CHAPTER 29:

In January’ 17, the announcement of the new EPA (End Point Assessment) for Apprentices at Level 2 came as a much needed addition to the qualification that Apprenticeship training was offering. It meant that at the very least the EPA would in some way prove that the Apprentice had some practical skill rather than all the paperwork but nothing to back it up with.

On top of this, Government-funding to the training providers was increased to a much more realistic level, reflecting the extra work needed to get the Apprentices up to standard.

The new addition to the program was supposed to be more thorough & by including a final test aimed to stop the tick-box process that many providers used to enable their students to achieve their qualification. The timeframe for the new Level 2 was recommended to be 24 months, with an absolute minimum of 13 months. To negotiate the new standards was a long drawn out process & with Hellen Ward, a good friend to the business who was the Chair of the Steering Committee, Edward was invited to join.

Sadly however, the new financial arrangements weren’t to last. In August ‘18, following a Government review, our side of the industry suffered a major financial blow when, in their infinite wisdom, they cut the Apprenticeship funding by 20%. Our assumption is that the cut happened because of the way that certain training providers manipulated the system, finishing their Trainees after just one year and one month (the absolute minimum timeframe). This led to questions being asked by Government as to why the cost of training was set at 18 months to 2 years but some providers were taking liberties as usual and consequently funding was cut.

As a result of the poor, short-cut training we had loads of calls from newly-qualified Apprentices who could do a basic short haircut & put a few highlights in but couldn’t choose colour or cut anything more than a basic layer. The training providers amongst us who delivered high quality training weren’t listened to & consequently the funding was cut. However, as I’m writing this, an updated qualification is close to being agreed again including a 2^nd haircut in the EPA (so well done Edward & committee). Hopefully an increase in funding to match the new standards will be agreed.

Regardless of the funding cut, I’m proud to say that we stuck to our guns and made sure all our Apprentices were trained properly ready for their EPA; some within the minimum timeframe, many in 18 months & some who needed additional help, a bit over the full 24 months. And the best news… our results have reached a 90% plus success rate and currently we have three 100% Distinctions, all from our Ipswich Hair School.