We’re delighted to announce that we will be introducing an Online Assessment Platform in 2023 as another exciting new development at SIAS to support our rapid growth and continued success.
After a rigorous tender process, we have selected ‘Question Mark’ as our supplier partner, and we are now working closely with them on the implementation plan.

This best in market testing platform will support knowledge-based assessment components for many of the standards we currently assess and will only serve to further enhance the EPA experience for our partners, and importantly apprentices themselves.

Steve Smith, Managing Director said: “As our business continues to evolve and grow with pace, the Question Mark online assessment platform will further enhance the EPA experience for our learners and our valued provider and employer partners – ultimately making the process smoother, stronger, and more agile.

“The platform will enable us to move beyond our current approach of paper-based knowledge tests and scenario case study assessments – to a more modern, digital solution, that will create a more flexible experience for all. We were particularly impressed by Question Mark and their use of in-built AI based proctoring to build a level of robustness which supports both the end-user experience and compliance.

“We are continuing to invest heavily across SIAS to ensure we set the benchmark around what the very best EPA should be, as we continue to put partnerships and delivering real value at the heart of our journey to become a truly market leading 21^st century assessment organisation.”

The testing platform will be introduced in a phased approach, with full support and guidance for our partners provided by SIAS throughout – we will as always be making sure the transition is seamless for our customers and for Apprentices, and we are excited about the extra positive impact and value this will deliver.

We are aiming to start the roll out in June of this year.  Look out for more details coming soon!

In the next in our series of meet the team articles we talk to Janice Snape, EPA Relationship Co-ordinator at SIAS. Janice Snape joined the team in 2015 when SIAS was just an idea on a piece of paper, as Administration Manager until a couple of months ago when she transitioned into her new role.
 
Thanks for joining us Janice, can you start by letting our readers know who you are and what your role is at SIAS?
 
“I’m Janice Snape and I am now one of our EPA coordinators here at SIAS, but until just a couple of months ago I was the administration manager. I’ve been at SIAS right from the beginning, I’ve always been in a role that’s mainly paper-based working on developing documents and managing data, but I’m now much more interactive with our customers and involved in organising end-point assessments. So, it’s a bit different to what I used to do.”
 
How long have you been at SIAS and what was your own background before you joined the organisation?
 
“I’ve been at SIAS for a little over 8 years now, so when I joined, SIAS was just an idea on a piece of paper and not much else. In essence I’ve been here from the very beginning.
 
“I’ve been in education for a long time; I worked a classroom assistant in a school, and at one point I was actually a dinner lady, but that was a long time ago! I then moved into FE and worked in a community FE organising courses for disadvantaged people and delivering outreach courses to people who wouldn’t come into college. I then moved into mainstream FE working on the old Train to Gain project, organising courses in the workplace.
 
“My next move was into a private training provider, organising their administration and contracts to make sure they were compliant data wise. I did everything there, mainly because it was just me for a long time.
 
“Then I arrived at SIAS! So, generally speaking, I’ve been in education in some form from the very beginning.”
 
If you were to give people an insight into your world is there a way to describe a typical day for you? 
 
“The first thing that comes to my mind is, it’s busy! We’re very responsive to our customers so there’s a continual need to manage and support customer questions and enquiries.  We’re also very proactive, so most days I’m keeping in touch with customers and making sure their apprentices are on programme and up to date.
 
“As an organisation we strive to have a lot of interaction with customers so we do a lot of planning meetings with the apprentices and their mentors. Speaking to the apprentices is something I’ve never had to do in this job before so that’s really interesting!”
 
There’s a lot happening at SIAS.  What’s the thing that excites you the most?
 
“I think for me, what excites me the most is the team growing and seeing the way we’re all working together. There’s a real buzz about the place. Even when we’re all busy and we can be tearing our hair out trying to get things planned and coordinating assessors, it’s not easy but the atmosphere is great. We’re working with some big businesses that have got strict deadlines and they’ve got their own rules to abide by, so getting everything coordinated can be absolutely crazy sometimes, but with the buzz and everybody helping each other, always looking for ways to get things done better and quicker, it’s a real exciting time.”
 
Moving on to Janice outside work, tell us a little about you?
 
