Leanne Melling

EPAO cost change

Created

I am writing to seek advice regarding a recent issue we have encountered with one of our EPAOs. ICE has notified us of an approximate 50% increase in fees for all future End-Point Assessments. This follows previous capacity challenges due to reliance on voluntary assessors, which had limited them to offering only 2–3 EPA dates per year. We understand this position and have agreed to the revised pricing, particularly as they are currently the only EPAO able to deliver this standard.

However, all affected apprentices were enrolled at the previous EPA price. As a result, we will need to amend their Total Negotiated Price (TNP), which is likely to leave us with an estimated shortfall of around £600 per learner.

Could anyone provide guidance on the following points:

  • If apprentices had a funding reduction applied at enrolment and have not yet reached the funding band maximum, does this provide scope to increase the TNP 2 without creating a financial loss?  Amended TNP paperwork to be captured and signed by the employer.  
  • If this is not permissible, would it be compliant with funding rules to invoice employers for the additional EPA cost directly? While we anticipate some employers may be reluctant, we would like to understand whether this is an acceptable option within the current rules.
  • If not when adding a new TNP2 would we have the difference (if above funding band) taken off our TNP1 - therefore shortfall for ourselves.  

We are keen to ensure full compliance while mitigating the financial impact where possible.

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Ben James

The long and short of it is, as long as you get the employer to agree.. you can effectively charge whatever you like, within reason of course. 

If you're not at the funding band maximum, you can add it to the TNP2 cost in the ILR, as of the date the change was agreed, and your OPPs and completion payment will be re-profiled within the funding year you're in. 

If you're at the funding band maximum, you can still propose a change to the TNP to account for the EPA increase, but it'll need to be handled outside of the ILR e.g., via direct invoicing. Your TNP1 and TNP2 in the ILR will remain the same. 

The other alternative, if you're 'ok' with absorbing the cost (which I don't suspect you would be, given the size of it) is you can opt to reduce the TNP1 by the amount you're increasing the TNP2. 

In all circumstances you'd be well advised to keep good records of whatever option you go for, in particular an updated and re-signed contract detailing the price changes.