Business Update - Issue 57 (June 2020)
Updated 1 November 2021
Applies to England
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1. Coronavirus (COVID-19) guidance and support
Updated COVID-19 guidance for Apprenticeships
The updated apprenticeship COVID-19 guidance was published on the 2 June and can be found on the apprenticeship programme response page.
Updates in this version include:
- information on which apprentices should be prioritised for face-to-face training in line with the Prime Minister’s announcement that further education settings can broaden the number of 16 to 19 learners attending on-site delivery from Monday 15 June. More information can be found in the apprentices returning to train in an educational setting section of the guidance.
- the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IFATE) have put in place a flexibility that enables apprentices to take end-point assessment (EPA) ahead of receiving their calculated functional skills qualification results later on in the summer. More information can be found in the EPA flexibility for functional skills qualifications (FSQs) section of the guidance.
We are keeping the developing situation, and our guidance, under review and will continue updating this guidance as new information is available and/or the situation evolves. The latest version can always be found on the apprenticeship programme response page.
Our information should be read alongside the government’s COVID-19 guidance and support for businesses, in particular the salary support for furloughed employees, which also applies to apprentices.
We have also broken down some of this guidance into articles for employers, training providers and EPAOs, as well as articles for apprentices. These can be found on our apprenticeship service help page.
Read guidance from the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IFATE) on the delivery of assessment.
Working safely during coronavirus (COVID-19) business webinars – find out how to make your workplace COVID-secure
The Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy have a number of recorded webinars available to help you make your workplace COVID-secure.
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is changing
Guidance has been updated with information about how the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is changing. Updates include information about how the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is changing, what pension trustees may do whilst on furlough and the eligibility of TUPE.
From 1 July, employers can bring back to work employees that have previously been furloughed for any amount of time and any shift pattern, while still being able to claim CJRS grant for their normal hours not worked. When claiming the CJRS grant for furloughed hours; employers will need to report and claim for a minimum period of a week.
The scheme will close to new entrants from 30 June 2020. From this point onwards, employers will only be able to furlough employees that they have furloughed for a full 3-week period prior to 30 June.
This means that the final date by which an employer can furlough an employee for the first time will be 10 June 2020, in order for the current three-week furlough period to be completed by 30 June. Employers will have until 31 July to make any claims in respect of the period to 30 June.
Further guidance on flexible furloughing and how employers should calculate claims will be published on 12 June 2020. Find out more information on how the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is changing.
2. New End-Point Assessment Flexibility Announced for Calculated Functional Skills Qualifications
The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IFATE) have announced a new temporary flexibility that enables apprentices to take their end-point assessment (EPA) ahead of receiving their calculated functional skills qualifications (FSQ) later on in the summer.
The flexibility enables apprentices, who would otherwise be stuck at gateway pending their calculated FSQ, to pass through gateway and take their EPA.
This flexibility, which has immediate effect, applies to:
- all apprentices due to take an FSQ test and receive a result between 20 March and 31 July;
- those apprentices that are deemed by their training provider to have the required level of functional skills and sufficient evidence to demonstrate this to receive a calculated FSQ pass; and
- occupationally competent apprentices at gateway who are ready to progress to sit their EPA.
This temporary measure supports qualifying apprentices to complete their EPA without undue delay. Apprentices will only achieve their apprenticeship once they have passed EPA and received their FSQ pass.
More information has been included within version 5 of the guidance to support employers, training providers and EPAOs to implement the flexibility and to ensure that apprentices get their certificate to confirm completion once they have passed both their EPA and their FSQ.
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