We at Promote-Ed want to support in ensuring that we have world class apprenticeship provision. To have a world leading apprenticeship programme we must have creativity and innovation in the design and delivery of curriculum to allow for ‘real world’ delivery by ‘experts’ in their field that will truly be beneficial to the apprenticeship programme/s through augmentation of the curriculum and delivery for learners, thus increasing quality and developing a world leading apprenticeship system. However, at the moment the ESFA funding rules do not allow for this.
We need to ensure that creativity and innovation is not restricted, or stopped because of a bureaucratic rule, we must focus on the future and our apprenticeship system must be at the forefront of innovation to be a vision for the future.
The current ESFA Apprenticeship Rules do not allow for world leaders to come in and deliver masterclasses to apprentices that is aligned to the Standard. As an example – let’s look at the Animal Trainer Standard, if a provider wanted a world leading expert to deliver dog training and dog handler training as part of the Standard, then unless the organisation with the world expert is on the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers (RoATP) they are not allowed (under the rules) to delver the training or be paid through the apprenticeship funding.
I know world leading experts in Intelligence, Risk Analysis, Dog Handlers and many other disciplines, however they will not be able to delivery Masterclasses in the way that truly augments an apprenticeship that would put English apprenticeships at the top regarding creativity innovation and quality.
I would like to pose to the ESFA a couple questions:
- Is it right to stop this due to an archaic way the rules have been created?
- Is it right where leading experts in their field can’t deliver ‘Masterclasses’ to apprentices where apprentices will be in the presence of leaders of their industry?
Yes, there are ways for the experts to deliver to apprentices, but if they are working for an organisation (a separate legal entity) how do they get paid through the apprenticeship funding and remain within the current ESFA Apprenticeship Funding Rules? The ‘experts’ do not want to be an apprenticeship provider, but they do want to deliver Masterclasses to the next generation in their sector.
A further question to the ESFA, would the ESFA would will be willing to have an ‘exemption’ to the ESFA Rules on Subcontracting for practices (Masterclasses) by leading experts in their sector that will really augment the quality and curriculum offer of English Apprenticeships?
When I did my apprenticeship (yes over 25 years ago now) we had experts in their field come in and delver sessions to us directly linked to the apprenticeship and curriculum, through this I got to work with experts in their fields which I still remember to this day. Not only that, they created excitement for a young apprentice, and it was truly engaging. Has this been lost with the current ESFA Rules?
I welcome the ESFA to discuss this openly to ensure we can have experts deliver masterclasses against the Apprenticeship and curriculum, and truly make the English apprenticeship world-class.
It is time for positive change.
Patrick Tucker
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