Subcontracting saved in final apprenticeship plans

The reversal of government plans to reduce subcontracting through its new Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers has been welcomed by Association of Employment and Learning Providers boss Mark Dawe.

A guide to the new register was unveiled by the Skills Funding Agency today.

It was supposed to be more rigorous than the existing SFA provider register – which will continue for non-apprenticeship provision.

The proposals when published in August said the main provider would need to deliver at least half the training for each apprentices themselves.

But little appears set to be changing now, with the new document stating: “At the employer’s request, and subject to their agreement, main providers will be able to bring in subcontractors to deliver whole, or parts of, frameworks or standards.”

It added: “We appreciate that maintaining the ability to subcontract will, at least for a transitional period, be important for employers and providers.

“Therefore, we will require that all approved ‘main’ providers will need to directly provide training for each employer’s apprenticeship programme that they deliver, but we will not require the main provider to deliver a significant majority of each framework or standard they contract with an employer to deliver.”

The government claimed in August the clamp-down on subcontracting was to foster direct relationships between employers and training providers.

However, the proposals produced a concerned reaction from sector bodies who argued strongly for maintenance of what many felt was a productive relationship, between prime and subcontractors, for learners and providers.

Mark Dawe, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, told FE Week today: “We are pleased that the government was true to its word and treated the apprenticeship consultation as just that – a consultation.

“While there are clearly still areas of concern, significant steps have been taken to respond to the key matters raised by AELP and its members and we welcome that.”

He added: “With regard to the provider register, sense has prevailed with a proposal around subcontracting that is actually deliverable, removing the ability to just tout funding around the system, while leaving enough flexibility to provide employer focused partnership solutions for delivery.

“The decision to exclude providers with contract values below £100k from having to join the register (they still can apply if they want to) in order to deliver apprenticeships is good news, demonstrating the true benefit of a proper consultative approach and in direct response to representations from AELP.”

At the moment, subcontractors which deliver less than £100,000 of SFA-funded provision each year do not need to apply – and, as Mr Dawe recognised, plans to change that also appear to have been dropped.

The document stated: “For the time being, we will retain the threshold, which means that organisations who want to deliver less than £100k of apprenticeship training per year as a subcontractor will not need to apply.”

Four changes in the apprenticeship announcements you need to know

This morning FE Week was the first to report that the Department for Education had released documents confirming the level of funding for apprenticeships from May 1, 2017. Click here.

The three week consultation on the provisional proposals began on the August 12 and had 892 responses, but the government had feedback via other means including FE Week’s #SaveOurApprenticeships campaign.

Key changes to the proposals in the consultation:

1. Extra 20 per cent of funding band limit for 16-18 year-olds (in addition to the £1,000 provider and £1,000 employer incentive)
FE Week and many others highlighted that moving to a ‘simplified’ single funding level would cut 16-18 rates. This is because the single rate chosen for existing frameworks was based on the much lower level of funding for adults.

In response Robert Halfon, the apprenticeships and skills minister, told FE Week: “Since announcing the proposals for apprenticeship funding, we have listened hard to all the feedback we have received to ensure people can gain the skills they need now and for the future.

“In order to help providers adapt to the new system, we are introducing an additional cash payment equal to 20 per cent of the funding band limit when they train a 16-18 year old on apprenticeship frameworks.”

Key features:

> It is 20 per cent of the upper-limit value for the framework (does not apply for standards). See framework funding bands here
> It’s a one year “transitional measure designed to support stability whilst providers adjust to the reforms”
> It will “also apply to 19-24 year olds who were formerly in care or who have an Education and Health Care plan”
> It will be funded by the Skills Funding Agency and won’t be deducted from an employer’s levy account

2. £60m of “additional support in areas of disadvantage”
When the SFA published funding proposals in August, it quietly excluded the current disadvantage uplift. This pays up to 32 per cent more funding for apprentices living in the most deprived areas (as per the Index of Multiple Deprivation). FE Week and many others pointed out not only that this would cut funding for the most disadvantage hardest and was a decision which didn’t feature in the three week consultation. Also, the three government advisory groups were told.

In response, the apprenticeship minister told FE Week: “I am committed to ensuring that, regardless of background or ability, everyone in the UK has the opportunity to benefit from an apprenticeship – whether to take their first step on the career ladder or progress within their career. That’s why we’re investing £60 million in supporting the training of apprentices from the poorest areas in the country to ensure social mobility for all.”

