A review into how training providers are assessed for delivering apprenticeships will be carried out by the government, according to a senior official.

Keith Smith, director of funding and programmes at the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), told delegates at the Association of Employment and Learning Providers’ (AELP) Autumn Conference in Manchester today that the process of approving or omitting providers for the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers (RoATP) - the list of organisations eligible to deliver apprenticeships for levy-paying companies ­­- would be something the government “can look at” as the reforms to technical education continue to unfold.

Mr Smith also said that other areas would face reviews, including enabling new providers and employers to access the apprenticeship market.

“The…final area [about RoATP] is this idea about pass or fail. Is that really why we have got the context for what we’re trying to get here?” Mr Smith said. “It’s absolutely right that we have an approved system, but we can have no idea that people can just simply pass or fail and they’re out until the next time. Again that’s something we can look at.”

Registering concerns

In July, Tes revealed that UKRS Training had been approved to deliver apprenticeships by the ESFA, despite being the subject of a fraud investigation by police.

In March, over a quarter of the 2,300 organisations that originally applied for the RoATP were omitted - including 13 FE colleges in the Birmingham city region. Providers who fail to gain approval for the RoATP must rely on subcontracting until the register reopens again.

At the time Mark Dawe, chief executive of the AELP, said his organisation would work with those who did not get accepted “to make sure they get on the register next time”.

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