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As the 12 weeks is a minimum and the rule is a must, I would not expect any dispensation from the ESFA, the only advice is that you review the timescale for the sections to comply with the requirements for new starts this year.
P59 A progress review, to discuss the progress to date of the apprentice against their training plan, must be carried out at least every 12 weeks. This should be a three-way discussion involving the main provider, employer and the apprentice, so that there is a shared understanding of progress against the full apprenticeship.
In circumstances which are beyond your control the reason should be noted for audit requirements and the progress review rearranged, it would be prudent to update your agreement with employers to reflect the ESFA mandatory requirement of a minimum of 12 weeks for Progress reviews.
HTH
I don't disagree that these are the rules as published, but also, more power to your elbow Luke for trying to get them to see sense!
If I was feeling cheeky (moi?), I think my next chasing email would say "If you don't reply by next week, we assume it is fine for us to continue using our robust and understood model that is in the best interests of our learners and employers".
Think you still probably need signatures though (although these could very much be electronic, not wet)...
Gareth Luke
12 Week Reviews
Created
We asked the below question to the ESFA on the 3rd of August and chased it many times and re-submitted another ticket on the 12th of September - ESFA is not responding. Has anyone else had to address the below?
In the latest funding rules, a 'review' section has been re-introduced.
This section stipulates that a review must be done every 12 weeks and that an overview of the review is signed by all three parties.
We have always had a review process, even when it ceased to be a requirement in the funding rules several years ago.
Our apprenticeship programmes are built around a structure of sections. Our programmes are broken into 15-week sections. At the end of each section, a milestone assessment and review occur. These reviews are conducted with the learner and employer via webinar and the meeting is recorded and uploaded to the learner’s portfolio.
So, in brief, we are asking for ESFA approval to continue with our 15-week cycle as opposed to a 12-week cycle and to be allowed to put forward recordings of reviews as opposed to sending out a document for everyone to sign which only increases the administrative burden. We would argue our approach also increases the robustness of authenticity.
We currently do our reviews at weeks 15, 30, 45 and 60. Clearly, the 12-week cycle does not fit into this process and would be like fitting a square peg in a round hole of our programmes. It would also look a little strange to employers and not be the most efficient way to deliver the service