Enrolment day and a folder of rules
A new participant sits down with an adviser. Your social enterprise runs four programmes: an employability programme for people aged 25 and over who have been out of work for six months, a youth programme for 16 to 24 year olds in certain postcodes, a council-funded wellbeing course for residents of the borough, and a trust-funded digital skills project with no criteria at all.
The adviser has a folder with each programme's eligibility rules and evidence requirements. She asks for date of birth, address, employment history and benefits status, then works out which programmes the person can join. She photocopies the ID and a letter, and ticks a box on a paper form. Six months later, an audit by one funder finds that three participants' files lack the evidence it needs, and a fourth was enrolled on a programme they were not eligible for, because their postcode sat just outside the area.
Why eligibility checks go wrong
Eligibility rules are simple one at a time. Applied together, by different advisers, over years, they are not.
- Each funder has its own criteria, and some overlap in confusing ways.
- Evidence rules differ: one funder wants a document seen, another wants a copy kept, another accepts a self-declaration.
- Postcode and area rules need checking against boundaries advisers do not know by heart.
- The same person may be eligible for two programmes, and funders may not allow the same activity to be paid for twice.
- Rules change when programmes are renewed, and older folders remain in use.
What each funder requires is set by the funding agreement and their guidance, and interpretation is for you and the funder. We do not advise on eligibility. We make sure the rules you are given are applied the same way every time.
What a missed check costs
Clawback is the serious one. If a funder finds participants who were ineligible or lack evidence, it may reduce what it pays or ask for money back, and a small social enterprise may not be able to absorb that.
There is also a cost to participants. Someone told they are on a programme, then told later they do not qualify, is let down. Someone who was eligible for a second programme that would have helped them, but was never offered it, misses out.
And audit preparation takes days, with staff going through paper files looking for missing copies.
Enrolment that applies each programme's rules
What we build is an enrolment process that collects facts once and tests them against every programme.
- Each programme's eligibility criteria and evidence rules are entered from the funding agreement: age ranges, areas, employment or benefit status, and what evidence is needed for each.
- The adviser enters the person's details once in an enrolment form on a laptop or tablet.
- Postcodes are checked against each programme's area automatically, using boundary data for the council area or listed postcodes.
- The form shows which programmes the person is eligible for, which they are not and why, and what evidence each still needs.
- Evidence is recorded as seen, copied or declared, as each funder requires, with copies stored securely against the person and access limited.
- Where a person joins more than one programme, the record shows which funder pays for which activity, so the same activity is not claimed twice.
- Before any funder audit, a report lists every participant on that programme with their eligibility and evidence status.
| Programme example | Criteria example | Evidence example |
|---|---|---|
| Employability 25 plus | Age, time out of work | ID seen, declaration signed |
| Youth programme | Age 16 to 24, listed postcodes | ID and proof of address copied |
| Council wellbeing course | Borough resident | Postcode check recorded |
| Digital skills project | None | Consent only |
Enrolment day, next time
The adviser enters the participant's details. The form shows eligible for the employability programme and the digital skills project; not eligible for the youth programme because of age; and the postcode falls outside the council area for the wellbeing course. It lists the evidence the employability funder needs. She records the ID as seen, uploads the signed declaration, and enrols the person on both programmes, with the funder for each activity shown.
When the funder's audit comes, the report shows every participant's status. Two files flagged months ago for missing documents were completed at the time.
Does this sound familiar?
- Advisers check eligibility by hand from a folder of rules.
- Postcode rules are checked from memory or a printed list.
- Evidence requirements differ by funder and files are inconsistent.
- Audits find missing evidence or ineligible participants.
- People eligible for more than one programme are not always offered both.