Happy New Year
Welcome 2022, it’s good to see you. I expect everyone has seen one joke or another on social media about how 2022 better behave itself? Pretty sure we saw the same memes for 2021 – but maybe 2022 will pay more attention.
2021 was a difficult year for so many personally, and the team here were no different. However, for SSES it was a much more positive year:
- SS Educational Services gained Ofqual approval on 25th May – a year to the day that we had first applied for become an End Point Assessment Organisation. It was a huge learning curve for the Directors and the Board, but with a lot of hard work, and feedback from Ofqual, we got there
- SSES has been approved to deliver the Level 3 Early Years Educator Apprenticeship Standard and we are working with the ESFA to be able to offer the rest of our portfolio of standards
- We recruited our first Apprentice, Alex, who is taking the Level 3 Digital Marketing Apprenticeship Standard, and has taken the role on with gusto!
- Our online presence has grown – we’re now on page 1 when you search for EPAs for the L3 EYE and that is mostly thanks to our hardworking Apprentice, Alex. That was one of the first targets Alex set himself, as we were on page 3. Not bad for someone new to the role, and EPAOs and sector.
- Sharing the Ofqual journey experience with another provider, offering them advice and support for their panel meeting
- Having some amazingly experienced and competent Independent End Point Assessors that want to work with us
- And, at the end of the year, we got our first contract 😊
There have been numerous challenges but there are only two things I would have done differently, everything else I wouldn’t change. Writing the application to Ofqual myself was something I am immensely proud of. Anyone that has undertaken it will understand the volume of work, knowledge and understanding involved in becoming approved. Learning how to create professional brochures that detail how we do what we do and why we do it.
The toughest is as a small EPAO breaking into a sector mostly held by a few large companies but healthy competition is good, and hopefully more employers and training providers will appreciate the benefits of working with niche EPAOs.
We are heading into 2022 very positive and look forward to extending our client base, and seeing more apprentices becoming part of the early years, children and young people workforce.
Suzanne