Key features:

> Providers will receive an additional £600 for training on a framework an apprentice who lives in the top 10 per cent of deprived areas (as per the Index of Multiple Deprivation)
> Providers will receive an additional £300 for any apprentice who lives in the next 10 per cent of deprived areas (the 10-20 per cent range)
> Providers will receive an additional £200 for those in the next 7 per cent (the 20-27 per cent range)
> “Overall, government will make available at least the same amount on disadvantage payments as under the current system of more complex uplifts”
> “These payments will come direct from the government and will not be deducted from an employer’s digital account”
> “This will be in place for the first year while we review the best ways of ensuring apprenticeships provide equal opportunity to all, regardless of their circumstances.This review will look at the role of employers, as well as training providers, and the differences in approach that may be needed in different parts of the country. We will work with Opportunity Areas to develop and test different approaches”

3. Expiry of funds in digital accounts extended from 18 to 24 months
The proposal was that levy funding would ‘sun-set’ after 18 months. In other words, an employer would lose access to a monthly fund if it was not used within 18 months.

In response, the government said: “We received feedback from employers and representative groups that a longer expiry period would help employers prepare for the new system and adapt and scale their training programmes. Employers also highlighted that many new high quality standards on which they would like to train apprentices are still being developed. Employers suggested that 24 months would be more consistent with an annual planning cycle.”

4. Softening of new provider register rules and back-peddling on subcontracting

The SFA has also today published a guide to the new Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers. This was intended to be more rigorous that the existing SFA provider register, which will continue for non-apprenticeship provision. However, the final proposals appear to have been significantly watered down.

Key features:

> Many subcontractors will not even need to be on the new register: “For the time being, we will retain the threshold, which means that organisations who want to deliver less than £100k of apprenticeship training per year as a subcontractor will not need to apply”
> Plans to force the main  provider to deliver at least half the training for each apprentice have been dropped.  Instead the government has said: “We appreciate that maintaining the ability to subcontract will, at least for a transitional period, be important for employers and providers. Therefore, we will require that all approved ‘main’ providers will need to directly provide training for each employer’s apprenticeship programme that they deliver, but we will not require the main provider to deliver a significant majority of each framework or standard they contract with an employer to deliver. At the employer’s request, and subject to their agreement, main providers will be able to bring in subcontractors to deliver whole, or parts of, frameworks or standards”
> Despite the proposals to no longer accept parent company guarantees for applications to the register, this has also been scrapped. Government now says: “during the first year, we will continue to accept parent company guarantees for applications to give providers time to adapt to the new requirement”

The document also says the new register will open for applications today: “Further details of the new register will be set out in accompanying guidance and funding rules. Our first selection of assured providers will be drawn from those who complete their applications by 5.00pm on 25 November 2016.”

More information will be shared as and when published, such as the procurement for non-levied funding and applications to the new provider register.

Documents published this morning:

> Apprenticeship funding in England from May 2017

> Apprenticeship frameworks: funding bands from May 2017

> Apprenticeship standards: funding bands from May 2017

> Supporting quality and employer choice through a new register of apprenticeship training providers

> Apprenticeship funding: how it will work

> Equality analysis: apprenticeship funding policy from May 2017

> Costs and behaviours in the 16 to 18 apprenticeship system: a report by Frontier Economics and CFE Research

> The apprenticeship levy: how will employers respond?

> Apprenticeship funding: rules and guidance for levy-paying employers

> Apprenticeship funding: draft rules for employer-providers

> Apprenticeship funding: draft rules for training providers

> Draft apprenticeship performance management rules 2017 to 2018

Final levels of apprenticeship funding revealed

This morning the government released an update to their apprenticeship reform plans, including final levels of funding for new framework and standards starts from May 1, 2017. Click here to read.

The latest information first appeared in a ministerial statement here, and follows a three week consultation on provisional plans that was published in August.

Final funding levels announced this morning include:

