Youth Guarantee

Who applies? ITPs, PTEs, Wānanga	Fund focus: Learning focus, Foundation skills, Vocational skills, Learner focus, Domestic students, Youth
Status: Limited to certain providers	Agreed through? Investment Plan (on Plan)

The purpose of the Youth Guarantee initiative is to improve the educational achievements of targeted 16 and 17 year olds by providing them with an opportunity to participate in a range of vocational courses free of charge. It is a part of a wider youth opportunities package designed to create new work, education and training opportunities for young people.

Youth Guarantee is a targeted fund in 2012, therefore funding will no longer be based on SAC rates.

Two new funding rates apply – one rate for non-trades and one rate for trades. These rates include the tuition fee, pastoral care and travel components.

Funding will continue to be linked to tertiary qualifications at levels 1-3 on the New Zealand Qualifications Framework (NZQF), with a focus on learners gaining foundation skills such as literacy and numeracy. Performance outcomes will focus on moving learners to higher levels of educational achievement.

All providers will be expected to use the Electronic Receipting System (ERS) for recording enrolments.  Youth Guarantee providers who were previously using the Single Data Return (SDR) to record performance information will need to continue to submit this information through the SDR, in addition to using the ERS.

The allocation of Youth Guarantee places to providers for 2012 has already been finalised.

Any TEO that receives this funding must abide by a number of rules and conditions.

Access to Youth Guarantee funding will be considered in accordance with government policy, (as directed by the Minister’s determination under section 159L of the Education Act 1989), the Tertiary Education Strategy and in response to performance.

Key differences between Youth Guarantee in 2011 and 2012

	2011	2012
Eligibility	Age: students must be 16 or 17 at the time of study commencement and not turn 18 years of age within three months of starting study under a Youth Guarantee programme	Age: learners must be 16 or 17 at the time of study commencement under a Youth Guarantee programme.  Students who are 15 years of age with an early leaving exemption may also be considered.
Funding rate	Providers were paid a Youth Guarantee Payment of $4,500 for every Youth Guarantee EFTS[1] enrolled, in addition to their SAC[2] funding.	Youth Guarantee has two new funding rates in 2012 - a non-trades rate of $10,800 per place and a trades rate of $14,300 per place (both excluding GST). These rates include the tuition fee, pastoral care and travel components.
Payment	Youth Guarantee funding payments will be aligned to the SAC payments schedule. The SAC component of Youth Guarantee funding will be subject to normal SAC wash-up requirements.	Payments will be made monthly, in 12 instalments during 2012.
Travel	Youth Guarantee funding did not include a travel allowance Youth Training: a TEO may be reimbursed for actual travel costs incurred in assisting learners to attend training. The TEC reimbursed learners directly up to a maximum of $75.00 each, per week for travel costs incurred in attending training.	In 2012, Youth Guarantee will bulk fund providers using either a trades or non-trades rate.  A travel assistance subsidy has been included as part of the overall funding rate.  For both funding rates, this travel subsidy equates to $800 per place. Where a learner has substantial travel needs, which are in excess of travel funding paid (exceptional circumstances), providers may apply for additional funds for travel in 2012.  Applications will be accepted in May and September of 2012.
Funding rules	SAC funding rules applied.	For 2012, the following funding rules will apply: providers will receive funding for actual weeks learners are enrolled up to the minimum 25% threshold – set at 8 weeks (based on a minimum 32 week programme length). once the 25% threshold has been met, providers retain 100% of funding for a place. Providers must also achieve a minimum 75% occupancy rate, across all the courses and programmes. This is measured as an average across the year.
Reporting	Youth Guarantee students were monitored using the SDR system. Providers identified students in their SDR returns using the Source of Funding code provided for this purpose (code 22). This source of funding code was used instead of the usual SAC source of funding code.	All providers will be expected to use the ERS for recording enrolments. Use of ERS replaces the requirement for manual reporting of summarised student information via the July and February summary report template (form A510711), and information about individual enrolments (via Excel spreadsheet) is no longer required. Youth Guarantee providers already using the SDR to record performance information will need to continue to use this reporting function in addition to the ERS. SDR code 22 will continue to be used for all Youth Guarantee enrolments in 2012. Code 7, previously for Youth Training, will become redundant.