People 1st, once a major sector skills council and a key player in the apprenticeship reforms, has entered administration. Click here for more.
Members may be concerned about the arrangements for ongoing apprenticeship certification. The following statement on this has been circulated by the Federation for Industry Sector Skills & Standards (FISSS): “The Federation is ensuring that Apprenticeship Framework certificates are and continue to be issued. This has been happening since Monday. Certificates are being issued as usual. Training Providers should continue to apply for certificates as they always do and they will not notice any reduction in the high service levels they have received.”
Regarding People 1st’s responsibilities as an External Quality Assurance organisation, the IfA has given AELP the following statement: “We are working with People 1st to put measures in place to ensure that there is continuous provision of external quality assurance (EQA) for all apprenticeship standards where employers have selected People 1st as their chosen provider. We are confident that a continuous EQA service will be provided and in the meantime, any employer, training provider or apprentice who is concerned should email ifaassessment@education.gov.uk.”