Covid-19 Apprenticeship Portal to protect the UK’s apprentices and vocational training during the Covid-19 lockdown

SKILLS FEDERATION LAUNCHES #COVID_19 #APPRENTICESHIP PORTAL IN BID TO PROTECT #VOCATIONAL TRAINING DURING THE #CORONAVIRUS EMERGENCY 

In a bid to protect the UK’s apprentices and vocational training during the Covid-19 lockdown, the Federation for Industry Sector Skills & Standards has created a ‘Covid-19 Apprenticeship Portal’ where employers and training providers are invited to submit workable solutions for training and assessment during the crisis, initially via a survey. The Federation will then take to regulators for urgent approval and share as best practices across the sector.

The skills Federation has a unique grasp of the apprenticeship training market across virtually all sectors of the economy -thanks to its close relations with training providers and assessors- and a membership that represents approximately 120,000 employers across multiple sectors. The Federation will be contacting all of them for their input.

The Federation’s Chief Executive, Matt Lambert said:

“The Government and the training industry are working on temporary training and assessment solutions fit for the Covid-19 crisis, but unless we act fast, training providers and assessors will go bust, and thousands of apprentices will no longer start or complete their training. If that happens we will be failing thousands of people whose talents will be needed to reskill the workforce and repair the UK economy once this crisis is over. We will work with regulators, training providers and assessors to try to afford apprentices the same flexibility already given to GCSE, A’ Level and Degree students and to come up with imaginative ways to complete apprenticeship training, without face-to-face assessments, to protect the futures of those following vocational qualifications.”

The Federation believes that, in many cases, both training and assessment could be provided remotely using technology so long as regulators respond urgently to the need for a different approach during the crisis.

Examples of ways the Federation believes training assessment should be allowed to continue include:

• Use of video evidence;
• Use of testimonials from training providers and/or employers on apprentices’ practical abilities;
• Use of online assessment interviews of apprentices