Rebecca Rhodes, Senior Associate, UVAC: r.rhodes@bolton.ac.uk The Register of Apprenticeship Training Organisations Making an Effective Application SEPTEMBER 2017 PQQ TIMETABLE : Open for applications Monday 25 September 2017 Applications close 17:00:00 on Friday 27 October 2017 ESFA evaluates applications November 2017 and December 2017 Feedback to applicants January 2018 Publication of RoATP January 2018 Rebecca Rhodes, Senior Associate, UVAC: r.rhodes@bolton.ac.uk

Next steps and timeline Content Purpose and context Question Types Evidence Sources Common Pitfalls Next steps and timeline

Documents

Purpose and Context

RoATP Purpose Confirm Identity Safeguard public funds Support Risk Mitigation Set a high bar for providers to meet if they want to deliver apprenticeship training Allow employers who wish to deliver training to their own employees to do so Assurance to employers & government Entry route for apprenticeship delivery organisations Confirm whether organisations are suitable to fund Ensure organisations listed and new are: financially robust suitable entities to develop learning and services

Apply through one route only MAIN APPLICATION ROUTE The main application route for organisations that: Must deliver some of the training and assessment in each employer programme. want to directly deliver any value of apprenticeship training want to be eligible for selection through the apprenticeship service are a levied employer and want to train staff in their own supply chain or apprentices in other organisations have the capacity and capability to deliver most of the frameworks and standards that they offer EMPLOYER PROVIDER ROUTE For levy paying employers that: want to provide training to their own staff want to act as a subcontractor to their appointed main provider, delivering training to their own staff. Organisations that apply to this route cannot: deliver apprenticeship training to other organisations, including their supply chain. If you plan to deliver less than £100k as a subcontractor then you are not required to apply SUPPORTING ROUTE For organisations that: want to deliver as a subcontractor only are new to the apprenticeship market do not have the capacity to be a main provider. deliver more than £500,000 of training per year deliver apprenticeship training directly to employers.

Responding to Application Question Types

Financial health

Financial Health: Self Assessment Tool A self-assessment toolkit Some organisations are exempt from submitting financial statements but most will need to populate the toolkit with their latest financial information Upload your latest financial information for the last two years This produces a financial health grade - organisations graded as satisfactory, good or outstanding will pass the assessment. ESFA will check the self assessment outcome HEIs are exempt from completion from Question 10 onwards but you must complete questions 1-9

Financial Health: Section 9 Exemptions

Response questionnaire : 2.5 Financial Health / 2.6 Compliance 2.6.7 /CO-04a Please select from the list below what applies to your organisation, any of its directors or any other person who is a shareholder, senior employee or has powers of representation, decision or control of your organisation: a) Previous activities have resulted in repayment of SFA or government funding within the last two years (£100,000 or 5 per cent of contract value, whichever is the higher). This includes funding paid to a sub-contractor to deliver education and training services funded by the SFA. b) Failure to repay funding due to the SFA or other government body in excess of £50,000. c) Failure to repay funding due under a sub-contract to deliver education and training services funded by the SFA in excess of £50,000. d) Two or more instances where the SFA or its agents have audited the provision of a lead provider and identified issues of non-compliance with conditions of funding within the last two years. e) Ongoing investigation relating to suspicion of fraud or irregularity, or possible failure to comply with conditions of funding under an existing funding agreement or sub-contract f) Early termination of a funding agreement or a subcontract to deliver education and training funded by the SFA within the last three years. g) Withdrawal of funding following the failure to comply with a Notice of Withdrawal of Funding or failure to remedy a serious breach of contract within the last three years. h) Withdrawal from a funding agreement to deliver education and training funded by the SFA within the last three years i) Have been issued a ‘Notice of Concern’ or ‘Notice of Serious Breach’ within the last 12 months which has impacted on your ability to take on new apprenticeship starts. j) None of the above

Response questionnaire

Structure 2.1 Authorisation – ‘Senior Official’ 2.2 Organisation Details 2.3 Grounds for mandatory exclusion 2.4 Grounds for discretionary exclusion 2.5 Financial health 2.6 Compliance 2.7 Capability 2.7.3 Safeguarding 2.8 Quality 2.8.9 2.8.10 2.8.11 2.9 Digital Apprenticeship Service 2.10 Declarations These are the four narrative questions that are scored

