Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will take steps to allow colleges to carry out their own end point assessments for apprenticeships.

In February 2025 the department announced improvements to apprenticeship assessment and published a new set of assessment principles. This will make assessment simpler for employers, providers and apprentices and remove unnecessary duplication.

End-point assessment organisations (EPAOs) will be able to delegate assessment to the apprenticeship training provider, including colleges, where appropriate, in line with the revised assessment plan. EPAOs will continue to shape the assessment and ensure the validity of outcomes.

These changes will make the system more efficient and improve the experience for employers and apprentices, while retaining rigour and quality, and ensuring consistency in outcomes. This will ensure employers can be confident that apprentices have met the standards employers require.

Existing assessment plans will be rewritten on a standard-by-standard basis to reflect these changes. The department is working closely with the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education to develop and implement these revisions from April 2025. Further detail, including which assessment plans will be revised and by when, will be outlined in due course.