  • Higher funding for STEM apprenticeship frameworks and higher pricing of apprenticeship standards to support improved quality, and greater flexibility to train those with prior qualifications;
  • Longer period of time for employers to spend funds in their digital account, now with 24 months before they expire, an increase from our original proposal of just 18 months;
  • A commitment to introducing the ability for employers to transfer digital funds to other employers in their supply chains, sector or to apprenticeship training agencies in 2018, with a new employer group including the Confederation of British Industry, Federation of Small Businesses, British Chambers of Commerce, Charity Finance Group and EEF – the Manufacturers’ Organisation – to help government develop this system so that it works for employers.
  • A 90 per cent contribution from government to the cost of training for employers that will not pay the levy;
  • A 100 per cent contribution from the government to the cost of training for small employers, that will not pay the levy and who take on apprentices who are 16 to 18 years old, 19 to 24 year old care leavers, or 19 to 24 year olds with an education and health care plan;
  • £1,000 each from government to employers and training providers when they take on 16 to 18-year-olds, 19 to 24-year-olds who were in care or who have an education and health care plan;
  • Help for training providers to adapt to the new, simpler funding model through an additional cash payment equal to 20 per cent of the funding band maximum where they train 16 to 18 year olds on frameworks; and
  • A simplified version of the current system of support for people from disadvantaged areas, to ensure the opportunity to undertake an apprenticeship is open to everyone, no matter where in England they live, their background or family circumstances.

As previously reported, the rethink on 16 to 18 year-old apprenticeship funding levels is to include an “additional cash payment equal to 20 per cent of the funding band maximum” as well as a “simplified” disadvantage uplift, is an important intervention from the new apprenticeships minister, Robert Halfon.

It follows FE Week analysis and a highly successful campaign which exposed planned rate cuts of up to 50 per cent.

Applications for a new Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers (RoATP) have also launched this morning. Click here for more information.

The Department for Education has said that in “December there will be information about further employer guidance from HMRC on how to calculate and pay the apprenticeship levy.”

Documents published this morning:

> Apprenticeship funding in England from May 2017

> Apprenticeship frameworks: funding bands from May 2017

> Apprenticeship standards: funding bands from May 2017

> Supporting quality and employer choice through a new register of apprenticeship training providers

>Apprenticeship funding: how it will work

> Equality analysis: apprenticeship funding policy from May 2017

> Costs and behaviours in the 16 to 18 apprenticeship system: a report by Frontier Economics and CFE Research

> The apprenticeship levy: how will employers respond?

> Apprenticeship funding: rules and guidance for levy-paying employers

> Apprenticeship funding: draft rules for employer-providers

> Apprenticeship funding: draft rules for training providers

> Draft apprenticeship performance management rules 2017 to 2018

FREE webinar on the apprenticeship reforms with Nick Linford, author of the Complete Guide to Funding Apprenticeships
>27 October 14:00- 1500 – To register click here

Workshops on the apprenticeship reforms with Nick Linford and the Skills Funding Agency
> 4 November in London – To find out more and register click here  
> 8 November in Liverpool – To find out more and register click here
> 9 November in Birmingham – To find out more and register click here

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Two more UTCs struggling: one planning to become a secondary, the other facing takeover

A university technical college with low pupil numbers has been ditched by its sponsor for costing too much, while recruitment problems in another has forced it to consider converting into a secondary school.

Bright Futures Educational Trust (BFET) is relinquishing sponsorship of Wigan UTC as it can no longer afford the 14-19 institution.

The UTC has been open three years but currently has just 65 pupils on roll, despite a capacity for 500.

Meanwhile, Bolton UTC – ten miles from Wigan – is consulting community members over a planned change that would allow pupils to enter from age 11 instead of 14.

If agreed, it would be the sixth UTC of 48 to close since the model was launched in 2010.

Dana Ross-Wawrzynki, chief executive of BFET who oversees Wigan UTC, said: “In the present climate in Wigan where other schools do not support the transfer of their pupils to a UTC at the end of key stage 3, it became very obvious that it would be a long and uphill battle to secure a full house of 500 students for a very long time.

“BFET does not have the finances to keep funding the UTC over several years in the hope that its reputation will bring more students.”

It would be a long and uphill battle to secure a full house of 500 students for a very long time

The trust, which runs nine schools, took over the UTC in March last year following a turbulent couple of years in which the UTC was graded as inadequate. It has since been rated good by Ofsted.

The trust asked Vicky Beer, regional schools commissioner for Lancashire and West Yorkshire, if the UTC could convert to an 11 to 19 science, technology, engineering and maths school.

But Ross-Wawrzynki said Beer refused without giving the reasons for her decision – and despite a new secondary school needed to match a demand for places.

Instead, Beer is seeking a new sponsor and negotiations are ongoing.

Ross-Wawrzynki added: “We have not only lost a great school, but have been left with a debt due to the low numbers at the college.

“BFET is working closely with the sponsor to enable a seamless handover.”

Meanwhile UTC Bolton plans to become University Academy Bolton.

It opened in September last year and had 241 pupils on roll in January, although it has capacity for 600.

According to its website, the college sponsors “collected evidence” about the demand for year 7 entry in 2014, but went ahead with starting enrolment from age 14.

