Your End Point Assessment – Your Choice part 1
Following on from Monday’s post on the Childcare & Education Expo, one recurring theme was the number of nursery owners that are unaware that the choice of the End Point Assessment Organisation is their decision.
The ESFA Apprenticeship Funding Rules and Guidance states:
E180 At least 6 months before the apprentice reaches the gateway, you must have:
E180.1 selected an organisation from the Register of End-Point Assessment Organisations (RoEPAO) to deliver the end-point assessment;
E180.2 negotiated a price with the end-point assessment organisation. Only those organisations listed on the RoEPAO will be eligible to be funded.
However, previous experience, and now the majority of feedback received from the expo, is that the rule is loosely followed. Whilst, as a training provider I can see the logic in giving the employer the details of EPAOs they have worked with, unless they follow that up with a full list, then the funding rules are not being truly followed. The employer is limited by the choices offered. Granted, most employers are grateful for advice from the training provider, but this should be full information, not selective.
Returning to the expo, on talking to nursery owners and staff involved in apprenticeships, the responses fell into 3 main categories:
- Those that let the training provider make the decision for them (if a few main training providers recommend a few main EPAOs, is a monopoly inadvertently being created?)
- Those that did not know they had a choice; and
- Those that believed the training provider carried out the EPAO
The employer should be central to the training the apprentice receives, from the training provider, to the relevance of the training, and the End Point Assessment. Letting the training provider means the employer hasn’t had the opportunity to research all the EPAOs approved to assess their standards. We would recommend an employer considers points, including:
- Do you feel confident in their understanding of your sector?
- Do you get a good sense of feeling towards the company?
- Do their systems sound user friendly?
- Is communication good? Can you get hold of them easily? Do they reply promptly?
- Do they offer a swift EPA?
- Do you feel they know who you are?
- Are their charges competitive?
These are all points an employer should be considering. Having the training provider recommend the EPAOs they work with is limiting the employer’s choice.
We hope you have found this post informative.
If you would like any further information then please ring or email us, all our details can be found on our Contact Us page.
