- 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. In order to make this happen the Alliance of Sector Skills Councils (Alliance) has been 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 Alliance. As a result the Alliance is the only organisation that can issue Apprenticeship certificates in England.
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A new certification service run by the Alliance has been developed and is known as Apprenticeship Certificates England (ACE). Apprentices or learning providers or employers who act on their behalf, will be able to request Apprenticeship certificates using the ACE online system. ACE provides a unique centralised certification system that will save Sector Skills Councils / Sector Skills Bodies (SSCs/SSBs), providers and certifying authorities valuable time, resource and investment and will allow them to track the progress of apprenticeship candidates. The system was officially launched on Wednesday 25 January 2012 by John Hayes MP, Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning,
The official URL for ACE is www.apprenticeships.org.uk/certificates .
You will need to register your organisation on the system via the online registration form; this can be done by going to www.acecerts.co.uk/index.php/register_centre 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 – if for any reason this will not be sufficient for your centre please contact me as this number cannot be changed once set.
The user guide that has been created for centres to help you use the system and also further e-learning materials can bee found on www.acecerts.co.uk/tutorials . There is also a link to these materials on the ACE home page.
Once you have uploaded certification evidence for an Apprentice on the system it will be 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. The cost of certificates when applied for through ACE will be £22 (incl VAT) and you will be sent an invoice with your certificates which can be paid by cheque or BACS. Reprints will be charge at £7.50.
Apprentices will receive a new 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
PLEASE NOTE: The ACE Online system must be used to apply for ALL Logistics Apprenticeship certificates, regardless of when the apprentice was registered or whether they are doing the new SASE framework or the old blueprint framework.
If you have any queries please contact Rachel Taylor on 01908 313360 or [email protected]
