In February 2025, the Government announced changes to apprenticeship assessment and has published a new set of assessment principles.
The assessment process will be changed in order to enable more design and delivery flexibility so that:
- assessment is more proportionate to the competency being tested and removes any duplication
- where appropriate, assessment plans can be designed to allow assessment to take place on programme
- where appropriate, training providers will be able to deliver elements of the assessment. End-point Assessment Organisations (EPAOs) will continue to shape the assessment and ensure the validity of outcomes
End-Point Assessment Guiding Principles are having updates being made to the design and delivery of Apprenticeship Assessment Plans to ensure they continue to meet the needs of employers and apprentices.
Here are a few of the roles and responsibilities:
- External Quality Assurance will continue to be provided by the designated body with responsibility for regulating the assessment for each standard (Ofqual / OfS / small number of industry regulatory bodies), which should inform any further revisions of the Plan.
- As they do now in apprenticeships, employers are best placed to confirm apprentices are demonstrating the required behaviours. To remove unnecessary duplication, those behaviours will no longer need to be separately assessed by providers or EPAOs, who will focus on assessing essential knowledge and skills.
- Assessment Plans will set out where assessment may be undertaken by the EPAO or apprenticeship training provider, where appropriate. Exceptions will be necessary for instance where an external body must be involved for regulatory reasons.
The Apprenticeship Assessment Principles press release also talks about what the improved plan looks like.