The Government is planning a major reform of key skills delivery within Modern Apprenticeships and the DfEE/NTO National Council has issued clarification of the transition arrangements.
The main reforms will take place from September 2001 and until then new entrants must, as a minimum, meet the existing requirements for achievements in Key Skills. These are to prepare a portfolio of evidence of attainment in the three key skills; Application of Number, Communication and IT. The required levels of attainment vary according to the specifications of the different Modern Apprenticeship frameworks. National Training Organisations, as the designers and guardians of these frameworks, set the levels they expect apprentices to attain.
These minimum requirements are available only for new registrations between September 2000 and August 2001.
NTOs are free to go further and specify, for their frameworks, the full individual Key Skill units or the new Key Skills Qualification that will be required during the period September 2000 - August 2001.
The DfEE encourages training providers to offer - and trainees to accept - opportunities to take the new qualification from September 2000. From September 2001 there will be an obligation on all providers to ensure that trainees have opportunities to gain the Key Skills Qualification.
Awarding Bodies need to have processes in place to establish that candidates have successfully completed a portfolio and to inform training providers. Providers will need this written confirmation in order to secure a completion certificate for trainees from the NTO. Some Providers will also use this data to claim completion payments from TECs where these are made.
If awarding bodies want to go further and issue certificates to candidates recognising the portfolio of achievement (sometimes referred to as part-certificates), these must be clearly distinguishable from those issued for individual Key Skills units and the Key Skills Qualification. They will not in themselves form part of the National Qualifications Framework; they will not equate to the new Key Skills; and they will not count towards the new Qualification unless accompanied by a proxy qualification instead of the tests.
