The register of apprenticeship training providers will open for a third time starting on Monday, FE Week can reveal, and the window will last for one month.
An email from the Department for Education said applications would “reopen for applications on Monday, 25 September”.
“This reopening will close on Friday, 27 October,” it continued. “This opening is open to all organisations, including those organisations that have not previously been successful.
“If you have already been successful in your application to the RoATP, you do not need to reapply as this opening is not a refresh.”
This is the third time the register has opened for applications.
The first window ran for a month in November 2016, while the second window opened in March – just days after the first register was published.
That first register prompted shock across the sector as many established providers – including all of Birmingham’s general FE colleges – failed to make it on, while large numbers of new, untested providers were successful.
Although many of those who failed first time around made it onto the second register, published in May, a number of one-man bands also made it on – including one provider with no previous experience, and no registered office address except for a semi-detached house in Birmingham.
In June, the apprenticeships and skills minister Anne Milton announced that the register would not open for new applications while the new procurement process for delivering apprenticeships to non-levy payers was open.
That process closed on September 8.
Click here for more on how to apply to the register (gov.uk)
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