The flexibility for the Nursing Associate/Registered Nurse apprentice EPA was agreed, this applies to apprentices who are on registered apprenticeship programmes (paid by levy) who have met all NMC requirements, are at gateway, are occupationally competent and for whom undertaking the EPA is not possible during C19.
More guidance will is issued by ESFA and it is for Training Providers, Employers and End Point Assessment Organisations to make arrangements accordingly.
Below is the direct quote from The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education website
The Institute is supporting new flexibilities for Registered Nurse (RN) Degree Apprentices and Nursing Associate (NA) Apprentices that reflect the adjustments made by the Nursing and Midwifery Council with regard to professional registration in response to the Covid-19 outbreak.
With immediate effect and during the Covid-19 crisis any RN and NA apprentices who have:
- Completed the Nursing and Midwifery Council approved programme
- Been assessed by the NMC as having permanently met the requirements for Professional Registration
- Have passed through the apprenticeship gateway
- Will be regarded to have met the End Point Assessment (EPA) requirements and have achieved their apprenticeship.
This change to the EPA process will only be applied to qualifying apprentices during the Covid-19 crisis. The measure reflects the alignment of professional registration and EPA for the Registered Nurse and Nursing Associate apprenticeship programmes.
We have published a list of FAQs to help you understand the above announcement, click here to download it.