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Assuming for non-redundancy, for the 30 days we'd definitely let them attend. If the gap does go past 30 days, that delivery will then fall outside of the on programme dates though (assuming you back date the AED to the date they left the employer, which is logically what you'd have to do, as nobody is paying for those 30 days), so I'm not sure you can count it as OTJ. It's not usually a big risk, they can make up those hours elsewhere. It's odd, because if they do find a new employer in those 30 days, those OTJ hours are technically whilst on programme, so can definitely be counted.
You could physically let them attend after 30 days too, but you definitely won't be able to claim any of that as OTJ as it's happening outside of the dates they're technically on programme. You might want to do that if it's the kind of delivery that is very ordered, and missing those lessons would create a nightmare for them to catch up. It's a risk, as you're basically doing it for free if they don't restart. We allow it occasionally if we're really confident they'll be getting another employer soon, as we don't want the student to get behind on lessons. We've never got to 12 weeks doing that. Sometimes we end up enrolling them on their component qual instead (if one exists) as classroom based so they can get it finished, but that sometimes involves a fee to the learner. If they ever do restart the apprenticeship, you'd then have to RPL that.
That's a conversation we've had, the guidance isn't clear. My view is that the AED should be the last date with the employer, and not 30 days later. One reason I think that is because you're not getting any funding for those 30 days. If an apprentice finishes with an employer on 15th Feb, and start with a new employer on 10th March, weirdly, the first employer has to pay for Feb, that's just how ESFA have set it up. You shouldn't be claiming funding via the first employer for Feb in any other situation. I had other reasons for this method, but I can't remember them 😂
Helen Wilshaw
Break in learning clarification
Created
Hi, I am just trying to get some clarification on the break in learning process. Apprentice has lost their Employer and is looking for a new one. Can they still attend their training sessions with their provider up to 30 days? If they go over 30 days they have to be entered on the ILR as a break in learning and am I correct in saying that they wont be able to attend anymore training sessions with their provider up to the 12 weeks of trying to find a new Employer? Hope this makes sense. Kind regards, Helen.