“I’ve been married now for 35 years this year and I have four fully grown-up children, two grandchildren and some step grandchildren. We have a lot of people always in and out of our house, the grandchildren stay with us every Thursday night, so Thursday night we have a bit of a madhouse. So as soon as the children go to school on the Friday morning we zip off to our caravan in Wales for a bit of peace and quiet. We love to spend our time in the country, we’ve also got a border collie, Jack, who’s getting on a bit now unfortunately. He doesn’t like the long walks, but we walk a lot out in the hills in mid Wales and wonder in the peace and quiet every weekend.”
 
And, any final thoughts to leave with our readers?

“I think it’s just such an exciting time, the growth in science and technology is tremendous.  Having seen SIAS grow from nothing but an idea on a piece of paper with a couple of people working on it, to today; it’s a whole different world and it’s so exciting. We have such a lovely team and it’s great to work in. I look forward to what happens next!”

It’s been a couple of weeks since we found out that we had been shortlisted as a finalist for the EPAO Of The Year (SME) category and we are counting down the days until the Federation of Awarding bodies annual EPAO Conference and Awards in May.
 
Our MD Steve Smith Said: “I’m truly delighted that SIAS has been shortlisted.  There are lots of fantastic EPAO’s doing great work every day – so to be a finalist is a wonderful achievement – good luck to all other EPAOs at the Awards – for me collaboration is just as important as competition.

“To be a finalist is a reward, and real recognition, for all the hard work, massive commitment, and brilliance from ‘Team SIAS’ over the past 12-15 months – the way we are disrupting the market and really delivering for partners and apprentices through a relentless focus on pace, quality, customer, partnerships and end to end!

“To think about how far we’ve come in a relatively short space of time is awesome and humbling – and again everyone at, and involved with, SIAS should be proud of themselves.”

“I always love being at the AAC event.  The positivity in the room is fantastic because everyone there is involved in, and believes in, apprenticeships.  It’s great to be part of that community and to connect with stakeholders and colleagues old and new. 

“For me and for SIAS it was especially good this year because, for first time, we were sponsoring the awards and able to demonstrate our support more directly than we have before. 
 
“There was a great mix of content across the two days and we enjoyed hearing from the Skills Minister, shadow Skills Minister, Ofqual, Ofsted, IfATE and UCAS among others and the team also participated in a number of really informative workshops. 
 
“So, what were my key takeaways?  For the first time I felt there was an honest and collective recognition that the apprenticeship system as it stands now just isn’t working in the way it should be.  Employers are voting with their feet, and we’ve seen a significant drop in starts since the Levy was introduced, and another YoY reduction so far this academic year. 
 
“We’re seeing 52% completion rates nationally, SMEs not engaging in the way we would hope, £2bn in levy returned to the Treasury, the uptake from 18-19 year olds and at Level 2 and 3 not what it should be –  so it’s clear that things need to change. 
 
“In many ways we’re shielded from a lot of that impact at SIAS because we support STEM industries which are bucking the trends outlined above to a certain degree which is for us very positive, starts on Engineering standards are up and completion rates across STEM based standards are high – but it is clear that holistically there are changes required to ensure apprenticeships are really working for all in the way they can, and should.
 
“We listened with interest about the proposition for the introduction of a broader skills levy.  Something like this would give all employers greater agility and flexibility in terms of what they spend with 50% ringfenced for apprenticeships, but with an option for more spend and focus on other skills interventions which could support apprenticeship provision.
 
“We heard and agree with the concerns raised over the Government de-investing out of Level 2 apprenticeships which we feel strongly is the wrong approach.  To support social mobility and levelling up we need skills, and restricting access and entry points at Level 2 will hinder, not help, that agenda.
 
“It was clear that many stakeholders across the sector remain concerned about functional skills and are pushing for English and Maths Functional Skills not to be a requirement within apprenticeships moving forward.  Some certainly see this current requirement as the key barrier to starts and completions, they are costly to deliver, and again raises concerns around accessibility and negative impact on social mobility. We at SIAS remain fully supportive of lower level apprenticeship provision.
 
“Overall, it was a fantastic couple of days and what a night at the awards event – congratulations to all the finalists and winners!
 
