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Good Morning Stacey,
I have come across some guidance which says that for 'apprentices at all levels (apprenticeships) with formally recognised special educational needs, learning difficulties or disabilities, who struggle to achieve the regular English and / or maths minimum requirement due to the nature of their difficulty or disability, we will accept achievement of entry level 3 functional skills in English and / or maths. You must make every effort to enable apprentices with special educational needs, learning difficulties or disabilities to achieve the minimum English and maths requirements of the specific apprenticeship. This includes appropriate use of access arrangements, reasonable adjustments and other approved qualifications that are detailed in the ESFA list of qualifications approved for funding.'
There is also a Temporary Suspension in place for anyone from 1st August that is due to take their End Point Assessment before the 31st December where the L2 requirement is not needed.
So if your employee can get a L1 Maths completed with his Statement he would be able to complete. (By the rule above he maybe able to do a E3). You would need to clarify this in the Funding Rules with the provider but that is my understanding.
Hope it helps.
Stacey Killon
Functional Skills in English
Created
Hi everyone.
I have a sticky situation and would appreciate any advice. We have a staff member who should be completing their RDNA in October however they have not managed to complete their level 2 English.
They were transferred over to an apprenticeship in 2018 following 2 years of being self-funded. During the time of the transfer (I sadly wasn't involved) the individual was told that there would be no changes to the course or process (by the provider and one of our leads who didn't understand apprenticeship conditions), no one highlighted that there would be a need for Functional Skills etc. Upon finding this out (they only have a level 1 in English) they became quite disengaged and the provider was not helpful in ensuring they provided the right level of support. They have Dyslexia (again disclosed to the training provider at the start and in their application) but they did little to act upon it or provide any additional support, causing much frustration. After many unhelpful conversations we opted to fund this provision externally to ensure he got the support he needed, at an additional cost as the provider had already extracted the funding involved. There was still many struggles and after recently sitting their exam they have failed. They now got to the point they want to completely throw in the towel and withdraw from the apprenticeship as its starting to impact their mental health. We are incredibly keen to avoid this especially for all the hard work he has carried out to date and that their placement feedback has been exceptional.
Previously to this course, they had completed an Access to HE Diploma (Health) and a level 2 Laser Learning Award which was a English GCSE equivalent. This formed the entry criteria onto the original self-funded route and was accepted by the provider. The staff member in question is extremely frustrated and has said multiple times that if they had been advised they needed to undertake a level 2 in English they would never have agreed to transfer over onto an apprenticeship as the process has been overwhelming and stressful for them.
Recently this staff member disclosed to us they have a Statement of Special Educational Needs. On this basis could this go towards potentially forfeiting the exam? I understand from funding rules (P156) any judgement should be executed within 8 weeks of an apprentice starting their apprenticeship and wonder given the messy circumstances from start to finish we can appeal in anyway? I feel currently we have done them an injustice and want to do everything I can in putting this wrong right.