Local authority figures for the area indicate an expected shortage of 48 secondary school places in 2017, rising to more than 170 by 2018.

UTC Bolton said that given the emerging shortage of secondary school places it believed the “time was now right” to widen the admission arrangements and proposed a three-form entry year 7 intake from next September. It would retain a focus on specialist science.

If Bolton UTC does become a secondary school, it will join UTC Lancashire, Central Bedfordshire UTC, Hackney UTC and Black Country UTC – which all shut citing low student numbers and consequent lack of financial viability.

The proposals come less than a month after Greenwich council announced it was spending £13 million to convert Royal Greenwich UTC in south London into a secondary school.

First evidence session grilling for Halfon on apprenticeships

The first parliamentary evidence session grilling for apprenticeships and skills minister Robert Halfon will take place on Wednesday (November 2).

The Sub-Committee on Education, Skills and the Economy hearing, starting at 9.30am, will be dedicated to apprenticeships.

It is highly likely that Mr Halfon’s appearance will come after the government has updated the sector on apprenticeship reform plans, including final levels of funding for new framework and standards starts from May 1 2017, which is expected in the coming days.

FE Week understands the Skills Funding Agency has gone some way to address framework rate cuts exposed by FE Week back in August, which provoked our #SaveOurApprenticeships campaign, in these final plans.

Mr Halfon (pictured above) is set for a busy week – as the sub-committee hearing will take place a day after a special parliamentary debate requested by Labour MP David Lammy on the planned cuts, which will also see the minister fielding questions.

FE Week’s analysis published in August of the planned government funding rates, showed that apprenticeship funding rates could be slashed by up to 50 per cent for 16- to 18-year-olds in some of the nation’s most deprived areas.

Mr Halfon called for the funding plans to be viewed in the context of a better “new world” – after the switch from old apprenticeship frameworks to new employer-led standards, and next April’s levy launch – in his speech at the parliamentary launch for #SaveOurApprenticeships back in September.

However, he conceded, “we need to look at all of those figures and we are”.

Senior Department for Education officials also indicated that they will go at least some way to reversing the proposed huge funding cuts, during a Public Accounts Committee hearing two weeks ago.

Jonathan Slater, permanent secretary to the DfE, said that getting the funding rate correct for young people from deprived areas “is one of the most active debates we’ve been working through” and that “we’re doing our best to get that right”.

He added this issue was “a very strong point that’s been made during the consultation phase and how we get that right is one of the most active debates we’ve been working through”.

FE commissioner to face questions on area reviews

Sir David Collins is to face a grilling from MPs on the progress of the area reviews of post-16 education and training next week.

The outgoing FE commissioner will be giving evidence to the education select committee’s area reviews inquiry on Wednesday morning.

The evidence session will focus on the progress, effectiveness and impact on the FE sector of the government’s on-going programme of reviews.

Sir David, who is due to retire in November, has had overall responsibility for the reviews since they began in September 2015.

As previously reported by FE Week, many of the early reviews have been subject to long delays – with some taking more than nine months.

But the FE commissioner told FE Week’s area review summit in July that all the areas in wave one and a number of those in wave two had completed.

And a recent letter from Sir David to college chairs and principals, dated August 25 but published by the Department for Education on Wednesday, acknowledged the early delays but said they had not been repeated in later waves.

Other witnesses at Wednesday’s evidence session will include Andy Wilson, chief executive of the WKCIC Group – formed through the merger of Westminster Kingsway and City and Islington colleges – and Angela Joyce, group principal of the Warwickshire College Group.

Also giving evidence at the session will be Theresa Grant, Trafford council chief executive.

Ms Grant chaired the Greater Manchester area review, which was subject to long delays and deep tensions between the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and the colleges involved.

 

City of Liverpool College placed in administered status by ‘extremely concerned’ minister

Administered status has been imposed on City of Liverpool College by apprenticeships and skills minister Robert Halfon, who is “extremely concerned” about its decision to dispute being referred to the FE Commissioner for a second round of intervention.

Mr Halfon wrote to chair of the board of City of Liverpool College Peter Grieve on October 19, 2016, following a recent ‘stocktake assessment’ by the FE Commissioner, Sir David Collins.

He noted in the letter that former skills minister Nick Boles had also written to the college on May 18, and “made clear that it is not acceptable that the college has failed to deliver sustained improvement over a prolonged period”.

City of Liverpool then became the first institution to be re-referred to the FE Commissioner, following as a result of long standing quality and more recent financial failings.