“I left the conference on a high but with a couple of overriding thoughts…. We are without a doubt entering into a very challenging 2-3 years for the sector. We’re in the midst of a damaging skills and labour shortage, potential change in Government, and with that might come a radical change to the Levy.  Coupled with the continuing evolution of technology changing the face of the workplace and the cost of living and energy crisis we are all facing unpredictable and significant pressures.  To survive and thrive it’s the organisations that are bold, pro-active, disruptive, and ambitious that will prosper and be able to have greater impact.  The days of sitting still are well and truly over!”

Working closely with our partners is key to our approach to EPA, and we know how vitally important it is to listen to feedback.  

Over recent months we have listened to providers and employers describe some of the challenges and the difficulties that can arise when reviewing if an apprentice’s job role will meet the requirements of the apprenticeship standard.  In several cases identification of the incorrect job role can come late into the apprenticeship and can lead to late withdrawals or failures at EPA.
 
In response to this, and because at SIAS we are always looking for ways to support our partners in new and innovative ways  – we have now developed a library of ‘Skill Scans’ per apprenticeship standard, these ‘Skills Scans’ can be used either at recruitment, or early in the apprenticeship, to check if the job role will give opportunities for the apprentice to fully develop the correct knowledge, skills and behaviours to meet the requirements of the assessment plan and EPA.   These new ‘Skills Scans’ can support both training providers and employers to look for further opportunities within the job role to develop.
 
You can find the ‘Skill Scans’ in the support materials section on EPA Pro under each standard.
 
The SIAS team are always here to support, so please do not hesitate to contact us at admin@siasuk.com if you have any questions or require any further information.

Last year was hugely successful for SIAS and the organisation saw lots of change.  We caught up with Steve Smith, Managing Director of SIAS to find out about his reflections on his first year with the organisation and his plans for 2023. 
 
Thanks for joining us Steve. 2022 was your first year with SIAS and lots was achieved… how do you reflect back on last year?
 
“Last year was incredibly successful, in many ways a transformational year for SIAS across the range of key areas of focus and priority. I came into the business as the new Managing Director in January with a relatively new leadership team so there was a strong focus on building a high quality team of professionals, from the leadership team down, who could drive the business forward and capitalise on the good foundation that was already here.
 
“I was really pleased at how that developed throughout last year and how that culture within the business really strengthened and evolved  behind our values, and behind our social mission to support industry, Apprentices, and the future STEM skills agenda. It’s a culture and ethos built primarily around a commitment to working with real pace, to being high quality in everything we do, and to being 100% customer-centric –  that mindset shift across the organisation was a really successful part of 2022.
 
“It goes without saying as well that we had some big priorities that we had to land. One was the introduction of our new EPA system, EPA Pro. We delivered it on time, on budget and, most importantly for me, we transitioned our customers in a really positive, proactive and supportive way. 
 
“Another significant milestone last year was becoming approved by Ofqual in February, then building on that throughout the year through a robust continuous improvement plan which meant come December we were able to successfully file a fully compliant first Statement of Compliance to Ofqual. That was an incredible achievement and involved a lot of hard work from the teams.
 
“We also in 2022 had a record number of new registrations, new providers and employers on-boarded, and we developed a range of new and significant commercial and strategic partnerships. We were also able to really turn up the volume around our brand through our marketing, our involvement at events, and the way we now communicate with our customers and valued partners.
 
“Ultimately though the one aspect I‘m most proud of is that we were able to develop and introduce into the sector a unique and innovative approach to EPA – pivoting around being non-transactional, partnership-centred, aligning with our customers, and, importantly, introducing what I feel is the only truly end-to-end EPA model.  We’re really passionate that end-point assessment support and planning doesn’t start at gateway, but needs to start when learners start on programme. I believe that what we are doing, and how we are doing it, is having a massively positive impact on not just our customers and our apprentices, but on the wider sector also.”
 
Looking ahead now to 2023, what are your plans?
 
“Our plan is to continue to build on all that success with zero complacency, we will aim to just keep getting better!  We’ve got some ambitious commercial and strategic targets this year which will see us moving, as we already are, into much larger-scale EPA opportunities and partnerships.   
 
“We’re also going to be transitioning our operational approach even further now our EPA system is fully live.  We will become more focused on customer support and customer experience, delivering that tangible value through our end-to-end model to our provider and employer partners. 
 
