From 1 April 2021 all apprenticeships, including those at levels 6 & 7, are in scope for Ofsted inspection. Here are our top five things you need to know for degree apprenticeship providers who are new to Ofsted inspection:

Online enrolment process - getting a compliant solution for you

There are so many compelling reasons that providers are turning to an online enrolment process. From delivering a more seamless experience for learners, to improving the quality of your data and even giving you a better oversight of recruitment flows. The current situation, as providers scramble to deliver educational outputs against the challenge of a global pandemic, has only served to make paperless enrolment more compelling.

ESFA apprenticeship audit: common errors and how to avoid them

On 11th June 2019 the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) published the snappily titled “Common findings from funding assurance work on post-16 providers and institutions” guidance document. It summarises the findings from the agency’s annual programme of assurance visits (in other words, audits) of providers delivering:

New apprenticeship providers: what you need to know about Ofsted

One of the topics keeping new apprenticeship providers awake at night is the prospect of Ofsted inspection. The regime for inspection of new apprenticeship providers changed in 2018 and the inspection framework for all types of adult skills providers changed in late 2019, here’s a summary of what you can expect.

Communicating more effectively with students? There's an app for that.

You’ve made the decision to take on apprentices, your headcount has been approved, you’ve got resources to support them through their learning and your CFO is champing at the bit to recoup some of the company’s levy money.  

Levy-paying employers have 24 months to spend their levy before it gets clawed back by the Government to fund apprenticeships at non-levy paying employers.So, for employers who started paying the levy on day one (April 2017), this means that the first month’s levy payment expires in April 2019.

I’ve recently carried out an analysis of OFSTED inspection reports for Adult Community Learning (ACL) providers to try and understand what the trends are, in terms of both grades awarded and common areas for improvement.

Changes to apprenticeships: 20% off-the-job training

At the AELP Conference on 25-26 June, the issue of the 20% off-the-job requirement was on everyone’s lips. Everybody from training providers to employers were discussing whether it presents a huge barrier to the delivery of the three million apprenticeships target set by the government.