At enrolment, a training provider needs the details the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) collects for each new apprentice: their Unique Learner Number (ULN), standard, prior attainment, support needs, employer, prices and planned off-the-job hours. This guide explains each item, where it comes from and when you need it, for apprenticeships starting from 1 August 2026.
The ILR is the Department for Education’s learner data return
The ILR is the data return that colleges and training providers send the Department for Education (DfE) about their learners and their learning. DfE uses it to fund providers and for official statistics (ILR privacy notice).
This guide follows the ILR specification for 2026 to 2027, dated 30 January 2026, and the apprenticeship funding rules for starts from 1 August 2026.
On 1 April 2026, apprenticeship guidance and the funding rules moved from DfE to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), as How to take on an apprentice notes. The ILR and the Learning Records Service (LRS) remain with DfE.
Most of the information is needed before the start date
| Information | Where it comes from | When you need it |
|---|---|---|
| Unique Learner Number (ULN) | An LRS search, or the learner’s certificates | Before the start |
| National Insurance number | The learner | On start |
| UK Provider Reference Number (UKPRN) | The UK Register of Learning Providers | Already held |
| Standard code and learning aims | The Learning Aim Reference Service (LARS) | At the start |
| Start date and planned end date | The apprenticeship agreement and training plan | At the start; then fixed |
| Prior attainment | The learner, at initial assessment | At the start; not updated later |
| Learning difficulty, disability or health problem | The learner’s own view | At the start |
| Education, health and care plan | The learner, if a plan exists | At the start |
| Employment status and EDS employer number | The employer | From the first day |
| Agreement ID | Your apprenticeship service account | At the start |
| Planned off-the-job hours | The training plan, at or above the standard’s minimum | At the start |
| Training price and assessment price | Agreed with the employer | At the start; new dated records if they change |
| Price reduction for prior learning | Your recognition of prior learning | At the start |
| Assessment organisation ID | Your contract with the assessment organisation | Once the organisation is known |
| Funding and monitoring codes | The funding route and the learner’s circumstances | At the start |
A new funded apprenticeship needs a real ULN
The ULN is the learner’s 10-digit number from LRS. It must pass a checksum and match the Learner Register (ILR ULN field).
The ILR allows 9999999999 when a ULN cannot be obtained. That placeholder must never be used for an apprenticeship funded through the employer’s apprenticeship service account. The only other route, a contract with DfE, cannot be used for programme starts from 1 April 2021 (rule LearnDelFAMType_92). In practice, every new funded apprenticeship needs a real ULN. Our guide to ULN lookups and the Learning Records Service explains how to find one.
Providers must also “obtain an apprentice’s NI number on start” (NI number field).
Your UK Provider Reference Number (UKPRN) is the 8-digit number that identifies your organisation on the UK Register of Learning Providers.
The standard and learning aims come from LARS
The Learning Aim Reference Service (LARS) is DfE’s database of funded learning aims and programmes. You search it online through Find a learning aim (ILR glossary).
An apprenticeship is recorded as a programme aim, which always uses the reference ZPROG001. Each qualification in it, such as functional skills, is a component aim with its own LARS reference (learning aim reference).
The standard code identifies the apprenticeship standard and must match LARS. It is the same number that Find an apprenticeship calls the LARS code. The planned end date excludes the end-point assessment period and “must not be changed” (planned end date). After prior learning, the practical period must last at least 8 months. Before 1 August 2025 the minimum was 12 months.
Prior attainment and support needs come from the learner
Prior attainment is the learner’s highest qualification level when they agree to start learning with you. It is dated on or before the earliest start date, and it is not updated during that learning (prior attainment).
The learning difficulties, disabilities and health problems (LLDD) question records the learner’s own view of whether they have one (LLDD and health problem). If yes, each condition is recorded by category, such as dyslexia or vision impairment, and one is marked primary. Categories 1 to 3 were removed for 2026 to 2027.
An education, health and care plan (EHCP) is recorded only if one exists (EHC plan code). For apprentices, a plan can extend eligibility, for example to level 7 funding up to age 24. For apprentices aged 19 to 24, it can also bring £1,000 payments to the employer and the provider.
Off-the-job hours now sit in a new Hours Record
The ILR for 2026 to 2027 removed the old planned hours field. A new Hours Record holds three apprenticeship values:
- HRS 1 is the planned off-the-job hours for the whole apprenticeship, after any reduction for prior learning. It excludes the end-point assessment period.
- HRS 4 is the hours removed for prior learning.
- HRS 3 is the actual off-the-job hours, recorded at the end.
For example, 450 planned hours less 30 for prior learning is recorded as 420.
Each standard publishes its own minimum off-the-job hours. Under the funding rules, no programme may fall below 187 hours of evidenced delivery. ILR validation applies the 187-hour minimum to starts from 1 August 2025 (rule HRSAmount_03).
The old rule of 20% of working hours applied only to starts up to 31 July 2025. The government’s off-the-job training guidance describes 187 hours as 20% of 8 months.
Prices are recorded as training and assessment amounts
The total negotiated price (TNP) is the price the employer and provider agree for the apprenticeship (TNP). At the start, record the training price (TNP1) and the end-point assessment price (TNP2). Together they must equal the full cost of the standard, excluding VAT. A renegotiated price needs new dated records.
