Provider Data Self-Assessment Toolkit

The Provider Data Self-Assessment Toolkit (PDSAT) is a key tool for ensuring data compliance in the further education/apprenticeship sectors.

The PDSAT software analyses your Individualised Learner Record (ILR) submission, generating reports on the types of learners and identifying possible data and funding issues.

It also plays a large part in the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s (ESFA) funding assurance approach. Significant time is spent analysing these reports to determine if funds are at risk or data is incorrect.

How can RSM help?

To the untrained eye, the world of PDSATs can seem complex and impenetrable. Our services can help make the complex more straightforward. From a detailed review with testing of samples to source documents, to comprehensive training for staff, we help you understand and use the multiple PDSAT reports more effectively.

Data review

Our basic offer includes a comprehensive review of your ILR. You provide the data, and we review it, offering detailed feedback on a report-by-report basis. This feedback identifies actual and potential errors in the data and possible funding values. It also highlights which reports auditors tend to sample from and the potential risks associated with those reports. We carry this service out remotely, with a follow-up call if further clarification is required on any observations made.

Data review with onsite training

For the enhanced review, you’ll gain invaluable insights into how auditors use PDSAT reports and what they are looking for. We provide you with a report-by-report review with feedback, but we also come to you to present our findings and show you how we identified them. For this review, you can invite as many people as you wish to listen and learn from our PDSAT experts.

By using this service, you’ll understand what our teams look for in the PDSATs and how they extract the data. You’ll also pick up a few tricks on how we filter the data to easily identify possible data issues and even funding underclaims.

PDSAT samples

As part of the funding assurance approach, we select a sample from PDSAT reports to confirm that the underlying data driving the ILR is accurate. Our ESFA funding assurance work over the last few years has consistently identified issues in this area, as PDSAT reports target specific learner cohorts. This can also be identified as part of any PDSAT review.

What do I do next?

Any of these packages can be tailored to your requirements. They can include question and answer options, training for senior management and governors, and attendance at audit committees. For more information on our PDSAT review service, please contact us.