Mr Halfon said he was “extremely concerned by the college’s response” since receiving Mr Boles’ letter, because “rather than focussing on securing improvement you have sought to challenge the commissioner process and spent college funds on engaging lawyers”.

He added that the government has already provided £2m of exceptional financial support to the college, as a result of its poor financial management this year.

This led to the FE commissioner’s stocktake not being completed, for the first time in any college since the intervention process was established in 2013.

Being placed into administered status will now mean that a member of the Skills Funding Agency’s local team will observe all of the college’s board meetings and the college will be required to consult the SFA about any significant changes to its operations or finances.

Mr Halfon said: “In considering the college’s position my priority must be the needs of the young people and adult learners in Liverpool … Since 2011 around 100,000 students have studied at the college and the provision it has offered has not been good enough. This failure cannot be allowed to continue.”

Back in 2009 City of Liverpool College was inspected by Ofsted and was rated ‘outstanding’.

However, after the appointment of the current principal in 2011, it fell to ‘inadequate’ in 2013.

It moved up to ‘requires improvement’ after intervention from the commissioner and his advisers in 2013 and managed to maintain that grade through to its latest inspection in November 2015.

But in his letter Mr Halfon described City of Liverpool College’s financial problems as “severe”.

He highlighted that the commissioner’s assessment of the college in April indicated leadership members had not exercised adequate financial oversight, while the recent, incomplete stocktake found that the board had not properly managed the senior leaders or held them to account.

“Financial mismanagement is not simply a matter of hitting annual budgets, but of proper financial planning which enables the college to invest in outcomes and quality,” he said.

The college exited its previous FE Commissioner intervention in December 2014.

The intervention team is now set to conduct a full assessment of the college’s position in November, when the latest accounts become available.

Mr Halfon commented: “At that assessment I have asked the team to explicitly consider taking into account local stakeholder views of how the executive team and governing body can be strengthened. The assessment will both review recent progress, and consider the college’s longer term record.”

Responding to the minister’s decision to place the college into administered status, Mr Grieve said: “It is important to emphasise that this will not affect day-to-day operations or impact on students or the quality of the education they receive.

“We are disappointed in the government’s decision given the progress which has been made, especially when one considers our progress against the backdrop of an £8 million funding cut last year.”

He added: “The outcomes for our students continue to improve and we are now achieving parity with national rates for 16 to 18-year-olds and those aged 19 and over.

“The college is subject to the same funding pressures as many other public sector organisations but our financial situation is also improving and we are confident that we have the right plans and leadership team in place so that we can continue to play a key role in supporting the economic growth of the city region.”

City of Liverpool’s FE commissioner intervention report from August was one of four to be publicly released this week. 

Strike cancelled after college gives compulsory redundancy assurance

Planned strike action at Hull College has been called off, after bosses gave assurances that there would not be compulsory redundancies.

The strike had been due to take place yesterday (October 20) after being postponed from last week (October 13).

But the University and College Union decided not to go ahead following “positive talks”, and no further strikes are planned.

Julie Kelley, UCU regional official, said: “Strike action is always a last resort and we are pleased that on this occasion we have been able to negotiate a resolution which avoids the need for industrial action.”

A Hull College spokesperson said: “Following positive consultation with our recognised trade unions Hull College Group has achieved the required savings it needs to make through a voluntary and redeployment process, negating any need for compulsory redundancies for academic or support staff.”

The row follows the college’s announcement that it would make around 70 redundancies and close its three nurseries before the end of the year, to address a £2.6 million deficit.

A ballot that closed on September 30 resulted in almost nine in 10 UCU members (86 per cent) who voted backing strike action, while 96 per cent backed action short of a strike.

Staff had been due to walk out on October 13, but the union announced the day before that it was suspending the action as there was a chance of reaching agreement without striking.

At the time the strike was announced a college spokesperson had said it was “in consultation with trade unions and staff regarding a proposed redundancy programme.

“The group is also in the process of recruiting up to 45 new jobs as part of our highly successful HCUK Training commercial arm as we significantly grow our apprenticeship and commissioned work to employers.

“All of these new roles and jobs are being offered as redeployment opportunities for staff which will significantly mitigate job losses.”

Since 2011, the college has seen 385 job losses through redundancy, according to the UCU.

A previous strike in May, over pay and a controversial new lesson observation system, ended in a payrise for staff and an end to the no-notice observations.

Karl Turner, MP for Kingston upon Hull and former shadow attorney general, had joined college workers on the picket line five months ago supporting the dispute over pay and the lesson observation system.

