The 2017 reforms are expected to increase the number of new apprenticeships to 3 million by 2020, giving more people the chance to pursue a prosperous career.

Part of the new Digital Apprenticeship Service (DAS) is the RoATP – an operation allowing employers to select the right training provider for them. Over the summer, the government consulted with employers and providers to implement a new RoATP policy. After receiving feedback from almost 600 organisations they've made some major changes to the way the RoATP will work and how it will affect the sector.

Who will the apprenticeship reforms affect?

The basics

• From May 2017, levied employers will be able to choose a provider from a new online register – the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers (RoATP)
• Any organisation that wants to deliver more than 100K of apprenticeship training per year will have to apply to the register.
• Providers who deliver less than 100K of apprenticeship training as a subcontractor will not need to apply.
• Providers that are registered must meet strict guidelines on quality, capacity and capability.

What's new?

• Before this proposal, regulations were expected to be brought in to control subcontractors across the sector. In the document released yesterday, the rules have been altered and many subcontractors will not even need to apply to the register.
• The main training provider no longer needs to deliver 50% of the training.
• With permission of the employer, providers can bring in subcontractors to deliver any proportion of the framework.
• Employers will be able to register if they want to provide training to their own staff. They can lead their own programme or act as a subcontractor to their main provider.
• The new register will open four times a year for applicants.
• Applications are now open! The first selection of assured providers will be drawn from the completed applications at 5pm on Friday 25^th November 2016.

How will the changes affect the employer?

• Employers will have the flexibility to choose their main provider and negotiate a subcontractor for part of the framework
• All applicants to the RoATP will have to pass quality and financial tests, giving employers the confidence to do business with them.
• Smaller employers will access a procurement process to select a main provider for their apprentice.

As well as this reshuffle of the provider register, the government also released major changes to the new funding reform. It’s quite a lengthy document, so we’ve summed up all the basics for about changes to the levy here.

With so many reforms happening at once, understanding how they will affect employers, assessors and apprentices on a day-to-day basis is a bit of a challenge.

Download our guide to find out how the changes will affect you.