ILR Merger Checks
This tool validates the ILR files produced as a result of a provider merger. Use ILR Year Crossover for general checks between consecutive years, or the ILR Fields Viewer to review the fields mentioned in the results.
It supports two approaches permitted by the DfE:
- Same-year merger — the merged (closing) institution closes part-way through the academic year and learners are transferred to the successor institution within the same year. Upload the final merged institution ILR and the successor institution ILR, both covering the same academic year.
- Cross-year merger — the merged institution closes at the end of an academic year and learners continue in the successor institution's ILR the following year. Upload the final merged institution ILR (year N) and the successor institution ILR (year N+1).
The tool detects the merger type automatically from the academic years of the uploaded files. The following checks are run:
- No continuing aims remain in the merged institution.
- All aims in the merged institution that would have continued are coded as merger transfers (CompStatus 3, WithdrawReason 7 or 47, not 40).
- Transferred aims in the merged institution carry the NLM 17 LearnerFAM flag.
- Transferred aims from the merged institution exist in the successor institution, with matching start dates.
- Migrated aims in the successor institution carry the NLM 17 LearnerFAM flag.
- Migrated aims in the successor institution carry the RES 1 LearningDeliveryFAM flag.
- Migrated learners in the successor institution have PrevUKPRN set to the merged provider.
- Learners flagged with NLM 18 (Minimum Contract Level move) in the successor institution have PrevUKPRN set.
- Learners flagged with NLM 18 in the successor institution have PrevLearnRefNumber set.
- All aims in the merged institution have an actual end date recorded (optional).
- Aims in the successor institution carrying NLM 17, NLM 18 or PrevUKPRN can be matched back to the merged institution ILR (optional).
- For same-year mergers, NLM 17 start and end dates align with the merger date, and no previous-provider records continue beyond it.
The ILR files are processed in your browser. There is nothing to download, and your ILR data never leaves your computer.
Drop merged institution ILR XML file here
or click to browse
Drop successor institution ILR XML file here
or click to browse
Required when both ILRs cover the same academic year.
File Details
Check Results
Continuing Aims in Merged Institution
Aims with CompStatus 1 (Continuing) should not exist in the final merged institution ILR.
Merger Transfer Coding (WithdrawReason 7 or 47)
Aims coded as transfers (CompStatus 3) in the merged institution ILR should use WithdrawReason 7 or 47, not the usual 40. The summary shows each transfer type by number of aims.
NLM 17 on Transferred Aims — Merged Institution
Learners with transferred aims in the merged institution must carry the NLM 17 LearnerFAM flag.
Transferred Aims Present in Successor Institution
Each transferred aim (LearnRefNumber + LearnAimRef + start date) must exist in the successor institution ILR. For cross-year mergers where the learner reference changes between institutions, the successor's PrevLearnRefNumber is also used as a fallback when matching.
NLM 17 on Migrated Aims — Successor Institution
Learners with migrated aims in the successor institution must carry the NLM 17 LearnerFAM flag.
RES 1 on Migrated Aims — Successor Institution
Migrated aims in the successor institution must carry the RES 1 LearningDeliveryFAM flag.
PrevUKPRN — Successor Institution
Migrated learners in the successor institution must have PrevUKPRN set to the merged provider's UKPRN.
NLM 18 — PrevUKPRN — Successor Institution
Learners flagged with NLM 18 (MCL move) in the successor institution must have PrevUKPRN set.
NLM 18 — PrevLearnRefNumber — Successor Institution
Learners flagged with NLM 18 in the successor institution must have PrevLearnRefNumber set.
Optional Checks
These checks may surface issues but are not strict requirements for all mergers.
All Aims Closed — Merged Institution
All aims in the merged institution should have an actual end date (LearnActEndDate) recorded.
Flagged Successor Aims Present in Merged Institution
Each aim in the successor institution carrying NLM 17, NLM 18 or a PrevUKPRN value should be traceable to a matching aim (LearnRefNumber + LearnAimRef + start date) in the merged institution ILR. For cross-year mergers, or NLM 18 aims, the PrevLearnRefNumber is also used as a fallback when matching.