Apprenticeships - Making apprenticeships count

May 2017 ushered in a new era of apprenticeships, including a new funding system, and 20 per cent paid training time for apprentices. Employers now contribute to the cost of most new apprenticeships. Large employers do so through the apprenticeship levy, others by paying 10 per cent of the agreed cost to their chosen training provider before the Government provides the balance.

There is an exception for apprentices aged 16-18 working for small employers: these are still fully funded.

While not ecstatic about it, early years employers generally appear reconciled to paying a few hundred pounds to train an adult apprentice. What is alarming many settings, however, is the requirement to allow their apprentices significant paid time for study during the working week.

WHAT DO THE RULES SAY?

It’s important to remember that, in early years, all apprentices are still enrolled on a framework, rather than one of the new standards. Each framework requires a minimum number of ‘guided learning hours’ (GLH) to be delivered during paid working time. However, although GLH have to be evidenced, detailed time records are not necessary to achieve this. The Education and Skills Act 2008 says if someone obtains a qualification to which a number of GLH have been assigned, that provides definitive evidence that they have done the GLH.

The new, additional requirement is that, for any apprenticeship starting from May 2017, ‘off-the-job training must amount to 20 per cent of the apprentice’s contracted employment hours across the whole apprenticeship’. This is a condition of government funding and must be included in the contract (called an apprenticeship agreement) between employer and apprentice: employers need to keep records to demonstrate compliance.

WHAT DO THE RULES MEAN?

If apprentices must spend at least 20 per cent of their paid time on off-the-job training, we need to be clear about the meaning of ‘at least 20 per cent’, ‘their time’ and ‘off-the-job training’.

At least 20 per cent

The ‘at least’ reflects the fact that maths and English are funded separately from the rest of the apprenticeship and cannot count towards the 20 per cent. So an apprentice who needs functional skills in maths and English will need paid time to study for this in addition to the 20 per cent for their other learning aims. Off-the-job training must be directly relevant to the ‘skills, knowledge and behaviours that are required in the standard or framework’. At present, for example, a paediatric first-aid (PFA) certificate – although required under the EYFS – is not part of the EYE apprenticeship framework, so this training cannot count towards the 20 per cent. A PFA certificate is, however, included in the latest draft standard, which will bring it within scope when the standard is eventually issued.

Their time

The Skills Funding Agency has confirmed that this refers to the apprentice’s contracted employment hours across the whole apprenticeship. An apprentice employed on a 35-hour week with five weeks’ annual leave including bank holidays has 1,645 (35 x 47) contracted hours per year, of which 319 (20 per cent) must be reserved for off-the-job training.

The rules do not specify how the 20 per cent is to be spread. The figure of 20 per cent presumably comes from the idea of releasing apprentices to attend college one day a week, but other models are perfectly acceptable. One employer might allow occasional daily breaks to write assignments in the staff room: another might organise external training in one or more blocks towards the end of the apprenticeship. However it is organised, the key points are that:

• the time must be paid
• there must be a documented plan at the start showing how the 20 per cent will be achieved
• the employer must keep records to show compliance.

Off-the-job training

The old GLH rules were concerned with how the training was delivered. The new rules are more concerned with when and where. Given that the entire apprenticeship consists of training and has to take place wholly in paid working time, the focus is on ensuring that enough of it takes place away from actual work.

The funding rules say that off-the-job training ‘is undertaken outside of the normal day-to-day working environment and leads towards the achievement of an apprenticeship. This can include training that is delivered at the apprentice’s normal place of work, but must not be delivered as part of their normal working duties.’

Examples given of acceptable activities include lectures, role-playing and online learning, shadowing and mentoring, and time spent writing assignments. Progress reviews, however, will not normally count as training, while workplace observation by an assessor will not normally meet the ‘off-the-job’ test.

WHICH APPRENTICES ARE AFFECTED?

The new 20 per cent requirement applies only to apprenticeships starting on or after 1 May 2017. Nevertheless, the framework rules do clearly establish the principle that employers are expected to provide paid time for off-the-job GLH. While this will often be much less than 20 per cent and may well be covered by activities such as mentoring and supervision, it would be wrong to assume that apprentices can be divided into those who need paid time and those who don’t. If Ofsted finds any apprentices reporting that they are expected to do all their studying in their own time, alarm bells will ring.

WHAT SHOULD EMPLOYERS DO – AND NOT DO?

Employers must understand that this issue is not going away and needs to be taken seriously. The Government, supported by Ofsted, is determined to raise the quality and reputation of apprenticeships and to stop employers from reaping the benefits (funded training and a lower minimum wage) without taking on the associated commitments.

In time, we can expect Ofsted to concentrate on those who are cynically ignoring the rules or trying to get away with minimal cosmetic changes. However, during the current phase of changing hearts and minds, inspectors are likely to pay careful attention to time records and may make an example of anyone who is failing to comply.

So it would be very unwise to ‘shop around’ for a training provider who will turn a blind eye. Remember that training providers are subject to inspection too, during which Ofsted will talk to apprentices.

However, all is not lost. Larger, more profitable settings may already be offering all the paid training required – or may be able to do so without too much pain. Others may be able to take advantage of the reduced minimum wage for younger apprentices or those in their first year. You cannot deduct the cost of training from an apprentice’s wages but, say, if you currently employ someone for 30 hours a week on £5 an hour and expect them to study in their own time, you could consider putting them on a 40-hour contract at £4 and allowing 10 of those hours for off-the-job training. (This is of course subject to the law on the minimum wage, while any change to a contract will of course have to be negotiated with an employee and signed by both parties.) In principle, this offers a way of complying which doesn’t spell the end of your business.

I also recommend that employers sit down now with their training provider to identify everything going on in the setting that can genuinely count towards the 20 per cent requirement. You may find there is more than you think. A staff meeting dealing just with housekeeping won’t be directly relevant to the apprenticeship, but one involving, say, an aspect of safeguarding training may well be. Similar considerations apply to mentoring, supervisions and assessor reviews. Take full credit for the things you already do, before setting out to do more.

A well-documented initial plan, showing how you intend to meet the 20 per cent target over the life of the apprenticeship and backed up by records and positive feedback from your apprentices about what happens in practice, will set the right tone for an inspection. Without these, you risk finding yourself on the back foot, trying to prove to inspectors that you have reached the right number of hours.

WHERE IS THIS ALL LEADING?

There is little doubt that these reforms will raise the standard and reputation of apprenticeships and help to put them more on a par with academic qualifications. The concern, however, is that in underfunded, low-paid sectors such as ours, the pain may simply be too great for employers to bear.

The early years sector, still recovering from the trauma of the ‘GCSE years’ and bracing itself for the 30 hours free entitlement, now faces a perfect storm of employer contributions, paid training time and (when the new standard arrives) end-point assessment. Many employers are likely to conclude that apprenticeships are not the way forward.

Unlike, say, an engineering employer – who is principally concerned with what apprentices can do – early years employers are forced by the EYFS to focus on the qualifications that they hold. With loans now available for qualifications at Level 3 and above, and with the earnings threshold for repayment set at £21,000 per annum, I foresee early years employers deserting Level 3 apprenticeships in droves. Before long, apprenticeships in our sector may be limited to 16- to 18-year-olds, where a combination of government incentives and a low minimum wage can make the paid training time affordable.

Ross Midgley is managing director of training and assessment provider PBD.