A new level 2 administration assistant apprenticeship standard has been assigned a provisional funding band of £6,000, the standard’s trailblazer group chairs have revealed.
Approval of the standard has been subject to a lengthy campaign after its popular predecessor business administration apprenticeship framework was switched off in 2020.
The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education’s (IfATE) route panel and approvals committee have now approved the standard, its funding rate and end point assessment plan.
In an email to the trailblazer group this week, seen by FE Week, trailblazer group chairs Lisa Shepherdson, apprenticeship manager at Hull City Council, and Sharon Blyfield, head of early careers and apprenticeships at Coca Cola Europacific Partners, celebrated gaining “formal confirmation”.
They called the £6,000 funding rate “encouraging”, although this figure – which is higher than the £5,000 level 3 business administrator funding band – is indicative and may well be subject to change.
Apprentices start in September?
The group now hopes for final sign off by the education secretary within the next twelve weeks, in time for the start of the new academic year.
Speaking to FE Week, Bylfield said: “The reason why this is such a journey but so important is when we look at opportunities for those who haven’t been as academically strong, the original level 2 framework had a high volume of uptake.
“If you’re not academically strong and want to start a career or job role, you’ve got to be able to have a route that allows that.
“We all know apprenticeships are a great platform to build that foundation.”
Until now, IfATE has rejected the new level 2 standard, arguing that it failed to meet requirements about duration and quality, and it overlapped with its level 3 equivalent.
Byfield said the group worked to ensure the new standard was “absolutely clear” on its purpose, its knowledge, skills and behaviours, and that the separation with level 3 was unambiguous.
She added: “There were lots of different views, to get to this we had to do a lot of influencing with current and former IfATE colleagues to demonstrate its value.”
More than 900 private and public sector organisations took part in a survey informing the trailblazer group of the skills and behaviours needed from the standard and get it over the line, with 99 per cent supportive of its current form, FE Week understands.
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