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Apprenticeship updates
Update on contingency plans for apprentices during Coronavirus and apprenticeships delivered by KPMG.
Bear with us
Due to the circumstances that we find ourselves in, naturally it cannot be business as usual. PCS Home Office Merseyside Branch is continuing to monitor the branch inbox for general enquiries and our online form for requests for assistance and will respond as quickly as we can but please be aware that at the moment less than half of our reps have access to work laptops or phones. We will continue to do what we can to assist branch members during these unprecedented times.
As a priority apprentice members should inform their branch representatives whether they are being classed as “essential workers” and are required to attend work.
The departmental Apprenticeship Team have informed Group leads of plans put in place to deal with the effect of Coronavirus on delivery of the department’s apprenticeship schemes.
Contingency plans include learning providers moving to a virtual learning model to remove the need to meet in person:
- Home Office systems are being enabled for web-based learning.
- IT specifications of all web-based platforms are being gathered from training providers for technical review .
- Apprentices should continue to individually log IT incidents with IT Now.
- Apprentices are being advised to continue with workarounds e.g. to use personal IT equipment if available to access learning provider’s learning delivery platforms while the whitelisting exercise is being completed
- Completing a short IT satisfaction survey to assess contractual compliance on accessibility to IT systems
Apprentice members should report progress on this process and any problems to their branch representatives who will forward information to the Group Apprenticeship Lead to collate responses and escalate any issues appropriately.
KPMG
Apprenticeships delivered by KPMG will be affected by a recent Ofsted inspection in which overall effectiveness was found to be inadequate. As a result, ESFA have notified KPMG that they will be removed from Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers (ROATP) for all new starts.
As a result apprentices currently at 70%+ or near End Point Assessment will continue their learning with KPMG; this approach is aimed at minimising timelines and disruption resulting from learning transfer between providers.
Apprentice members should inform branches/the Group Apprenticeship lead if they are affected by this development.
If members have any questions in relation this please contact your local branch representatives in the first instance.
Thank you to all apprentice members for continuing to provide information to the union. This information is vital in helping to inform our negotiations with the employer to improve the experience for current and future apprentices.
Unity is Strength. Stay Safe
Neil Masters (Group Executive Committee Apprenticeship Lead)
Any queries about this PCS Home Office Group Members' Briefing can be sent to the author here.
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