The Office for Students will now regulate level 6+ apprenticeships.
The Office for Students (OfS) and Department for Education (DfE) have been working together to develop a quality assessment approach for providers that are offering apprenticeships at level 6 or 7 but are not required to register with the OfS.
The OfS can confirm that we have been asked by the DfE to commence regulation of these apprenticeships, alongside our existing responsibility to regulate the quality of all higher education courses at registered providers.
We will begin our first pilot reviews over the summer and will focus on the largest providers, ensuring that the maximum number of apprentices are captured.
As we develop and implement our approach we will continue to work closely with Ofsted, benefitting from their expertise in inspecting apprenticeship provision, and making sure that there is a clear and robust approach to regulation to protect apprentices and the quality of the system as a whole.