Ofsted will not inspect apprenticeship units until at least April 2027

Ofsted will not inspect apprenticeship unit provision until April 2027 at the earliest, it has been announced.

The Department for Work and Pensions and Ofsted have today agreed not to bring the new short courses into scope for at least a year to allow providers time to develop and embed “effective” models.

In an update to FE providers this afternoon, the government said the timeline will allow DWP and the education watchdog to consider the design of an “appropriate” quality framework.

The inspection breathing room reflects the “distinctive nature” of apprenticeship units and will ensure quality oversight is “proportionate”, the update added.

From now until April 2027, DWP and the Department for Education will monitor units with a “light touch” and will 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, will have begun 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 who already have strong performance in the occupational standards from which units are drawn.

But FE Week analysis recently showed the selected group of training providers include those with achievement rates landing below 50 per cent.

Providers also previously warned low funding rates, a milestone payment model and “poor design” could put them off signing up to deliver apprenticeship units.