Hello Readers, and welcome back to the ACE360 blog! Today we’re talking about Apprenticeship Standards and how your Training or End Point Assessment business can make life a whole lot easier with one simple process using one straightforward system.
Here are some of the most commonly asked questions about Apprenticeship Standards:
What are Apprenticeship Standards?
Before they were called Apprenticeship frameworks, now there are called Apprenticeship standards! In short, they set out the knowledge, behavioural and skill-related components required of Apprentices which are specific to each standard.
Essentially they are more concise and straightforward than Apprenticeship frameworks which have been introduced to improve Apprenticeships since Government reforms back in 2014. Apprenticeship Standards improvements include new EPA and grading systems and the fact that these have been simplified to the extent that they fit on two sides of A4 paper! This all sounds good, but still to this day many organisations involved in the delivery and assessment of Apprenticeship Standards still struggle with the transition. At ACE360, it’s our mission to help everyone make Standards work for them through use of our easy-to-use Apprenticeship Management System! Click here to learn more on one of our upcoming information webinars.
Why Did They Introduce Apprenticeship Standards?
Generally, Frameworks were outdated and needed a bit of a refresh. Apprenticeship Standards have been designed with the employer in mind by giving them more control over the delivery and design of the new standards. This of course helps ensure that apprenticeship standards are fit for purpose for the industry and businesses that operate within it!
How Can I Simplify My Apprenticeship Standards Data Handling?
ACE360 was set up so that you could work with multiple EPAOs through a single login. Our aim was to create a single web-portal for organisations to share apprentice registrations, gateway evidence and see progress of EPA, across all your EPAOs all in one, secure place! This works well for many customers when creating a standardised process by supporting high quality processes and the ability to track apprentice progress easily whilst measuring team performance against the success of EPAOs. ACE360 has lots of new EPAOs on ACE360 too! Many are using ACE360 fully, and have reduced their EPA fees because of the savings they have achieved! Click here to have a look at who is using ACE360, and request a link to a new EPAO.
Why Do EPAOs Use ACE360?
Many EPAOs use ACE360 because of customer demand.
A customer recently shared this analogy – they work with 20 EPAOs, and now have 75% of their EPAOs using ACE360. Below is an overview of their unique situation:
- As a provider, they have 200 apprentices with one EPAO
- They pay on average £1,800 per apprentice
- Previously they had to use 11 different systems and wondered ‘why can’t the EPAO use two different systems, or even better use ACE360 and drop my EPA Fee?’.
- Their organisation pays £360,000 to this EPAO organisation, and have now chosen to add this to their EPA requirement and contracts
- When dealing with EPAO’s who do not use ACE360, they have moved this business to End-Point Assessment Organisations who are happy to accommodate a streamlined approach
- Success: 75% of their EPAOs use one website, with one login, with one reporting mechanism – they have saved a lot of time and effort (avoided learning new systems, processes and getting set up).
As a charity, we want to simplify and facilitate improvements within the apprenticeship sector. ACE360’s core system is FREE for End-Point Assessment Organisations and EPAOs can upgrade for a very low fee to use the advanced functionality like the Scheduling and booking tool which proves very beneficial for providers as it offers more visibility of progression.
How Can I Create An ACE360 Account?
We’re glad you asked! We recommend that all training providers and End Point Assessment Organisations considering creating a free account on ACE360 should first attend a free webinar hosted by our friendly team to get to grips with what ACE360 is and how it can benefit your business! Following the session, our team can get you set up in a flash.
For training providers/employer webinars, click here
For EPAO webinars, click here
How Can I Refer My EPAO Organisation If I Already Have An ACE360 Account?
That’s an even better question! When you’re a user of ACE360, we seek to make it as easy as possible for you to work collaboratively with your assessment partners.
This is why we have created a ‘refer your EPAO’ page on our website. Simply submit the details of your point of contact and we’ll do the rest to ensure you are both connected and able to send and receive EPA requests.
Click here to refer your EPAO.