“We’re going to continue to strengthen SIAS in terms of our quality and compliance. We want to work in a proactive, positive way with Ofqual as our new regulator. We have a strong focus on self-regulation, so that work around continuous improvement will continue.
 
“Product is also going to be a significant focus as we continue to move forward and grow through targeted diversification.  Science Apprenticeships will remain as important as ever but there is scope for us to continue to widen our portfolio into wider STEM areas, particularly in the engineering and manufacturing apprenticeship standards space, so you’ll see us in 2023 becoming approved to end-point-assess a range of new standards that we haven’t previously been approved to EPA.”
 
“We will be, throughout 2023, continuing to play an important role in early discussions and work linked to the future skills agenda, particularly around the green economy and low-carbon net zero industries.
 
“We are already making sure that we are positioned in the right conversations to bring our expertise, our experience and our legitimacy to bear in some of those early discussions around the skills that are going to be required to support our economy and our industry’s transition to low carbon and net zero. The key question for us is how can we, through assessment and through supporting the apprenticeship standards that will start to spin out in these areas, influence in a positive way. That’s another area that I think will be an evolving but increasingly important part of our strategic direction in the year and the years ahead, working closely with employer and provider partners.”
 
Businesses are going into the new year facing challenges relating to the cost of living crisis and recession.  How might this affect SIAS?
 
“We’re gearing up to manage these challenges as effectively as we can. The current economic climate; the whole financial pressure piece, is going to have an impact on every business in this country to some degree but we are well placed I believe, in the part of the sector we service, to not be overly impacted, and certainly our expectation is that we will have another year with steep positive growth.
 
“There’s also some challenges and interesting narratives forming around apprenticeships generally now, such as the consultation currently live around mandated qualifications within apprenticeship standards, which we’re going to have a voice on. 
 
“There’s also the continued challenge around how the sector can make the levy and the apprenticeship framework work better for SMEs, not just large employers.  Again, I think that’s an important focus for the sector this year and, again, we want to try to influence that as best we can, in terms of how we work with and support both our large employer and our SME partners.
 
“I strongly believe that if we as a sector, as a wider economy, as a nation, are to come out of this macro-economic challenge successfully, then apprenticeships and skills development can and will play an important role in supporting that.”

25^th January 2023
 
CATCH and SIAS announce partnership for end-point assessment
 
CATCH and SIAS have today announced an exciting new partnership to support apprenticeships in the Humber region. 

James McIntosh Chief Operating Officer from CATCH said: “I am delighted for us to be working in partnership with SIAS and recommending their EPA services to our group of employers.
 
“Since meeting Steve Smith and hearing his vision and strategy for how SIAS operates, there are a number of synergies between our organisations that will allow us to offer a bespoke end-to-end process operations and engineering maintenance apprenticeship tailored to meet our industry requirements.
 
“We are pleased to have found an end point assessment organisation that are as keen as we are to engage with employers and support their learners throughout their journey.”
 
Steve Smith, Managing director of SIAS said: “We are honoured that CAT
 
CH has selected SIAS to recommend to their employers as their EPAO of choice for the apprenticeship standards which they currently deliver across manufacturing, process and maintenance engineering. 
 
“CATCH are really leading the way across the Humber, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and beyond, in the delivery and development of critical future skills particularly within the STEM and Renewables space, their mission aligns closely with what drives SIAS forward as the leading EPAO for technical Science, Manufacturing and Engineering Apprenticeships.
 
“Add to that a world class training facility, a level of ambition, of energy, and a commitment to real partnerships and to delivering outstanding value to employers which matches our own – and it was clear from day one that there was an incredibly strong synergy between our two organisations.
 
“I’m excited about working closely with James and the whole team at CATCH to deliver a truly innovative and best in market end to end apprenticeship model, which will both delight employers, but also importantly will give apprentices the very best experience possible, and allow them to maximise their undoubted potential as they transition into meaningful careers.”
 
The partnership comes into effect immediately.
 
 
For more information contact
Lisa Buck                                                                              Janine Claber
CATCH                                                                                  SIAS
Lisa.buck@catchuk.org                                                  marketing@siasuk.com
+44 (0) 7545 159503                                                        +44 (0) 7795 833550
 
 
About CATCH
CATCH are an employer-led process industry specialist apprenticeship and training provider based in the Humber region. Our provision is focused on process operations, electrical, instrumentation and mechanical engineering apprenticeships working in partnership with our employer group to deliver a tailormade programme to meet industry requirements. This training includes utilising the National Centre for Process & Manufacturing – https://ncpm.uk/ a unique end to end process manufacturing facility which contextualises the apprentices training and brings operations and maintenance training to life using real industry scenarios.
 
