The Education and Skills Funding Agency has said it will close the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers (RoATP) to new providers in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
In its latest update, the ESFA said the RoATP would be closed to new applications, including second applications from providers that have already applied in the past 12 months, from midnight Wednesday 15 April 2020. It said this was to provide time for applications in progress and second applications to be completed and submitted.
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“We will take this opportunity to review our future approach to the register,” the ESFA added. “The review will include initiating dialogue with the sector. We will advise further on when and in what form the register will reopen. Applications that have already been received will be assessed in the usual way.”
The ESFA said that any provider that had been accepted to the RoATP, that had not yet completed the onboarding process, and that was planning to start apprentices before 1 August should ensure that they complete the process by midnight Tuesday 14 April 2020.
“Onboarding is expected to resume from 1 July 2020,” said the guidance, adding that the provider growth limit, to be applied to new RoATP listed providers and planned for later this year, will not now be introduced until further notice.
The ESFA guidance published today also stipulates that providers that do not share their subcontracting information with the ESFA on time will not be contacted by the ESFA. The body “would encourage all providers that have not made a return since 23 October to do so where they can”.
“We will also not be issuing new subcontracting returns at this time,” it said. “We will contact providers at a point in the future to request subcontracting information to cover this and future periods. This includes mandatory subcontractor declarations, reporting subcontracting fees and charges, return of certificates for the 2018 to 2019 year and the return of certificates for the 2019 to 2020 year.”
“In accordance with the funding rules, any provider is required to make a revised declaration through Manage Your Education and Skills Funding (MYESF) as and when any of their subcontracting relationships, or values change, where these revisions relate to the period 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020 for the delivery of any apprenticeship non-levy and levy funded provision and for 1 August 2019 to 31 July 2020 for all other adult, or 16 to 19 programme- (noting schools and academies are exempt) funded delivery.”