Booked by the day. No recruiter in the middle.
Most providers do not need another permanent MIS hire. They need someone who already knows the funding rules to take the pressure off for a few weeks, or to hold the fort while they recruit. That is what this is.
Who you are actually getting
Five years working in MIS and data for a London education provider — submitting ILR returns to the ESFA, resolving funding errors, running data quality assurance and preparing for ESFA and Ofsted audits. Not an agency contractor learning your sector on your time. MSc Computer Science, University of Greenwich.
Depending on workload, scope and how much of the week you need. Agreed in writing before anything starts.
- Remote delivery, UK hours
- One day a week, or full-time cover
- No agency fee and no recruitment commission
- Invoiced directly, outside of payroll
- Rate fixed for the engagement — no creep
What gets picked up
The work an MIS and reporting officer actually does, rather than a generic data-analyst job description.
ILR returns, start to submitted
Preparing and submitting monthly ILR returns to the ESFA on the published deadlines, including the year-end R14 close, with the checks done before submission rather than after a funding report lands.
Data quality and error resolution
Running validation and cleansing across learner records, working through funding errors and the reports that flag them, and fixing the underlying data rather than patching the return.
Audit and inspection readiness
Preparing evidence for ESFA funding audits, Ofsted inspection and internal audit — assembling what is asked for, and finding the gaps before somebody external does.
Leadership and board reporting
Starts, retention, achievement and funding position in a form directors can act on — built in Power BI where it helps, so the monthly pack stops being rebuilt by hand.
The systems you already run
Hands-on with ACE360, PICS, TOPS and DAS, and with FIS and PDSAT for validation and funding checks. No onboarding period spent learning which system does what.
Data protection and governance
Learner data handled with GDPR and information-governance obligations in mind, with documentation left behind that your team can follow after the engagement ends.
The 2026/27 ILR calendar does not move
Autumn is the pinch point: you are closing last year and onboarding this year's learners at the same time. If you are a person short, this is the worst quarter to be short in.
| Return | Deadline | Covers |
|---|---|---|
| R14 | 22 October 2026Year-end close | Final submission for 2025/26 |
| R03 | 5 November 2026 | October 2026 data |
| R04 | 4 December 2026 | November 2026 data |
| R05 | 7 January 2027 | December 2026 data |
| R06 | 4 February 2027 | January 2027 data |
| R10 | 4 June 2027 | May 2027 data and year-end funding |
Four situations this is built for
Your MIS officer resigned
Recruiting a replacement takes months and the returns do not wait. Cover keeps submissions on time while you run a proper recruitment process instead of a rushed one.
Cover for leave
Planned or unplanned absence in a one-deep team. The calendar carries on regardless, and a missed deadline is not an administrative problem — it is a funding one.
An audit or inspection is coming
Extra hands to get evidence in order and find the data-quality problems while there is still time to fix them, rather than explaining them to an auditor.
A backlog you keep not getting to
The error reports nobody has worked through, the reconciliation that keeps slipping, the reporting your directors keep asking for. Finite work, finite cost.
Agreed in writing before anything starts
- A short callWhat is outstanding, which systems you run, which returns are at risk and how many days a week that realistically needs.
- Written scope and day rateScope, day rate within the £250–£350 band, start date and notice, confirmed in writing. No hourly creep and no surprise extras.
- Access and startRead access to your MIS and the relevant systems, under your own information-governance rules. Work starts inside your processes, not alongside them.
- Handover as standardDocumentation of what was done and how, so the work survives the engagement and your next permanent hire inherits something usable.
If you would rather not manage a contractor at all
The same work, on a fixed monthly retainer
Day-rate cover suits a gap or a crunch. If the need is ongoing — compliance assurance, managed reporting, someone to own the data calendar all year — a fixed monthly retainer is usually cheaper and easier to budget than booking days. See Data & Compliance retainers →
Tell me what is outstanding.
A short call, no charge, no obligation. If the honest answer is that you do not need a contractor, I will say so.
Check availability