‘Outstanding’ provider exits apprenticeships and bootcamps

'Market attractiveness' forces Avado to switch focus to AI

'Market attractiveness' forces Avado to switch focus to AI

8 Sep 2023, 12:00

An Ofsted grade one apprenticeship provider has pulled out of apprenticeship delivery and government-funded skill bootcamps due to a change in “market attractiveness”.

Avado Apprenticeships Limited, formerly known as BC Arch Limited, is switching its focus to growing business lines of “professional qualifications and AI technology software as a service (SaaS) products”.

The company, which was one of the largest providers of apprenticeships in England with 1,350 starts in 2021/22, has seen its turnover and profit drop in recent years.

Avado Apprenticeships’ latest financial report, for 2021, shows turnover dropped 29 per cent that year (from £16.9 million to £12 million) and gross profit went down from 53 to 29 per cent, “largely due to the increase in subcontractor costs for new standards”.

Avado then decided to “make a strategic exit from low value and less profitable HR apprenticeship courses”, with a focus instead on “more sustainable and profitable data, marketing and agility academies”.

It decided to exit apprenticeships altogether last month.

The provider also began delivering government-funded skills bootcamps last year in digital and data skills but is now pulling out. However, it will continue to support corporate-funded data and digital bootcamps.

Multiple other big providers have pulled out of apprenticeships and bootcamps in recent years due to unsustainable funding rates offered by the government.

Lee Arthur, chair of Avado, said: “There are fundamental changes in education delivery we expect to be brought about by AI technologies. Our decision was a strategic decision based on market attractiveness. There are several more attractive markets.

“We feel we could move faster in those markets and help more learners by exiting apprenticeships. We are quickly developing and deploying several AI-edtech assessment and virtual coaching technologies.”

He added: “We remain strong supporters and advocates of the apprenticeship ideal, and of all the people who work tirelessly in this field both in government and private sector – to give opportunities to people to build a career and learn their craft on the job.”

Avado Apprenticeships was originally formed as Arch Apprenticeships (BC Arch Limited) by parent company Blenheim Chalcot LTF Limited – one of the UK’s biggest venture builders and private equity specialists – in 2012.

Its aim was to address the sorts of digital skills gaps the firm was seeing in its tech start-ups. Blenheim Chalcot, which was also behind software giant Agilisys, has offices in India, South Africa and the US.

Run through the Avado Group Ltd (registered in Jersey), Avado saw itself as one of the largest government-authorised apprenticeship training providers. It supported more than 8,000 apprentices  over the past nine years and helped develop the UK’s first digital marketing apprenticeship.

Latest education roles from

Director of Governance – HRUC

Director of Governance – HRUC

FEA

Principal and CEO

Principal and CEO

Hills Road Sixth Form College

Senior Quality Officer

Senior Quality Officer

University of Lancashire

Chief Financial Officer

Chief Financial Officer

Minerva Learning Trust

Sponsored posts

Sponsored post

Funding Is Flowing, Demand Is Rising — It’s Time for FE to Deliver on Green Skills

As the UK races toward net zero, the government says it wants to back 2 million green jobs by...

Advertorial
Sponsored post

Helping every learner use AI responsibly

AI didn’t wait to be invited into the classroom. It burst in mid-lesson. Across UK colleges, learners are already...

Advertorial
Sponsored post

Supporting the UK’s Transport Decarbonisation Plan Through Skills

The UK Government’s Decarbonising Transport: A Better, Greener Britain strategy sets a legally binding path towards a net-zero transport...

Advertorial
Sponsored post

Project power: ASDAN expands its qualifications portfolio

From 2026, ASDAN’s planned Foundation and Higher Project Qualifications will sit alongside its Extended Project Qualification[CM1] , creating a complete...

Advertorial

More from this theme

Apprenticeships, Ofsted

‘One bad employer’ blamed for provider’s ‘inadequate’ Ofsted result

Inspectors found few apprentices released from work for off-the-job training

Anviksha Patel
Apprenticeships

Unqualified apprentices could pass under assessment reforms, employers warn

Skills England pauses pilot of changes after construction leaders claim 'sampling' plans will lead to a 'race to the...

Billy Camden
Apprenticeships

Civil service misses own apprenticeships goal

New FOI data also shows government failed to hire enough apprentices from disadvantaged backgrounds

Anviksha Patel
Apprenticeships

Revealed: DfE’s special payments to providers after funding blunder

Wheels in motion for convoy of claims after unprecedented payouts

Billy Camden

Your thoughts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *