The new Foundation Apprenticeships are a big change opportunity for EPAOs, but they come with a short timeframe and plenty of potential for disruption. This is how epaPRO and Skilltech Solutions can support you.
On 27th May, the Department for Education quietly announced a big shift in the world of apprenticeships. From 1st August, 2025, a new category will launch: Foundation Apprenticeships, designed for 16-21-year-olds (and those under 25 with additional needs) to build core skills and confidence in the workplace.
It’s a significant policy move aimed at widening participation in education and improving readiness for further training or employment. Yet it also brings with it a very different approach to how these apprenticeships are structured and, importantly for EPAOs, assessed.
As an EPAO, we know that you haven’t been given the longest turnaround time to get ready for these changes, and we want to support you as much as possible in the next few months. Here, we give our overview of the changes and what it means for your assessment processes and, if you’re already on epaPRO, your software.
Shorter Duration, Faster Cycles
The traditional 366-day minimum has been scrapped. Foundation Apprenticeships will now run over just 8 months (243 days). That’s a compressed, accelerated model designed to get young people work-ready sooner.
For EPAOs, it creates a tighter window to schedule assessments, manage planning, and work closely with providers, all without compromising quality or consistency, of course. Systems will need to move faster, track progress earlier, and keep pace with a more agile learning journey.
Assessments before Gateway are now possible
In a break from the standard model, apprentices on Foundation programmes can now undertake assessments before Gateway. As you know, Gateway has always been a key milestone, the formal point at which an apprentice is deemed ready for their End-Point Assessment. This new model allows assessment activity to begin earlier in the programme, which means EPAOs will be working with evidence that may have been gathered weeks or even months before traditional timing. That adds new dimensions to scheduling, tracking, and verifying – especially when assessments are no longer tightly tethered to the final stage of learning. It’s a more fluid process, and one that needs proper support.
Assessment delivery is now in your hands
The standards will still outline what kind of assessment is required, for instance, a Practical Assessment. However, under the new model, how that assessment is delivered is now down to the EPAO. You might choose to run a Professional Discussion, review a Portfolio of Evidence, or develop your own delivery model that aligns with the required outcomes. There’s more room for flexibility and creativity, but also more responsibility to ensure fairness, validity, and repeatability across different approaches. It’s a shift that will require assessment strategies to be re-evaluated and redefined. Templates, documentation and assessor guidance will all need to evolve. It’s exciting, but could potential be daunting if you don’t get the framework you need in place quickly.
Shared responsibility with providers
In certain cases, Training Providers or Centres can now deliver assessment components if the EPAO allows it. On paper, this opens up opportunities for better efficiency and local delivery. In practice, it introduces a layer of complexity around standardisation, moderation, and quality assurance. If your organisation chooses to go down this route, you’ll need clear protocols, robust reporting mechanisms, and tight controls to avoid reputational or compliance risks. Delegating assessment is not the same as handing it over. Platforms that manage the full end to end process, like epaPRO, will become even more vital to manage this.
Seven new standards, one consistent challenge
The seven new Foundation Apprenticeships are:
- Building Services Engineering
- Hardware, Network & Infrastructure
- Engineering & Manufacturing
- Health & Social Care
Each one will come with its own nuances and expectations, but for EPAOs, the challenge is the same: how to manage these new types of programmes efficiently, accurately, and in line with new regulatory expectations.
epaPRO is ready for change
At Skilltech Solutions, we’ve already started working to ensure that epaPRO fully supports Foundation Apprenticeships from day one. We already have the flexibility to accommodate early assessments, different delivery models, and tighter timelines, and can help you to build this into your assessment journey easily. If you haven’t already spoken to us (and a lot of you have) our customer success team are on hand to answers and questions and make any urgent changes you need. All while still maintaining the high standards, audit trails, and transparency you need. It’s an exciting time for EPAOs, with fresh opportunities to shake up how you deliver assessments to support learners as much as possible.
Foundation Apprenticeships represent a shift in who we reach, how we assess, and how quickly we work. With the right systems in place, EPAOs can embrace the change with confidence.