Response Questionnaire : You must make self declarations against mandatory and discretionary exclusion criteria (see guidance) Do respond to all questions Check the advice on how to respond to compliance questions Where asked, include ‘not applicable’ in the text box when you have ticked an option that does not require an answer. Once on the RoATP, your responses for any section may be checked by ESFA Financial Health Safeguarding Narrative sections

Section 2.6. 2.7 ‘in place in future’ Questions 2.7.1 CA-01a (m) Do you have a safeguarding policy to ensure the welfare of apprentices that you are training? a) Yes b) No, but we will have a policy in place before we begin delivering training to apprentices c) No (Please note that you will be expected to make these available to employers if you are successful) 2.7.2 CA-01b Confirm that you understand your organisational responsibilities to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism as specified under section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 Further information is available here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/prevent-duty-guidance

2.7 Capability 2.7.6 /CA-03a Is your organisation registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (www.ico.org.uk) for the processing of personal data for delivering education and training? (Note: It is a legal requirement that the organisation making the application is registered. If you are not registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office we will fail your application) 2.7.11 Does your organisation have a Business Continuity Plan that includes continuity of individual apprenticeship training programmes? a) Yes, and it is regularly reviewed and tested b) No, but we will produce a fully tested Business Continuity Plan before we start delivering any training to apprentices c) No, we do not have a Business Continuity Plan and will not be developing one

2.8 Quality Questions related to Ofsted Has your organisation had a full inspection or re-inspection by Ofsted under the remit of Further Education and Skills? Yes No Not applicable 2.8.6 to 2.8.8 (QA-06 – QA-08) relate to QAA review

Evidence Sources

Evidence Sources Policies Outcomes Processes Governance Named people in a named meeting with a clear remit and accountability for the subject Data on progress is collated, reviewed and actioned - where? How would senior leaders know about issues and who would intervene if needed Quality Safeguarding Equality and Diversity / equal opportunities Health and Safety Prevent Risk management Feedback Team development Policies Governance Outcomes Processes How are risk and opportunities identified and tracked How is feedback sourced and actioned from employers Induction of apprentices, employers and staff Progression Success Employer and Apprentice Feedback Planned impact on skills shortages local / national Personal development and achievement for individuals

Evidence Sources ACTION IT/ PLAN IT take action when needed and ensure it gets done. How do lessons learned feed into formal review processes. RISK ASSESS IT / DOCUMENT IT put it into your policy and any handbooks Included it in your risk register and name the person accountable TRAIN IT /EXPLAIN IT - train staff, brief employers and apprentices. When does this happen How do you remind people– not just induction? TRACK IT/CHECK IT collate data track and feedback and review it/ use it to look for issues or achievement. REVIEW IT locally and at a senior level. Ensure there is specific named meeting to meeting where this is discussed, risk assessed and made visible But only if you explain HOW these work to deliver good practice and evidence the point in the application

Working with text sections

Working with Text Questions SFA are seeking confirmation that you are ‘competent on paper’ and action is embedded and led from the top A reader that does not know you should be able to see from your responses that you: have systems, processes, policies that provide regular feedback/review That embedded and led from the top Demonstrate how you deliver the statement or, if you don’t have a system in place, explain clearly what you are intending to do It is ok to not have something in place … but it won’t score as highly as if you do Your response must refer to what you do, or would do, to cover the areas identified within the questions. Don’t upload documents (except Financial Health) or include hyperlinks – THEY WILL NOT BE READ OR USED

Working with Text Questions The bullet points include key questions for response and requests for evidence. Use the bullets as the structure for your response - to tell a narrative Don’t just regurgitate or repeat the bullet points within the question The 2000 character limit is real and enforced 2000 = Characters with spaces All text sections do apply to you Every question stands on its own, every response is assessed on its own Each responses is scored using only the text supplied in the response so expect to repeat yourself

Working with Text Questions Expect to : Name policy documents Explain the key steps, process, in HOW you deliver State the governance process – who is accountable, when do Make sure its clear how processes, governance, enable risk management Make it clear that all apprentices are treated as individuals and your processes ensure this is the case - initial assessment and review processes are critical to this Confirm that the apprenticeship standards or framework is the critical benchmark for apprenticeship provision e.g. for staff CPD; for curriculum design and fit

