that carry aims cleanly from one funding year into the next.
Why R14 deserves attention long before October
ILR data is supplied 14 times a year. For R01 to R12, data is provided by the fourth working day of the month for the month before. The final two returns are different: R13 is submitted in September and R14 in October, both due mid-month so there is more time for final checks, and both intended to capture the results and transitions that follow the end of the academic year.
The complication is that September and October are also the first two months of a new academic year. Attention is split between closing one year and opening the next, and the window for checking data is short. Errors that surface at this point delay payments and can lead to unexpected clawbacks in funding.
The alternative is to arrive at R14 with very little left to do. That is achievable, but only if the data has been maintained all year.
The daily habit: Process Automation Trackers
Most year-end data problems start as a change of circumstance that was recorded inconsistently, or edited manually in the ILR, months earlier. Aims that do not carry across correctly at migration, Break in Learning records that are not recognised on restart, and learners showing as active who have had no engagement are all resolvable through consistent use of Process Automation Trackers during the year.
Trackers enforce the right data structure at the point a change is recorded. A request can be raised, pre-authorised, assigned and processed, or rejected where it is not approved. Validation warnings keep the resulting data compliant, evidence can be uploaded in support of the change, and every action is stamped with the date, time and name of the user who made it. When a tracker is processed, the ILR updates automatically, and the record stays on the learner’s file as an audit trail.
The routine is simple. Administrators log into Aptem daily and filter for new trackers, which generates the list of outstanding actions for the day. If trackers are cleared monthly, there is very little left to resolve at R13 and R14.
The monthly check: four Power BI dashboards
Aptem’s Power BI dashboards use live data covering every learner registered in your system. Four of them matter most for ILR reporting, and they work best reviewed monthly alongside the DWP’s validation tools rather than opened for the first time in September.
Caseload gives a view of learners by programme status, and its occupancy report cross-references programme status against ILR status so records that need a closer look are easy to spot. Data checks pulls through discrepancies to investigate, such as learners shown as in learning in the ILR whose programme status is active, learners with excluded aims, or user names containing the text “test”.
Compliance shows live learners against the number that are fully compliant. A compliant learner has a valid end date in the ILR record, a signed ILR compliance document, a signed training plan, a valid National Insurance number, at least one valid aim and a valid unique learner number (ULN). The compliance document statuses per learner report adds the ILR episode status for each learner, where QA verified is the state you are working towards. Records sitting at signature required, signed or pending may not be included in the ILR, and will not bring forward any funding.
Funding holds learner and ILR data for reconciliation and forecasting, with estimated in-year funding, year-to-date charts covering on-programme, Functional Skills, Learner Support Fund, 16-18 incentives and outcome payments, and a breakdown of the current month plus the next three. Missing aims reports anything recorded incorrectly, or reported in the ILR without being planned in the learning plan. The figures exclude provider weightings, devolved formula variations and postcode uplifts.
Quality shows your Qualification Achievement Rate (QAR) for the last two years and indicates whether you are on track for your minimum or maximum expected rate. Filtering learner aims by learning status and hybrid end year identifies the in-learning learners who still need to complete within the year, so support goes where it will make a difference.
Used with the Funding Information Service (FIS), the Provider Data Self-Assessment Toolkit (PDSAT) and Funding Rules Monitoring (FRM) reports, these dashboards turn data quality into a monthly review rather than an annual scramble.
Five decisions that shape your R14
- One learner account per person. If a learner progresses onto a new apprenticeship, complete their existing record and apply them to a new onboarding programme within the same account. A second account creates duplicate records and can leave ILR data misattributed or missing at submission.
- One ILR record per standard, per learner. Aptem holds a single ILR record per standard for the whole duration of the apprenticeship. The schema you select at export determines which records are included, so the data held against each learner at the point of submission is what is returned.
- Resolve aim statuses before 31 July. The migration specification picks up aims based on specific combinations of completion status and outcome code. Ambiguous combinations can leave a component aim present without its programme aim, producing R30 and R66 errors. A caseload review before the end of July prevents most of this.
- Use force include in batch where a record needs to cross funding years. Where a record must appear in a submission for a year outside the automatic date parameters, for example a withdrawal backdated to the previous year, the flag keeps it in the file so the DWP receives a complete picture for reconciliation.