He ended up calling for an investigation into the college’s chief executive Gary Warke, after he was allegedly sent a “threatening and derogatory” letter.

The MP uploaded a copy of the letter to his blog, in which Mr Warke allegedly wrote to “express my sincere disappointment that you chose to address striking UCU members without the courtesy of informing me”, adding: “We find your actions, two days before local elections, highly inappropriate and disrespectful to the Hull College Group.”

Speaking ahead of the planned strike ballot in September, Mr Turner told FE Week that “redundancies have become a yearly exercise at Hull College, which will not help staff morale”.

He said: “It is deplorable that many staff found out about redundancies during the summer holidays, reducing their ability to organise effectively, and have an input in the consultation period.”

National programme launched to boost apprenticeship end-point assessment

The government has launched a new programme to tackle the shortage of end-point assessors in apprenticeships, after FE Week reported that almost 60 per cent of apprenticeship standards cleared so far don’t have an approved assessment organisation.

The new large-scale scheme is funded by the Department for Education and commissioned by the Education and Training Foundation, with the aim of improving capacity to deliver independent end-point assessment in apprenticeships. 

It will be co-managed by the Association of Employment and Learning Providers and the Strategic Development Network and ultimately will work towards building up to a critical mass of end-point assessors. 

The launch follows FE Week analysis of a Skills Funding Agency update on October 12, which revealed that there are only 63 standards with an approved organisation to do the end-point assessment.

That’s out of 147 standards that have been granted final approval by the government and are therefore available for learners to start on.

The revelation provoked Dr Sue Pember, who stood down as the civil service head of further education and skills investment in February 2013, to comment: “It is diabolical to let an apprentice start a programme, without explaining not only what the end test will contain, but where it will be, what shape it will take and who will be the organisation to oversee and manage the process.”

However, from November, the DfE and ETF programme will look to address the problem by offering 15 workshop packages across the country, with the intention of helping organisations to understand the opportunities better and decide on their role in end-point assessment.

This will be followed by further workshops to help organisations become an approved Apprenticeship Assessment Organisation and prepare them to actually deliver the end-point assessment.

The first phase of the programme will include the development of eight industry-focused ‘Professional Dialogue Groups’ to explore the knowledge, skills and resources that are required by end-point assessors.

The findings will then be used in putting together guidance and materials for end-point assessors and will inform a programme of support to be rolled out in 2017.

Alison Morris (pictured right), heaalison-morrisd of technical and vocational education and training at ETF, said: “The introduction of independent end-point assessment is a substantial change to apprenticeships.

“Organisations and individuals will need to develop their capacity, knowledge, skills and resources to deliver end-point assessment successfully.”

She added: “This programme has been designed to meet that need – supporting individuals to develop to become end-point assessors; and leaders / managers to develop their organisations to deliver end-point assessment.”

But unrest over end-point assessment remains rife in the sector at present, with the issue being raised in both a meeting of the Sub-Committee on Education, Skills and the Economy and at the Federation of Awarding Bodies conference just this week. 

Peter Lauener, chief executive of the Skills Funding Agency, Education Funding Agency and the Institute for Apprenticeships, revealed to the Sub-Committee that the SFA has had to “knock-back” a number of applications to the register of apprenticeship assessment organisations because their plans for end-point assessment were not up to scratch.

Meanwhile Paul Eeles, the new chair of the FAB, called on Ofqual chief Sally Collier to play a stronger role in addressing the shortage of end-point assessment organisations.

Some may be encouraged by the fact that the new programme will be bringing together a wide range of partners in its attempt to tackle the issue, including the Association of Colleges, 157 Group, HOLEX (Dr Pember’s own organisation), the Federation of Industry Sector Skills and Standards, the University Vocational Awards Council, the Federation of Awarding Bodies, the Learning and Work Institute, City & Guilds and Cambridge Assessment.

The consortium will form an expert ‘Reference Group’ to advise on programme activities and content, to make sure the programme is relevant to all potential AAOs and staff.

Mike Cox, programme director at AELP, said: “We’re at a critical juncture in the apprenticeship reforms – an increasing number of apprentices are starting on the new standards, and frameworks are starting to be switched off.

“It is clear that significant end-point assessment capacity is required. The programme will help to drive this forward, ensuring high-quality AAOs are in place to meet demand and help secure the success of future apprenticeships.”

At £200 per person, interested organisations can book onto the first ‘Apprenticeship end-point assessment – deciding on your organisation’s involvement’ workshop packages here.