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We apply the same rules. I understand your point, but you'd have to have some evidence for an auditor. Also, you don't have to extended the end date by exactly the same duration as the break. As long as the overall duration of both periods hits the minimum duration, it's allowable. If your original duration was only 12 months, then you'd have to extend by the full duration of the break. You'd need to recalculate minimum OTJ, but hopefully you'd meet the original plan regardless, since they'll still be doing all the planned blocks in the end.
Becky O'Brien
Actual end date for apprenticeship break - what to use?
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I've been considering what we use as the actual end date when an apprentice goes on break.
We currently stick to "The last date we have evidence they were in learning" but this sometimes ends up making the actual end date much earlier than the date the learner wanted the break to start if they've not done or recorded OTJ activity for a while.
Where I can really see this being an issue is where OTJ is done through block learning - a week in the classroom followed by a few weeks only in the workplace. If the break was requested just before the next block of training then the last evidence was weeks prior, weeks when the learner didn't have to be recording OTJ because they had already done it. If we then move the date earlier, we are potentially penalising the apprentice when they return from break - lengthening the programme to meet the minimum or original duration when those weeks were always meant to be "non-OTJ weeks".
What do others use as the break date?
Do you apply different "rules" depending on the circumstance?