- Check what a year-end warning means before raising a ticket. Some validation warnings at R13 and R14 are expected behaviour, not errors. The FRM reports and PDSAT will usually tell you whether action is needed.
What changed for 2026/27: hours, price reduction and agreement ID
The 2026/27 ILR specification introduces data structures that replace and extend earlier fields, and they are worth checking before R01.
The hours entity (HRS) replaces the previous planned and actual hours fields. HRS1 records planned hours and is required on every apprenticeship aim; Aptem migrated planned hours into HRS1 as part of the transition from 25/26 to 26/27. HRS3 records actual off-the-job hours. HRS4 records hours reduced for recognised prior learning and should only be present where RPL applies, because adding it to a learner without RPL creates a validation error.
Where a learner has HRS4 greater than zero, a corresponding reduction in price (RIP1) record is now required. Where the RPL calculator was used in Aptem, this has been populated automatically as part of Aptem’s migration work. Where it was not, RIP1 needs to be populated manually from the value recorded in the Apprenticeship Service account, which is the official place of record. Running your ILR export through FIS will surface missing HRS1 and RIP1 values as validation errors.
The 2026/27 ILR also allows the agreement ID to be recorded in the employment status record from the apprenticeship start date, keeping your Apprenticeship Service data and your ILR consistent.
Providers using Aptem to generate a 25/26 batch file do not need to take any action on the HRS entity for that year. Aptem formats that file using the 25/26 schema automatically.
A rhythm that makes R14 routine
Daily, clear your trackers. Weekly, run the get ILR batch export report and upload it to FIS or Submit Learner Data to check for rule violation errors and warnings and to monitor changes in funding. Monthly, review the caseload, compliance, funding and quality dashboards before the submission deadline. Where a data query needs resolving with the DWP, raise it in-year rather than at hard close. Requests for new versions of standards or qualification criteria are best made six to eight weeks ahead of the academic year, so they are reflected in your system in time.
“Our ILR was created manually, which works well when you are dealing with small numbers. As we grew, this became increasingly difficult to manage. It would essentially be the job of one person on a full-time basis to complete the ILRs each month. When we onboarded Aptem, the first thing we needed to do was automate this process. Now ILRs are created in a matter of seconds. We share the task across the team, and we can focus on student experience rather than paperwork and process.” Leeds Beckett University
Frequently asked questions
What is R14 in ILR reporting?
R14 is the final ILR submission for a funding year, submitted in October and due mid-month. It is known as the hard close because no further changes can be made to that year’s data once the deadline passes.
When are R13 and R14 submitted?
R13 is submitted in September and R14 in October. The hard deadline for R14 is 22 October 2026. Unlike R01 to R12, which are due by the fourth working day of the month, both are due mid-month to allow more time for final checks and updates.
How does Aptem help reduce ILR errors before R14?
Process Automation Trackers standardise how changes of circumstance are recorded, create an audit trail and update the ILR automatically when processed. Live Power BI dashboards for caseload, compliance, funding and quality then surface discrepancies month by month, so issues are resolved in-year rather than at hard close.
What makes a learner compliant in Aptem’s compliance dashboard?
A learner must have a valid end date in the ILR record, a signed ILR compliance document, a signed training plan, a valid National Insurance number, at least one valid aim, and a valid ULN.
What are the new ILR fields for 2026/27?
The hours entity (HRS1 planned hours, HRS3 actual off-the-job hours, HRS4 hours reduced for recognised prior learning) replaces the previous hours fields, a reduction in price record (RIP1) is required where HRS4 is greater than zero, and the agreement ID can now be recorded in the employment status record.
When should aim statuses be checked before year end?
Before 31 July each year. Reviewing your active caseload to confirm that all aims have a clear and correct completion status and outcome code avoids migration issues, including R30 and R66 errors where a component aim appears without its programme aim.
Download our eBook, Managing your data in Aptem, for a closer look at each dashboard, the migration rules for starts, completions, withdrawals and breaks in learning, and the daily, weekly and monthly workflows in detail.
If you would like to see how Aptem Apprentice supports data quality, book a demo today.