About SIAS
SIAS is the leading End-Point Assessment Organisation (EPAO) for the technical science, manufacturing and engineering apprenticeship sectors. Ofqual approved, our innovative and quality focused End-Point Assessment (EPA) approach is driven by our obsession for delivering real value to our customers through a non-transactional, partnership-centred model.
 
Created in 2015 by industry for industry, we retain a deep and trusted connection with our sector employers –  and our strong social mission, to support industry and the future STEM skills agenda, remains central and paramount to our vision and approach.
 
We believe that end-point assessment shouldn’t begin at gateway, it starts when apprentices start on programme, and we pride ourselves on delivering end-to-end solutions and value right across the learner journey from registration through to assessment and certification, ultimately ensuring that Apprentices are able to maximise their potential, achieve and progress.

In our next meet the team article we talk to Jen Lee, Assessment Development Manager at SIAS.

Thanks for joining us Jen, tell us about you and your role at SIAS?
“I’m Jen and I’m the Assessment Development Manager at SIAS.  My job is to make and pull together all of the materials that we need for a standard, so everything from guidance material right the way through to the materials that the assessors use to actually assess the apprentices.”
 
How long have you been at SIAS and what’s your background that got you into doing what you’re doing today?
“I joined SIAS in August 2021 so I’ve been here about 16 months now.”
 
I’ve had a fairly varied career but started out as a teacher.  I did a chemistry degree and then trained to be a secondary science teacher, which I did for about 10 years.”
 
“During the last couple of years of my teaching career, I did a master’s in educational assessment so, when I left teaching, I went to work for Cambridge International, which is a parent group of exam boards in the UK.  I was in the international arm of the organisation but I was their UK base.  I left there to work for the STEM Ambassadorr programme, so I was part of the team that ran the North East STEM Ambassador hub and I was there for about five years.”
 
“I then took what might be described as a slight diversion into software engineering, so I was an apprentice software engineer for a little while so, like some of my colleagues who have been through an apprenticeship, I started one and then this opportunity came up, so here I am.”
 
You’ve talked a little about your role… is there a typical day for you? 
I think, like most of us at SIAS, there’s no such thing as a typical day!  It varies hugely but the vast majority of my time is spent digging through assessment plans, really getting into the nitty-gritty, finding out what we need and turning that into the materials that are then used.  There’s lots of proofreading and lots of detail!”
 
Is it the kind of role that’s facing out to customers? 
“My role actually doesn’t require me to have much interaction directly with our customers.  I’m very much a support for my colleagues in those front facing roles at SIAS and I like to see myself as a key hidden link in the background helping to make it all happen.  It’s very difficult to see or measure but, if it stops, you’d soon realise!”
 
There is quite a lot of things happening at SIAS.  What’s the thing that excites you the most or interests you the most about what’s going on?
“One of the most exciting things for me on the horizon is that we’re going to be investing in a testing platform.  We’re still, at the moment, on paper-based question papers but that’s going move to on-line testing.  We’re literally in the very first stages of starting to look at which companies we might even consider working with on this, so while the process hasn’t really fully started yet it’s really exciting to think about us going on that journey.” 
 
“We’re estimating that the move to a testing platform will be about six months from beginning to end and that comes, of course, with the bitter-sweet pill of the fact that there is going to be a LOT of work to move everything over but in the long run, it will make things better, quicker, easier, faster.”
 
You’re also an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Champion… what does that involve? 
“I’m one of the ED & I Champions across the Cogent Skills group and I’m really involved in helping to shape and push forward our equality, diversity and inclusion agenda in the organisation.  It’s quite early days at the moment and so far we’ve had some training and now we’re at the point where we’re going to do an audit of what’s going on already and then start looking at where there are improvements that can be made.  I’m really looking forward to being involved in making a difference with this work.”
 
