ACE Online Certification System
The Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act (ASCL) was enacted in November 2010 and the new certification requirements came into force on 13th April 2011.
One of the key requirements of the Act is that only the Certifying Authority for England can issue Apprenticeship certificates to successful apprentices in England. The Federation of Industry Sector Skills & Standards (FISSS) was designated the Certifying Authority in England. The Chief Executive of the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) remains the Accountable Officer for certification, but he has delegated this role to the FISSS. As a result the FISSS is the only organisation that can issue Apprenticeship certificates in England.
ThE FISSS run a certification service known as Apprenticeship Certificates England (ACE). Apprentices, learning providers or employers who act on their behalf, are able to request Apprenticeship certificates using the ACE online system. ACE provides a unique centralised certification system that saves Sector Skills Councils / Sector Skills Bodies (SSCs/SSBs), providers and certifying authorities valuable time, resource and investment and allows them to track the progress of apprenticeship candidates. The system was officially launched on Wednesday 25th January 2012 by John Hayes MP, Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning.
HOW DO I ACCESS ACE?
The official URL for ACE is www.acecerts.co.uk
REGISTERING ON ACE
You need to register your organisation on the system via the online registration form; this can be done by going to https://acecerts.co.uk/register_supercentre and completing the information and contact details. This must include a contact email address. Once you have completed this process you will be emailed a username and password for ACE.
This will be your “administrator” account which you can then use to create additional accounts for your centre. You will be able to create a maximum of 10 additional accounts.
TRAINING MATERIALS
The user guide has been created for centres to help you use the system, further e-learning materials can be found on www.acecerts.co.uk/tutorials . There is also a link to these materials on the ACE home page.
COSTS AND TIMESCALES
All certification requests must now be paid for on application via the Central Payment System on ACE – see www.acecerts.co.uk for more information on this.
Once you have uploaded certification evidence for an apprentice on the system it is checked by Skills for Logistics in the same way the paper evidence submitted previously was checked. If there are any problems with this evidence you will be informed via email, so it is important that all your users have an email address entered on the system.
Once Skills for Logistics has agreed the evidence provided is correct, we have 10 working days to issue the certificate to you.
Reprints of certificates are charged at £7.50 each and must be paid for in advance. If you require a reprint please email [email protected] with the relevant information and you will be sent an invoice. Once this has been paid we will issue the certificate.
Apprentices will receive a certificate approved by the Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, which at his request includes either bronze, silver or gold foil seals:
- Bronze – this seal appears on the certificate issued to apprentices who completed an Intermediate Apprenticeship.
- Silver – this seal appears on the certificate issued to apprentices who completed an Advanced Apprenticeship.
- Gold – this seal appears on the certificate issued to apprentices who completed a Higher Apprenticeship.
If you have any queries please contact Rachel Taylor on 01908 313360 or [email protected]
