Apprenticeship OTJ Sign Off by Employer

Hi,

The section the springs to mind to me are the rules around under delivery for OTJ, from the apprenticeship  OTJ guidance document-

"There is no proforma for the statement, but the apprenticeship funding rules outline
the information that the statement must include. The employer and apprentice must
countersign the statement, if they are satisfied with the quantity of training delivered,
even though it is less than the original volume agreed at the beginning of the
apprenticeship. "

This is the only time a signed statement is mentioned in the evidence list as below

4. What kind of evidence (e.g. level of detail) is required to support the policy?
We set out clearly in the apprenticeship funding rules the quantitative and qualitative
evidence required. This includes:
(a) how the volume of planned off-the-job training was calculated;
(b) that this planned figure was documented in the correct places;
(c) that there is evidence to support the delivery of off-the-job training;
(d) that all the evidence meets the definition of off-the-job training;
(e) that the actual hours delivered is documented on the ILR (and corresponds
with the proof of delivery); and
(f) that where the actual hours delivered is less than the original volume agreed,
there is a signed statement on file to explain the difference

So in closing I don't think you need to be concerned, the function you have allows assessors to apply a regular level of scrutiny.

Thanks Steven Edmondson, that's the only signed statement bit I could find too but the Apprenticeship Manager is convinced it has to be signed by employer because of the ESFA template?  It's a difficult one to challenge therefore.  I do really appreciate your view though and it's the same as mine so......  However, I wondered if one of the Apprenticeship funding experts might be able to see this?  Is it Steve Hewitt I'm thinking maybe?  

It's like saying Candyman three times into a mirror ;)

Hi, hello! So, delving through the various documents I cannot find anything that says "the employer must sign off the OTJ" so I've no clue why they've put it on the template... Like, how would you even do it with, eg, OneFile? Of course, we're trying to prove a negative to your colleague here which is always more difficult, but it seems unnecessary. For example, registers for classroom delivery would only be signed by the tutor to say the learners were there and they're clearly acceptable evidence.

That's really helpful Steve Hewitt, I think that's two Steven's with the same opinion as me so I'm pretty happy with that actually, thanks so much