The Federation has two significant, key customers and these are the network of UK based Training Centres (Centres) who use our online Apprenticeship certification systems and the Certification Bodies (Bodies) who process Apprenticeship Certification claims, on our behalf.

During March 2015, we ran two online Customer Satisfaction surveys, one for each key customer type, giving them the opportunity to provide us with feedback on our performance and to rate their experience on a number of specific areas of our service provision.

Both surveys were open for a 4 week period and were well publicised on the ACE Website, via regular ACE notifications and an automated pop-up for Training Centres each time they logged into ACE to remind them to complete the survey.

We received an excellent response to both surveys with 811 respondents to the Training Centres Survey and 33 to the Certification Body one.  The number of responses to the Training Centres survey is 39% up on last year’s total.

Overall Customer Satisfaction Rates – with the Federation

Both surveys had a question relating to how the respondent rated the level of customer service and support that they received from the Federation. This was on a scale of Exceeded Expectations, Met Expectations, Somewhat Disappointed and Very Disappointed.

• The combined % for Exceeded and Met Expectations for the Training Centres was: 97%
  (Exceeded =  12%  & Met = 85%)
• The combined % for Exceeded and Met Expectations for the Certification Bodies was: 91%
  (Exceeded = 21%  & Met = 70%)

These results are a huge 10% up on the results we received, for both Centres and Bodies, for the same question asked in the 2014 survey.

All feedback received is hugely appreciated and we are currently finalising an action list to address any areas where it was identified that there is scope for improvement in the services and support  that we offer. This action list will be available on our website in the very near future.

If you have any further questions in the meantime please do not hesitate to contact the ACE Support Team.

A new validation for National Insurance (NI) Numbers was introduced into ACE on 25^th May 2015. This has been introduced to prevent the increasing number of duplicate NI Numbers appearing on the system. If an apprentice has been entered onto ACE previously, the forename, surname and NI Number fields for any new records will need to match the existing record exactly. If you enter an apprentice and the NI Number matches another record in a different name you will see the following error message.

The quickest way to resolve any NI Number errors is to check your own ACE account to see if you have entered the apprentice’s name differently in the past. To search your account you can type the NI Number into the ‘identifiers’ field on the advanced search tab on ACE. To make sure you are searching for all ACE records related to that Certification Body please remember to set the ‘Status’ field to ‘Any’. If this does not solve your issue then the System Support Team are on hand to help via the helpdesk. It could be that another training provider has entered the apprentice’s details in a different format for a previous apprenticeship which the System Support Team can help you to resolve.

If we find any major discrepancies between NI Numbers we may ask you to provide evidence of your apprentice’s NI Number or change of name documentation before you can register them on ACE. Examples of acceptable name change evidence can be found on page 4 of the ACE Checklist. Examples of acceptable evidence for NI Numbers is as follows:

• P45 or P60
• Letter from HM Revenue and customs confirming your National Insurance Number or regarding tax or tax credit.
• Bank statement showing payments by direct debit for class-2 National Insurance contributions, or benefits payment received showing your NINo on the statement, for example, Incapacity Benefit or State Pension.
• Payslips, salary statement or works pension statement (as long as it shows your NINo)
• Letter that the Pension Service or Jobcentre Plus has sent to you (not handwritten)
• NINo Card (not handwritten)
• Marriage certificate or Deed Poll (name change)

If you have any further questions in the meantime please do not hesitate to contact the ACE Support Team.