Wednesday saw the annual conference of ALPSE (Association of Learning Providers South East) in Reigate. This annual event sees 5 local provider networks including SCTP, working together to arrange a regional conference for its members. Hosted by Canon UK a large audience heard from a range of speakers. ALPSE and SCTP Chair Jo Bridger set the theme with her introduction referencing a number of the challenges and opportunities arising from the apprenticeship reforms. Mark Dawe, AELP’s CEO took providers through a tour of all current strategic and political issues of the day while Chris Jones from Ofsted delivered an interesting analysis of provider performance nationally and across the region. Sponsors Learning Curve, NCFE, Nucleus, Pearson and QDP had the chance to introduce their services while Paul Steeples of the Institute for Apprenticeships presented the content of the IfA’s apprenticeship quality statement. Conference MC, Paul Warner filled in for the absent Sue Husband (ESFA) with a superb critical analysis of the slides that she had sent through. These and the slides from the Ofsted and IfA presentations can be seen here. Finally, thanks to Bob Pickles from hosts Canon UK who presented a fascinating explanation of the company’s journey into taking on a significant apprenticeship numbers.
