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14 April 2026

Tag: end-point assessment

Five principles that should underpin quality assessment

It has never been more crucial that we ensure that we have the best regime possible to assess quality, says Sir Gerry Berragan, chief executive of the Institute for Apprenticeships & Technical Education Our mission at the Institute for Apprenticeships & Technical Education is to develop high-quality apprenticeships and technical qualifications in order to transform […]

IfA and ESFA in listening mode about apprenticeship concerns at FAB conference

The bosses of the Institute for Apprenticeships and the Education and Skills Funding Agency were in listening mode today, as they acknowledged there were points they needed to “learn from” about apprenticeship assessment. Sir Gerry Berragan and Eileen Milner’s speeches on the second day of the Federation of Awarding Bodies conference followed a panel discussion […]

Ofqual survey into perceptions of vocational qualifications: 7 key findings

New research by Ofqual has revealed worryingly low levels of understanding among employers of key elements the government’s apprenticeship reforms . Its survey looked at perceptions of vocational and technical qualifications among 3,000 employers, learners and training providers. It will allow the exams regulator to “measure changes in levels of understanding and perceived value over time” amid ongoing […]

EPA assessor capacity: Will England be able to cope in the long-term?

By 2020, when the apprenticeship reforms will have taken full effect, there are likely to be around 500,000 end-point assessments carried out every year. Sally Collier, chief regulator at exams watchdog Ofqual, told a room full of training providers at the Association of Employment and Learning Providers’ conference in June, that she was “concerned” over […]

Only Ofqual should be allowed to regulate apprenticeship standards

Trailblazers can choose the body that regulates their apprenticeship standard. Only one of these is actually qualified to do so, argues Rob May Every major skills policy at some point promises to “put employers in the driving seat”. For a department labouring under policy amnesia this has been the rhetoric of reform for at least […]

Apprenticeship end-point assessment crisis exposed

The Institute for Apprenticeships has rejected concerns about apprentices being unable to graduate – accusing people who raise them as simply “inflammatory”. FE Week was first to raise the issue of a lack of end-point assessments back in 2016, but are the apprentices really affected? We spoke to scores of providers and employers, and our […]

What lessons can we learn from end-point assessments?

End-point assessment is a vital part of any apprenticeship, and Thomas Burton explains how to get it right. The government wants its trailblazer apprenticeship reforms to have independent end-point assessment (EPA) to drive up productivity. Seen as a vital source of ammunition in the nation’s economic arsenal, the reforms are designed to redress a skills […]

End-point assessment: what colleges and training providers need to know

Based on her upcoming research, Sallyann Baldry explains how colleges and training providers should be preparing for end-point assessment End-point assessment is the testing at the end of an apprenticeship that is set, administered, marked and graded by an organisation that wasn’t involved in its delivery, either as training provider or employer. Each standard has […]