International charity NOCN Group offers both apprenticeship End Point Assessment (EPA) and Functional Skills Qualifications as part of its suite of skills solutions, that it provides to the sectors that need it most, including Construction and Engineering.

NOCN Group’s Chief Executive, Graham Hasting-Evans reacts to the announcement:

“We welcome the flexibilities announced by the Department for Education on functional skills requirements for apprenticeships and ‘flexibility’ really is the key point here.

As a skills solutions provider we offer and champion Functional Skills Qualifications (FSQs) that lay the foundations for further lifelong learning, employability and economic development. They provide a more vocational alternative to the academic route, making them better suited to many learners, and they can be taken at any life stage or age. As an apprenticeship End Point Assessment organisation, we also understand how important it is to remove barriers to apprenticeship completion and success, whilst maintaining quality - but it’s not a ‘one size fits all’ solution.

Training should be occupation and sector specific and the decision around functional skills requirement should be down to employers within those sectors, trades and professions. This is the government's intention, and we must now be careful that this isn’t interpreted as a ‘doing away with’ FSQs or a means of undermining the quality and robustness of apprenticeships, as this will only take us backwards in gaining parity for vocational education and training as a credible alternative to the academic route.

Ultimately we must balance the need for economic growth, the transition to a green economy and the need to accelerate infrastructure development and housebuilding, ensuring that skills are sustainable, robust and future-fit.”

We appreciate that this announcement will affect Training Providers accessing our End Point Assessment skills solution and may affect Gateway evidence requirements. Until we receive formal clarification of the change, please adhere to the existing requirements. We will be issuing further communication to support our Training Providers in due course.

Watch this space for further commentary from our Skills for Life & Work and Apprenticeship End Point Assessment experts on this important development for the sector.