From 1 October 2020, the price of an Apprenticeship Framework certificate in England, claimed and issued via the Federation’s online ACE system, will increase by £3.00 to a new cost of £25.00 per Apprenticeship completion certificate.
The reasons for this modest increase is that the Federation has been providing a high quality and efficient certification service since 2012 at the original charge of £22, with no previous price increases.
In addition to the actual certification service itself, the Federation also: –

•  provides and maintains the secure IT platform on which ACE is hosted
•  developed and enhanced the ACE software over the last 8 years, in line with regulatory requirements and customer feedback
•  offers a highly rated online and telephone customer services facility
•  provides comprehensive, user friendly online support and guidance materials, which are regularly updated in line with current legislative and quality requirements
• uses rigorous quality control processes to ensure all certification claims are processed correctly and within agreed SLAs
•  undertakes routine audits of its member bodies, who certificate on their behalf
• maintains an online library of the most recent versions of Framework documents plus links to archived versions.

We acknowledge that the economic situation is tough for everyone at the moment, and there is no good time to increase prices, but The Federation itself is a registered charity and provides all of the above services at no cost to the public purse. However, as the designated Certifying Authority in England, the Federation must be able to continue to manage and deliver the service on an economically sustainable basis, until such time as the last Apprenticeship Framework certification requests have been received and processed (circa 2025).
 

Like many businesses, in the face of the current economic challenges, the Federation has already taken extensive steps to reduce its own fixed costs but in order that we are able to continue to fulfil our statutory duty, and maintain a high quality certification and support service to training providers, employers and Apprentices, a small price increase is now necessary.
 

As you are aware, Apprenticeship Frameworks in England are now closed to new starts, with the last Apprentices commencing their training on 31st July 2020. All new Apprenticeship starts must now be on an Apprenticeship Standard. The knock on effect of this transition is that the volume of Framework certification claims, being made via ACE, will continue to reduce significantly year on year, between now and 2025.
 

The new certification price of £25 will be implemented from 1st October. The ACE system will be updated to reflect this change and all tokens purchased on, or after 1st October 2020, will be charged at £25 each.