Listen to this story Members can listen to an AI-generated audio version of this article. 1.0x Audio narration uses an AI-generated voice. 0:00 0:00 Become a member to listen to this article Subscribe Ofsted will not inspect apprenticeship unit provision until next April at the earliest. In an agreement with the Department for Work and Pensions, the education watchdog will not bring the new short courses into scope for at least a year to give providers time to develop and embed “effective” models. The government said the timeline would allow the DWP and education watchdog to consider the design of an “appropriate” quality framework. The move reflects the “distinctive nature” of apprenticeship units and will ensure quality oversight is “proportionate”, the update to FE providers added. From now until April 2027, the DWP and Department for Education will monitor units with a “light touch” and exclude results from qualification achievement rates. “As the test-and-learn phase progresses, further detail will be published on how apprenticeship units will be incorporated into the apprenticeship accountability framework in a proportionate and flexible way,” the update said. Delivery on apprenticeship units, the government’s new flagship short course route, begins this month. Units are part of Labour’s reformed growth and skills levy – marking the first time that levy funds can be used for non-apprenticeship training. Ten short courses have been launched so far, ranging from AI leadership to battery manufacturing, lasting between 30 and 140 hours each. Skills England limited the initial delivery to a “targeted” group of existing apprenticeship providers that already had strong performance in the occupational standards from which the units are drawn. But FE Week analysis showed the group includes those with achievement rates of below 50 per cent. Providers also warned low funding rates, a milestone payment model and “poor design” could deter them from delivering apprenticeship units.