Top Education and Skills Funding Agency officials have suggested they are not concerned about the financial health of the independent training provider sector, despite several high-profile closures and market exits.
Senior agency directors told the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) autumn conference this week that data they have gathered shows the sector’s finances are looking positive.
The comments followed multiple interventions from provider leaders attending the conference highlighting significant financial challenges, specifically around poor apprenticeship funding rates and increasing costs.
AELP’s director of policy, Simon Ashworth, said ITP financial health “has never been as bad as it is now, from what I see”.
