Institute for Apprenticeships

Employers clash with Institute for Apprenticeships over FE teacher funding bands

The group developing three long-delayed FE teaching standards is in a bitter stand-off with the Institute for Apprenticeships, claiming the funding bands on offer represent just half what these standards would cost to deliver. The three standards, ranging between levels three and level five, have been in development since 2015. They were recently assigned funding […]

Anne Milton hasn’t met the IfA’s apprentice panel in its first year

The skills minister has still not met with the Institute for Apprenticeships’ panel of apprentices – more than 12 months after it was established. The panel, which first met last April, is made up of current or recent apprentices who discuss issues from the learner’s perspective and raise with the main IfA board. Shadow skills […]

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 […]

‘Last resort’ IfA quality assures almost half of all apprenticeship standards

The Institute for Apprenticeships is now the external quality-assurance provider for a massive 45 per cent of all fully-approved apprenticeship standards, even though it sees itself as the option of last resort. This makes it by far the most popular option among employer groups developing the new apprenticeships, through a service provided on its behalf […]

IfA boss hits back at ‘vested interests’ against apprentice reforms

The Institute for Apprenticeships’ new boss has hit back at “vested interests” who he claims want to see the reform process fail. Sir Gerry Berragan was speaking today at an Ofqual conference for vocational education awarding organisations in Birmingham. He admitted that some criticism levelled at the IfA, which launched last April, was “fair”, but […]

Qualifications in apprenticeship standards: IfA rule changes aren’t enough

The sector cheered when the IfA said it would allow qualifications in standards once again, but not all is as it seems, according to Anthony Elgey, who has been involved in several trailblazers in the mineral products industry It seems the sector’s celebrations over this week’s Institute for Apprenticeships announcement, that qualifications would be permitted […]

IfA approves quality assurer that is scheduled to close

A company approved to provide external quality assurance for digital apprenticeships will fold in September, in a situation described as an “unworkable short-term solution”. The Institute for Apprenticeships approved the Tech Partnership for the role in December, two months after it announced plans to shut up shop. The IfA also confirmed that if no suitable […]

Sir Gerry Berragan, Chief executive, Institute for Apprenticeships

The new boss of the Institute for Apprenticeships is not giving anything away. After 37 years in the military, Sir Gerry Berragan seems more comfortable dealing in facts than stories about his life. But this might be just the kind of discipline the organisation needs, after a year under a caretaker chief executive and a […]

As we beef up the IfA, don’t knock down AOs

The government should be wary of diminishing the role of awarding organisations in its T-level proposals, argues Julie Hyde, as many already work closely with employers With Christmas fast approaching, the government has been making announcements left, right and centre – revealing more about plans for post-16 education and skills. It has been an exciting […]