UVAC – Skills: A Post Covid 19 System – Over the last few months UVAC has been outlining to policy makers our views on the priorities for a Post Covid 19 Skills System and the contribution HE can make. Our arguments are summarised in the following report. We would welcome comments from member organisations to [email protected]

Mandatory Qualification Rule Rethink – Colleagues may have picked up that the IfATE and DfE are rethinking the Mandatory Qualification Rule. The rule, as currently applied, means that employers can only specify a mandatory qualification in an Apprenticeship standard where it is a requirement to practice by a professional body or regulator or used in hard sifting for job interviews. This has resulted in Trailblazers being prevented from specifying a degree in an Apprenticeship even where they believed it was needed by the sector. In cases where a mandatory degree had been specified in an Apprenticeship standard prior to the introduction of the mandatory qualification rule, but fell foul of the rule, there was a substantial risk that the degree would be removed when the standard was reviewed.

UVAC believe that IfATE and DfE will, subject to a review, follow a more pragmatic and less rigid approach on the specification of mandatory degrees in Apprenticeships. This will mean a case will need to be made and justified, but a less rigid set of requirements will be applied. DfE has obviously listened to the arguments made by employers, UVAC, UUK and others on the benefits and advantages of including mandatory degrees in Apprenticeships where employers felt this was in the interests of Apprentices, employers and a sector as a whole.

Student Number Controls – To confirm Student Number Controls do not apply to Apprenticeships.