Apprenticeship Certification - Wales

FISSS (The Federation of Industry Sector Skills & Standards), who were formerly known as The Alliance of Sector Skills Councils, have recently been appointed as the certificating authority for Welsh Apprenticeships. FISSS have developed a new online system called ACW (Apprenticeship Certification Wales) for Welsh Apprenticeship certification which will supersede the paper based system from 2nd September 2013 onwards. This means that all Apprenticeship completion certificates must be claimed via the new ACW online system from that date onwards.

The Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) now work on behalf of FISSS to approve and produce Apprenticeship certification via ACW for the Automotive Industry in Wales.

To view ACW please go to the ‘see also’ section on the right hand side of this page.

If you are a Training Provider claiming an Apprenticeship completion certificate on behalf of an apprentice then you will need to register on ACW for a user name and password before you are able to register apprentices and claim certification. A manual for ACW has been created by FISSS for Training Providers and can be found under the ‘Downloads’ section on the right hand side of this page.

If you are an apprentice claiming an Apprenticeship completion certificate for yourself then you will need to go to the ACW for an application form.

For each Apprenticeship completion certificate claimed via ACW a charge of £22 will be collected by the IMI on behalf of FISSS, which will be used to cover the cost of administering the system.

Apprenticeship completion certificates will be issued within 10 working days from the date of the certificate request being received providing that the required information and evidence is correct.

When claiming an Apprenticeship completion certificate via ACW the following evidence will be required for each apprentice:

• Apprenticeship Certificate Claim Form – The Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning (ASCL) Act 2009 came into force in Wales on 23rd June 2013. As part of this it now means any apprentice starting an Apprenticeship after this date needs to give permission for their training provider to apply for an Apprenticeship completion certificate on their behalf. To aid this requirement the ‘Apprenticeship Certificate Claim Form’ has been developed which acts as a declaration. The Claim Form is also to be used for apprentices who started an Apprenticeship before 23rd June 2013; however a different box will be ticked on the form as per instruction on the form. *Please note that the Apprenticeship Certificate Claim Form is not needed if you are an apprentice claiming your own Apprenticeship completion certificate.*
• NVQ Certificate of completion (for an apprentice on a Blueprint Apprenticeship)/VCQ certificate of completion (for an apprentice on a SASW compliant Apprenticeship)
• Technical Certificate of completion (for an apprentice on a Blueprint Apprenticeship)/VRQ certificate of completion (for an apprentice on a SASW compliant Apprenticeship)
• Essential Skills Wales:

           Communication certification of completion

           Application of Number certificate of completion

           ICT certificate of completion (if applicable for the Apprenticeship framework)

Please note: Key Skills Communication, Application of Number & ICT will be accepted for apprentices who were registered onto Key Skills before 1st September 2010 and achieved Key Skills before 1st September 2011.

ERR (Employee Rights & Responsibilities) Declaration Form – For Automotive the following rules apply:

• The ERR Declaration Form is to be completed and submitted for any apprentice on a Blueprint Apprenticeship framework as per the framework guidance.

1. A copy or the ERR Declaration form is not needed for apprentices on a SASW (Specification of Apprenticeship Standards for Wales) Apprenticeship framework as evidence of this requirement is a copy of the ‘Level 2 Award In Knowledge of Employee Rights and Responsibilities for the Automotive Sector’ as per the framework guidance.

 
The Apprenticeship Certificate Claim Form and  the ERR Declaration Form can both be found under the ‘Downloads’ section on the right hand side of this page. Information on how to complete the two forms is explained within the documentation.
 
If you have any questions regarding Apprenticeship certification in Wales then please contact:

Rikki Hodder
Email: rikkih@motor.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0) 1992 511 521