Almost 75 per cent of applicants to the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers were successful, the Skills Funding Agency has revealed.

The full list of providers on the new register has finally been published by the agency (click to download full list), almost 24 hours after providers began to learn their fate via the SFA’s e-tendering portal.

A total of 1,708 providers made the grade, out of 2,327 applications.

 

Table a breakdown detailing number of applicants by provider type to RoATP

The news will come as a relief to those on the register, as it means they now have the green light to deliver apprenticeships to levy-paying employers from May.

But providers that submitted an ITT to deliver apprenticeships to non-levy paying employers still have to wait to learn if they’ve been successful.

The results of that procurement exercise, which were also expected today, are now due to be “made available to applicants as soon as possible after the publication of the Register”,  the DfE said today in a statement.

Apprenticeships and skills minister Robert Halfon said: “Giving employers control over their apprenticeships needs and funding is an essential feature of our plan to create an apprenticeships and skills nation. 

“Our new register of apprenticeship providers will mean that only organisations that have passed our quality assurance can deliver apprenticeships.

 “We are giving employers the confidence to do business with high quality training providers, and making sure that individuals can benefit from gold-standard routes as they climb the ladder of opportunity.”

As previously reported by FE Week, there were 2,327 applications to the register – 1,753 via the main route, together with 336 via the supporting route and 238 via the employer provider route.

The main route is for providers to be able to deliver training directly to levy paying employers, while the supporting route is for providers who only want to act as a subcontractor for providers on the main route.

Providers started to post on twitter this afternoon that their organisation had been successful

Employers that want to be able to deliver apprenticeships to their own staff could apply via the employer provider route.

Employer providers can only deliver training to their own employees, while providers on the supporting route cannot approach levy-paying employers directly. 

The publication of the full register today comes after the SFA shared the register results with applicants via the Bravo eTendering portal on Monday (March 13).

Social media posts by successful applicants showed their relief at finally knowing they had made it onto the register.

“We did it!!!! @LetMePlayUK made it onto the REGISTER OF APPRENTICESHIP TRAINING PROVIDERS #RoATP – we are so happy right now!!!!”

Initial applications to join the RoATP, which providers have to be on if they want to deliver apprenticeship starts from May 1, closed on November 25.

Of the 1,753 providers that applied via the main route just 1,310 – or 75 per cent – also applied to deliver training to smaller, non-levy paying employers.

This meant that 25 per cent of providers turned down the opportunity to receive an allocation to deliver apprenticeships to companies that won’t be subject to the levy.

The register will open for applications on a quarterly basis, with the next window being later in March, the DfE said.

 

 

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12 Comments

  1. Kevin Rowland

    Very pleased to be on the register, looking forward to meeting the needs of the employers and employees who will take up the offer of an Apprenticeship.

  2. Yes, we made it too! However, message on Bravo this evening re. ITT says that results are delayed and “a new timetable for results” will be published shortly. Not great, given there are less than 8 weeks until May 1st

  3. Malcolm Armstrong

    What about the 25% who didn’t make it? There are a number of excellent providers with decades of history, good Ofsted grades and well above average achievement rates who are not on the register (we are by the way). A simple mistake in the application / tender and the SFA computer says ‘no!’. There should have been a sense check built in to avoid good providers being rejected. I suspect they realise this which is why they have brought forward the next round of tenders. I wouldn’t be surprised if the turnaround is much quicker and the register is updated in May.

  4. Andrew H

    Very Happy for all those who made it through, but still unsure how you pass a quality assurance check with a Grade 4 ofsted report. I did a quick random check of 18 providers on the list 10 had a grade 2, 3 have no ofsted report, 1 was 10 years ago and 4 are inadequate all within the last 12 months. As an employer that wouldn’t fill me with confidence !

    • Ex_SFA_Staffer

      Conversely I am aware of at least one provider with a very recent Ofsted judgement of Outstanding for their Apprenticeship provision who have failed RoATP purely on the basis of their response to Q10 which is about quality and the learner/employer experience. Clearly the SFA feels it is better placed to make this sort of judgement than Ofsted! What a shambles.

  5. Jack M

    Most complicated process that will generate no more apprenticeships for our young people. If you look at the list you see Scottish Universities who are going to deliver only to those already in work and wish to undertake a degree. This is surely a waste of money and the government have no idea what they are trying to achieve except to say millions of apprenticeship starts which is a shame.

  6. Carol Flynn

    Poole hospital NHS Foundation trust education department are delighted in their successful application to go onto the register of apprenticeship training as a main provider.

  7. We (Azesta) are delighted to be accepted as a main provider and have our first apprenticeships starting in September this year! Really fab to have government support that enables more robust training programmes and assessment. Looking forward to delivering lots of leadership and management apprenticeships! In response to earlier comments, never been close to bankruptcy, never had an Ofsted but we would ace it with our experiential and accelerated learning and our very detailed processes in the background 🙂