The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) has carefully
considered the applications made in response to the recent
procurement for apprenticeship training provision for
non-levy-paying employers.
This procurement was markedly oversubscribed, a sign of the
significant level of interest from the training provider market
in the apprenticeship reforms. In response, ESFA intends to pause
the current competition. This will allow us to review our
approach to ensure that we achieve the right balance between
stability of supply and promoting competition and choice for
employers. It is important that we fully consider how best to
achieve these outcomes in a way that achieves the best value for
employers and apprentices as we move to a fully employer-led
system.
We will undertake further engagement with the market to clarify
our approach, and ensure that this meets the government’s wider
objectives of securing stability in the market, good sectoral and
geographical coverage of provision, and a market which meets the
skills needs of employers. We will issue further guidance
shortly.
In order to maintain stability in the system through the start of
the next academic year, in the interim period we will extend
existing contracts held by all current providers until the end of
December 2017. To maintain our quality standards, current
providers with extended contracts will be able to undertake new
starts on those contracts provided they are on the Register of Apprenticeship
Training Providers. The ESFA will notify providers of
specific arrangements shortly so that amended contracts are in
place ahead of 1 May.
This will not affect training provision for existing learners.
Extending existing providers contracts means employers can be
confident in taking on new apprentices without disruption over
the months ahead.