And finally, tell us about Jen outside of work?
“I am a massive STEM nerd, so I do love a bit of nerdery. I keep up to date with developments in science and technology, in particular.  I love meeting up with my friends and I do go running and go to the gym.  I also enjoy ice-skating; I’m rubbish – I can skate forwards in a circle at best – but it’s something I really love doing at our local rink.”

Following our recent interview with Alexandria Henderson our Head of Product and Business Development we’d like to introduce you to another member of the SIAS team, our EPA Manager, Tony Prior.

Thanks for joining us Tony, can you start by letting our readers know who are you / what do you do?
 
So I’m Tony and my role is to work with providers and employers to ensure that SIAS delivers the best End-Point Assessment (EPA) service as we possibly can.
 
At the very heart of this is communication and face to face meetings so that we can better understand the needs of our providers, employer and particularly apprentices needs around EPA ultimately to ensure that they complete a successful apprenticeship.
 
How long have you been at SIAS and what’s your background?
 
I’ve been with SIAS now for about 12 months but prior to that I worked at our parent organisation Cogent Skills for around 10 years so have been around the group for a long time! 
 
I started my career as in an engineering apprenticeship with Manesty Machines, then becoming a Design Engineer by trade in the pharmaceutical and brewery industries.  I moved into a sales role with Dosing Pumps and then a CAD salesperson and trainer but interestingly I also have a background in Sign Making which is particularly useful given our recent move as a business into providing end-point assessment for the Signage Technician level 3 apprenticeship.  I like to think I bring a really good hands-on knowledge to that.
 
Is there a typical day for you?
There’s definitely no such thing!  I work with a host of providers and employers across a range of sectors and industries on existing apprenticeship standards and also new apprenticeship standards which makes every day interesting and also very varied.
 
There’s lots of things happening at SIAS – what excites you the most?
 
I think we have huge potential!  We driving through lots of exciting changes to the way we do things, we’re setting the bar high and introducing ground-breaking ways of doing things in EPA.  I truly believe that SIAS has the potential to become the best EPAO across all the sectors we currently work in and some that we don’t yet work in!
 
What’s the key projects you’re driving forward?
 
At the moment I have a focus on looking at new standards that are addressing new green technologies like hydrogen power, battery technology and wind power.  These are all highly innovative and future areas for our economy so it’s really exciting to be at the forefront of that in the EPAO space.
 
Tell us a little bit about Tony outside of work?
 
One of my passions is running an over 35’s football Team called Woolton Vets FC.  Woolton FC run over 150 teams making it the biggest grassroots club in Europe!
 
I also play in a band – Banjo & Guitar and love cooking especially Indian cuisine. I am a keen Carp angler and fish mainly lakes in the NW but I’ve recently returned from France where I caught a monster Sturgeon!
 
Because of my signage making background I’ve also been known to design and make my own T-shirts and knock out the occasional sign/graphic.

Route Reviews are an on-going Government-led activity by the Trailblazer group of independent experts and volunteers to ensure that apprenticeship standards and assessment materials remain current and of a high standard. 
 
So, how does SIAS get involved?  We asked Alexandria Henderson our Head of Product and Business Development to explain:
 
“Periodic reviews of standards and materials are carried out in line with a plan set by Government and we’re currently in the review cycle for the manufacturing and maintenance standards.  While these reviews generally always bring about some level of change to the standards and the way they are assessed they really are essential to ensuring that standards remain fit for purpose and support apprentices in gaining the skills and qualifications in their chosen career path.
 
“The reviews are carried out independently of organisations delivering apprenticeship services but we do have early sight of proposed changes and are often asked for input and advice based on our experience and expertise of working with the standards.  This knowledge means that we can help and prepare our employers and providers well in advance of any changes before they take place. 
 
“The Route Reviews can take over a year to complete in some cases and follow a timetable set by Government.  We’re expecting all the manufacturing standards to be completed ready for the start of the 2023 academic year so are hoping to see some of the revised standards appearing early in the new year. 
 
“The good news is that any changes will only apply to new apprenticeship registrations so it’s business as usual for apprentices already registered onto the manufacturing and maintenance standards. 
 
“We’ve got a programme of communications and technical workshops planned for the new year.  In these we’ll breakdown the standards and provide an in-depth look at the changes and what they mean as well as providing help and guidance and an opportunity to ask questions. Look out for your invite coming soon!”