Capability

Capability & Capacity Questions 2.7.3 CA-01C Describe how your organisation approaches the safeguarding of apprentices. Your response must describe: (max 2000 characters) * How you ensure staff are effective at implementing your safeguarding strategy * How leaders and managers promote and develop a safeguarding culture * How you identify and act on safeguarding concerns * How you will comply with the Prevent Duty

Quality Questions QA-09 Describe how: •Leaders and managers in your organisation communicate their plans and expectations in order to attain high standards of training •You will ensure you have appropriate staff in place including trainers with expertise relevant to the apprenticeship training that you will offer •The apprenticeship training delivered by staff will be up-to-date Please note that your answer must address all the points above

Quality Questions QA-10 By considering an apprentices training from start to end, describe how you ensure that your apprenticeship delivery: • meets the needs of both apprentices and employers • is relevant to the apprenticeship frameworks and/or standards that you offer • engages, challenges and inspires apprentices Please note that you must address all the points above including detail on training from start to end Training side only

Quality Questions QA-11 Describe: • How you assure the quality of your apprenticeship training • What staff performance mechanisms you have/will have in place, and how these are managed • How you measure/will measure the success of apprenticeship delivery across your organisation and how you will use this to improve your apprenticeship training Please note that you must address all the points above

Common Pitfalls

Common Pitfalls – Structure Not not giving evidence of formal processes and policies – quality assurance systems, contract review, etc. Not covering what you do, or would do, to cover the areas within the question Not addressing all bullet points contained in the question. The response was too brief to provide assurance Repeating back the question (listing the bullet points) Writing a list / series of facts or bullet points, that don’t easily seem to link to the question/bullet Not explaining how process and activities detailed impact quality capability or capacity and performance managing a contract. Explaining achievements but not how these were achieved

Common Pitfalls – Content The response did not seem tailored to an apprenticeship Not closing the loop – not explaining how actions improve apprenticeship quality or the apprentice’s success Not setting out how you address (or will address) underperformance and identify or mitigate risks. Not explaining how policies and processes enable high quality delivery No consideration of providing information advice and guidance for example at pre-course stage or when establishing next steps Focusing on the quality of staff CPD, but there is no clarity on how this benefits learners or users Focusing on feedback received from learners/users rather than how feedback improves learners/users experience No reference to how learners are motivated inspired or supported to extend knowledge skills or develop their own knowledge.

DO NOT LEAVE UPLOADING YOUR DOUCMENTS UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE AND MOST OF ALL UPLOAD EARLY DO NOT LEAVE UPLOADING YOUR DOUCMENTS UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE

For First Timers Do Don’t Create your document in word first- BRAVO times out after 15 minutes Save regularly during the process – unsaved data is NOT stored Read All the Guidance - Joining the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers – application instructions Upload financial statements if not exempt. Proof read thoroughly Check that you answered all the questions Use abbreviations if needed Don’t Don’t use the browser back buttons Exceed the character limit - it is enforced Copy other people’s submission Include attachments or any other links than those requested. They won’t be used Upload documents not asked for in the application Use non-standard abbreviations without explaining these in the text

Checklist Check that every response size is within the limit but sufficient Read the questions again and check that you responded to what was asked with evidence - what you do Read every response and check that you have covered all the bullet points – treat them as a checklist for each question Take a reader’s eye view - read your response again; give it to someone else to see if they think all the points in the question are covered Check that you have explained what you do/would do and how for anything where your evidence is light or recent Check that you have referred to relevant formal documentation, policy, procedures, governance in each response.

Next Steps PQQ Timetable : Open for applications Monday 25 September 2017 Applications close 17:00:00 on Friday 27 October 2017 ESFA evaluates applications November 2017 and December 2017 Feedback to applicants January 2018 Publication of RoATP January 2018 Raise application questions through the BRAVO portal : All query responses are shared with every applicant – keep checking them Raise other queries through the UVAC query line uvac@bolton.ac.uk UVAC RoATP Triage Sessions on 10 October : 20 minute 1-1 advice and query resolution about your application To book : https://www.eventbrite.com/e/telephone-surgery-making-a-first-or-second-application-to-the-roatp-registration-38224007034