The Learning & Skills Council (LSC) has announced a discount for smaller training providers that want to register for the training quality standard - a certificate designed to recognise the best training and development organisations.

The standard is open to training providers of all sizes, but the LSC says it recognises that smaller providers require special consideration, in terms of cost and the approach to assessment. It has therefore announced some new opportunities for small training providers who wish to apply for assessment.

Eligible providers who apply now will be able to take part in a pilot, which will be used to test the assessment process. The LSC is therefore offering a reduced assessment fee to the first 75 small providers who register before 2 May. Those on the pilot will typically pay less than £2,000 for a Part A assessment, a reduction of more than £2,000.

These developments have been designed to give a wider range of organisations the opportunity to show they are among the best in delivering training and development solutions, says the LSC.

More than 100 organisations have registered or applied for assessment under the standard since it went ‘live’ in June 2007 – including colleges, commercial providers and several large employers – and 29 have now been accredited.

Small providers who wish to take part can download the registration form from the website www.newstandard.co.uk

A small provider is one with 20 full time staff or less, with a turnover of less than £500,000 and no more than one operating site (not including customers’ premises they might work on).