Written by Robin Jackson, Director of Assessment at Open Awards
Given the complexities of apprenticeships, trying to determine what Open Awards should charge for end-point assessment can, feel like a dark art. So how have we approached this, at times divisive, subject?
Why we don’t just charge ‘the 20%’
It’s tempting to take the simple approach of charging the 20% of the maximum funding as our fee. There is a view this would remove ambiguity for employers and be consistent. After all, in relation to funding, isn’t that what the 20% of the funding paid on apprenticeship completion is intended to cover? This is a widely held misconception. The completion funding was never intended to be ‘ring fenced’ for end-point assessment costs. That’s not to say, it can’t be used for, or contribute to these costs. However, end-point assessment costs are generally ‘fixed’ by the EPAO, whilst the 20% final completion payment is a variable amount, based on the whole cost agreed between the provider and the employer.
Let’s consider an overly simplified example. A provider has an apprentice on a standard where the maximum funding is £10,000 and the on-programme duration is typically 24 months. The expectation is that the EPA costs should not normally exceed 20% of the £10,000; i.e., £2,000. Therefore, the provider might deduct the £2,000 from the maximum funding, leaving a notional £8,000 to cover the on-programme training and all other associated costs. During the initial recruitment, the provider and employer agree the apprentice has existing knowledge and experience, so they only need to be on-programme for 18 months. The employer and provider might agree that because of this the cost for the apprenticeship will be reduced to ¾ of what the employer might ordinarily expect to pay the provider.
One approach is to agree ¾ of the £10,000; or £7,500 to cover everything. Based on this sum, the 20% completion contribution would be £1,500. However, in this example the EPAO is charging £1,600 for the specific apprenticeship standard. This EPA cost is fixed. Therefore, the provider should expect to pay the EPAO more than the actual completion payment they receive for that apprentice. There is a widely and wrongly held belief that the EPA can't be more than 20% of the overall cost negotiated by the employer and training provider.
A better way to model anticipated costs would be to deduct 20% from the maximum possible funding (i.e., 80% of £10,000 = £8,000) in case the EPA costs as much as this, and then calculate ¾ of the on-programme element to reflect the apprentice does not need the full anticipated 24 months on-programme learning (i.e., ¾ of £8,000 = £6,000). The provider and employer then agree the cost as being £8,000 (i.e., £2,000 + £6,000).
Why we have different fees for different standards
Because end-point assessment is associated with accessing public funding, EPAOs are only allowed to charge for what are deemed eligible costs by the Department for Education. Compliance with the requirement to only charge eligible costs was one of the conditions of acceptance (Condition 15) for being on the apprenticeship provider and assessment register (APAR). Whilst end-point assessment organisations have been removed from the APAR to “remove dual regulation”, the identified eligible costs are still the best place to start when determining EPA prices.
As each apprenticeship standard have different combinations of level, assessment methods, assessor qualification requirements etc., our fees reflect the specific complexities of individual standards. We put considerable effort into calculating our anticipated costs to come up with a fee that is reasonable and fair.
Why we charge a small registration fee and the rest is invoiced following gateway checks
For consistency and transparency, we have adopted this single approach for all the end-point assessments we offer. Otherwise, we are likely to have a fee schedule which is overly complex for providers to plan for. We incur administrative costs in setting up apprentices on our systems and for some standards, may need to allocate an assessor early in the process as they may be required to input into gateway checks or employer planning meetings/ site visits.
Why we publish our prices on our website
We take pride in being open and honest in our approach to everything we do. It’s about trying to do the right thing. We believe our prices should be visible to anyone. Current customers, interested future customers, even competitors.
Even if we didn’t have this within our DNA, it is a requirement for Ofqual as the qualification regulator/ EPA external quality assurer. Condition F1.2 requires us to make our fee information easily accessible to any potential purchaser without that person having to request it from, or provide any information to, us. In simple terms all end-point assessment organisations must make their prices publicly accessible. Therefore, not only are we living our values, but we are also confident in being compliant with our regulatory requirements.
Why resit costs appear lower than the overall EPA price.
We calculate our resit prices based purely on what we need to pay assessors (including for their planning and travel), and administration fees in setting up the assessment. This can appear to be lower than the overall EPA price.
The reason for this is our overall EPA price includes all eligible costs associated with delivering end-point assessment for that apprentice. This includes, for example: a proportion of costs associated with developing the end-point assessment and associated assessment instruments; guidance and support and the materials (non-capital items) used in the delivery of EPA (equipment or supplies necessary to enable the assessment to take place); and ensuring trained staff and appropriate premises are available to deliver EPA.
We calculate our overall EPA prices on the assumption that apprentices will not require resits. This ensure we are able to offer the highest quality assessment within our core costs, and keeps our resit/ retake prices simple (they cover ours and our assessors time in delivering the assessment).
Why we don’t caveat our prices with offers
It could be argued that end-point assessment and the expectation that employers should agree costs with EPAOs has led to even greater commercialisation of the qualification market and associated application of sales ‘spin’. We believe we have calculated our fees fairly and robustly, based on what are eligible costs. Therefore, there is minimal scope for us to offer deals. We are also minded of our responsibility to remain independent and not package or bundle our service with unnecessary enticements.
Given the cost of end-point assessment is paid from either the employer’s apprenticeship service levy account or is funded by DfE, we are unable to provide offers to providers without evidence this is being negotiated on behalf of and subsequently passed onto the employer. Therefore, by robustly setting clear fees we believe they are already fair and offer value for money.