How do we choose a training provider?

The relationship between you and your training provider throughout the apprenticeship is important.  Ideally, you will form a long-term partnership with a training provider who can support your business ambitions through training your workforce.  You want to ensure that your training provider understands your sector and could tailor the training around your business.  

To find a training provider use the Find Apprenticeship Training search on the Gov.uk website to find a provider who offers training in your chosen standard.  

Things to consider when choosing a training provider:

• What's their experience of delivering in this occupational area?  Do they know your sector?
• Where are they situated?  How is the off-the-job training likely to be delivered (e.g. day release, block release, on your site, remote learning)?
• Do their trainers have the relevant experience and qualifications?
• What are their achievement and satisfaction rates?
• What sort of flexibility do they have in their proposed delivery model?  Will they be able to tailor it to your organisation?
• What do they expect from you as an employer?  How much of the recruitment process will you both be involved with?  What ongoing support is expected from both sides - e.g. how frequently will progress meetings be held?  Are you better situated to provide any of the off-the-job training yourself, if so what obligations do you have and how would that affect the cost of the delivery?
• Do they have a sample commitment statement you can review?
• What is the total cost of training and assessment including VAT and any sub-contracted training and exams fees?  How will any prior learning of the appointed apprentice affect the costs?
• How will they help you ensure you gain a good return on investment from the training and ensure it adds value to your business?
• What other services do they provide that may support and assist you?

This page contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.  The information is applicable to England.  It is targeted at employers who are new to apprenticeships and contains the latest information at the time of writing.  If you are an employer who is already offering apprenticeships you may be operating under different rules.  For the latest, definitive information on apprenticeships, please visit the Apprenticeships topic on Gov.uk.