Plans to integrate professional qualifications with apprenticeship end-point assessments could shrink the assessment organisation market and create monopolies for industry bodies, experts have warned.
The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) launched a consultation last month on proposals to make mandatory professional qualifications and end point assessments (EPAs) work better together.
The aim is to curb the number of learners leaving their apprenticeship having secured their industry qualification but before completing their EPA, a tendency that is contributing to the 50 per cent drop-out rate in apprenticeships.
IfATE has proposed measures to include at least one part of a professional industry qualification with the EPA, having found evidence that learners were walking away from apprenticeships after securing the necessary qualification to work in the industry.
