Billy Camden | FE Week

Apprenticeship off-the-job calculation change? Wait for further clarification

There has been some confusion about the off-the-job training funding rule since it was introduced for all apprenticeship starts on frameworks and standards since May 2017, particularly how to calculate the minimum 20 per cent hours. The ESFA has worked hard to help providers understand what counts as eligible activities and the associated calculation of […]

Apprenticeship quality not improving, says Ofsted chief inspector

The quality of apprenticeships is “sticking” instead of moving forward, according to Ofsted’s chief inspector who today urged the sector to “improve”. Amanda Spielman (pictured) delivered a keynote speech on day one of FE Week’s Annual Apprenticeship Conference and provided delegates with an update about what the education watchdog is finding during inspections. She said […]

Monthly apprenticeships update: January starts up 15% but down 21% on 2017

Apprenticeship starts for January are up 15 per cent on last year but down 21 per cent on the same month in 2017 before the levy was introduced, new government figures have revealed. There have been 29,100 starts recorded so far in January 2019, compared with 36,700 in January 2017 and 25,400 in January 2018, […]

ESFA says 30 hour cap to off-the-job calculation has always been in funding rules

The Education and Skills Funding Agency has insisted that an apparent change it made to the off-the-job training policy last week has always existed and does not contradict the funding rules. As reported by FE Week yesterday, providers were left baffled after the agency updated its ‘apprenticeship off the-job training policy background and examples’ document […]

Annual Apprenticeships Conference 2019 gets underway

Colleges, training providers and employers have flooded to Birmingham for the Annual Apprenticeships Conference (AAC) 2019 which officially gets underway this morning. Across two days the conference, in partnership with the Department for Education and now in its fifth year, will provide over 1,200 delegates with an opportunity to access vital updates on apprenticeships policy […]

ESFA appears to have changed the apprenticeship off-the-job calculation – again

The government appears to have changed the off-the-job (OTJ) training rule again, and is now telling providers they should cap the 20 per cent calculation based on 30 hours per week. The unexpected change, made in an ESFA ‘apprenticeship off the-job training policy background and examples’ document released last Thursday, contradicts the official apprenticeship funding […]

Providers of management apprenticeships to be increasingly audited for proof they are ‘additive’, MPs told

The boss of the Education and Skills Funding Agency has promised MPs that management apprenticeships will be “increasingly” audited to ensure they are “additive” amid fears they offer little value for public money. During last night’s Public Accounts Committee hearing on apprenticeships Eileen Milner (pictured) was asked if she was concerned at the increase in […]

Top DfE official tells PAC of difficult decisions to avoid apprenticeship levy overspend

The Department for Education’s top civil servant has admitted “hard choices” will need to be made in the face of an imminent apprenticeship budget overspend. Jonathan Slater, the department’s permanent secretary, was one of a number high-profile government officials quizzed by the Public Accounts Committee this afternoon on the affordability of the apprenticeship programme. Asked […]

HMRC investigations into levy underpayments more than doubles in a year

The number of HMRC investigations into the underpayment of the apprenticeship levy at big employers has more than doubled in a year, according to an accountancy group. Figures obtained by UHY Hacker Young from the tax office show that 84 investigations were carried out in 2018-19, compared to 33 in 2017-18. As a result, HMRC […]