Left to right - Richard Turner, Lisa Hibbard, Charlotte Lord, John Giannasi, Julia Gallimore, Peter Dick, Zena Albachari.
We’re really pleased to be working with Virgin Trains as their end-point assessment (EPA) organisation.
NCFE is one of the few organisations approved by the Skills Funding Agency to deliver end-point assessment and offers support in a variety of sectors and subject areas. End-point assessment (EPA) signifies one of the biggest apprenticeship reforms in recent times and stems from the 2013 government-commissioned Richard Review into apprenticeships. The findings called for an end to continuous assessment in favour of an external assessment that more accurately reflected a learner’s capabilities and readiness for a particular role. What’s more, the independent nature of the assessment is designed to ensure that skills are transferable across different organisations and respected industry-wide.
Dedicated to excellent customer service and committed to staff development, Virgin Trains has embraced the new apprenticeships standards and is delivering apprenticeships in customer service roles such as Customer Service Practitioner, Team Leader and Operations Manager.
Mike Boswell, Head of Apprenticeship Services at NCFE said: “NCFE is delighted to have been appointed as the end-point assessment organisation for Virgin Trains. We’ve built a great relationship with Virgin Trains over the past year and have been able to support them with understanding the new apprenticeships standards and in developing support materials. Working with organisations like Virgin Trains, who have a shared commitment to learning and development, is really rewarding and enables us to support more learners to progress in their careers.”
Richard Turner, Talent Delivery Manager at Virgin Trains on the west coast, said: “We are committed to investing in our people and enabling them to learn new skills and progress within our business and their careers. Our new apprenticeship programmes, which include an industry-first scheme for people wanting to become train drivers, are providing new opportunities for our people and we’re pleased to be working in partnership with NCFE to offer these nationally recognised qualifications.”
You can see how Virgin Trains find working with NCFE in our brand new video or find out more about apprenticeships at NCFE on our website.
