With the Apprenticeship Levy beginning in less than 4 months, it is imperative to make sure that employers know all the details. As I am sure you will be aware, one of the main objectives of the Government’s reforms of Apprenticeships is to switch delivery from the current Apprenticeship Frameworks to the new Apprenticeship Standards. This article explains why this change is happening and why it’s so important.

What are the new Apprenticeship Standards? 

These Standards have been developed by a number of groups of employers and the early pilots were called ‘Trailblazers’.  All of the existing Frameworks will be replaced by new Standards by 2020, ensuring better delivery across the UK.

What is different about the new Standards?

They are being developed by employers, rather than the government, meaning that the training that will be delivered will be higher quality and that more relevant skills will be taught throughout industries. The standards are being designed to ensure successful development of all areas within Apprenticeships. Gearing Apprentices towards achieving the specific skills for the company that they work for means that once they have completed their course, they will be a fully competent and productive employee.

3aaa Apprenticeships has been able to work with these employers to advise on what will work as an Apprenticeship and we have taken a leading role in the Digital and Accountancy sectors in working with employers to get the Standards right.  The Standards tend to cover the same ground as the Frameworks but they are much more flexible in terms of how we manage our delivery. This is because we do not have to deliver the formal qualifications.

In many cases, we will work with the employer and include the qualifications in our delivery but we now have much more flexibility.  In the IT Standards we can also deliver vendor qualifications as part of the package and we are working with organisations, like the British Computer Society, to develop packages that give employers what they need.

Frameworks compared to Standards

3aaa Apprenticeships has put a real focus on introducing these Standards and we already have over 300 Apprentices on new Standards.  This is far more than any other provider and we are committed to introduce the new Standards from May 2017 for all of our Apprentices where they are available.  This means that all of our trainers and assessors need to understand the new Standards as we develop our delivery models to maximise the new flexibilities.  This will clearly be part of our CPD programme over the next few weeks.

Benefits of the new Standards.

• Gives employers control in designing Apprenticeships
• Increase the flexibility of delivery
• Simplifies the funding system
• Increase the effectiveness of training

If you would like to know more detail on the new Apprenticeship Standards visit our website or contact Stewart Segal, 3aaa Apprenticeships Director of Strategy at stewartsegal@3aaa.co.uk or contact our Levy Management Team at apprenticeshiplevy@3aaa.co.uk