A new code, RIP 1, records how much the price was cut for prior learning (RIP).
Three records identify the employer
The employment status record describes the learner’s situation before learning starts. A new apprentice is recorded as in paid employment, with the employer’s identifier, from the first day. “Not known” at the start is an error for apprentices.
The employer identifier is a 9-digit number from the Employer Data Service (EDS). It is often called the Employer Data Service unique reference number (EDS URN). No new numbers have been issued since 1 April 2022. Use 999999999 when the employer is not on EDS (employer identifier).
The Agreement ID is new for 2026 to 2027 and replaces the contract reference for apprenticeships. It links the ILR record to the employer in your apprenticeship service account, under “View employers and manage permissions”. It is not the employer’s account ID (Agreement ID).
The assessment organisation ID now accepts a UKPRN
An end-point assessment organisation (EPAO) is an independent organisation that carries out end-point assessments. The ILR field is now called “Assessment organisation ID”. It takes the organisation’s register ID, in the form EPAXXXX, or its UKPRN (assessment organisation ID). Record it on the programme aim once the organisation is known.
The funding rules require a provider to contract an EPAO at least 6 months before gateway, when the employer confirms the apprentice is ready for assessment. Revised assessment plans, being introduced during 2026 and 2027, rename end-point assessment as apprenticeship assessment. Under them, the provider must engage an assessment organisation at the start.
Funding and monitoring codes describe the apprenticeship
Funding and monitoring codes tell DfE how a learner or aim is funded. For a new apprenticeship, ACT 1 records funding through the employer’s apprenticeship service account (ACT). Other codes flag learning support, restarts and cases such as a care leaver.
Documents and checks come before the start
Before the start, work through these checks and documents:
- Initial assessment. Check the learner’s eligibility, prior learning, learning support needs, and English and maths. It must show they need significant new knowledge, skills and behaviours, and that the job links clearly to the standard.
- Recognition of prior learning. Funding must not pay for training in what the apprentice already knows. For apprentices aged 16 to 18, check the Personal Learning Record and discuss their prior learning. For those aged 19 and over, add a skills scan against the standard.
- Reductions for prior learning. Cut the price by at least half the prior-learning percentage, so 30% prior learning means at least a 15% cut. If less than 8 months or 187 hours would remain, the person is not eligible.
- English and maths. For apprentices aged 16 to 18 it is mandatory, unless they already hold a suitable qualification. Since 11 February 2025 it has been optional for those aged 19 and over, funded up to level 2 if the employer agrees.
- Apprenticeship agreement. The employer and apprentice sign it at the start. It sets out the occupation, the standard and level, the dates, the practical period and the off-the-job training. GOV.UK updated its template on 4 August 2026.
- Training plan. The employer, apprentice and provider sign it. It was previously known as the commitment statement, and it must be separate from the agreement. New for 2026 to 2027, all three confirm at the end that the plan was delivered.
- Privacy notices. Give the learner the LRS privacy notice, which DfE recommends doing at enrolment. The ILR privacy notice asks providers to make sure every learner sees it during enrolment.
How enrola handles enrolment
In enrola, Ready for enrolment confirms the applicant’s place and closes their other open Applications, and Create Learner record turns the Application into a Learner record.
The Learner record holds the ULN, learning difficulties and disabilities, prior attainment, funding and monitoring, training price, off-the-job hours, end-point assessment organisation, employment status and emergency contacts. enrola does not produce an ILR file; learner data is exported to CSV (comma-separated values) for your management information system.
Learner records · Recruitment workflows · LRS checks · Guide: ULN and LRS lookups
Questions
Does a new funded apprenticeship need a real ULN?
Yes. The ILR placeholder 9999999999 must never be used for an apprenticeship funded through the employer’s apprenticeship service account. Find the learner’s ULN in the Learning Records Service before the start.
What replaced the 20% off-the-job training rule?
For starts from 1 August 2025, each standard sets its own minimum off-the-job hours, and no programme may fall below 187. The 20% rule applied to starts up to 31 July 2025.
What if the employer has no EDS employer number?
Record 999999999. No new EDS employer numbers have been issued since 1 April 2022, and the placeholder no longer has to be replaced within 60 days.
Do apprentices aged 19 and over have to take English and maths?
No. Since 11 February 2025 it has been optional for them, funded up to level 2 if the employer agrees. An apprentice who opts in must attempt the assessment but does not have to pass it.
Sources
- ILR specification 2026 to 2027, version 1, 30 January 2026.
- ILR summary of changes 2026 to 2027.
- ILR validation rules 2026 to 2027, version 4, 9 September 2026.
- ILR privacy notice 2026 to 2027, January 2026.
- Apprenticeship funding rules, August 2026 to July 2027, version 3, July 2026.
- Apprenticeship off-the-job training guidance, GOV.UK, updated 4 August 2026.
- How to take on an apprentice, DWP.
- Apprenticeship agreement template, GOV.UK, updated 4 August 2026.
- Press release on apprenticeship changes, GOV.UK, 11 February 2025.
- LRS privacy notice, DfE.