Provider access policy statement

Secondary academies and 16 to 19 academies must publish a policy statement to comply with section 42B of the Education Act 1997, known as the ‘provider access legislation’. This statement must set out the circumstances in which they will give providers of technical education and apprenticeships access to year 8 to 13 pupils, as applicable.

Provider access policy statement Schools must prepare and publish a policy statement setting out the circumstances in which education and training providers will be given access to pupils. The policy statement must include: any procedural requirements about requests for access grounds for granting or refusing requests details of premises or facilities available to a person who is given access

In schools, the governing body must make sure that learners in years 8 to 13 receive at least 6 encounters with a provider of technical education or apprenticeships. As a minimum, schools must offer: 2 encounters that are mandatory for all pupils to attend that take place any time during year 8 or between 1 September and 28 February during year 9 2 encounters that are mandatory for all pupils to attend that take place any time during year 10 or between 1 September and 28 February during year 11 2 encounters that are mandatory for the school to put on, but optional for pupils to attend, to take place any time during year 12 or between 1 September and 28 February during year 13 These 6 meetings are timed to inform consideration of post-14, post-16 and post-18 options and progression to the next stage of education or training. Schools should encourage all pupils to attend the encounters. However, optional attendance for older pupils recognises that, while many 16 to 18 year olds will benefit from finding out more about post-18 technical options, some will already have made a firm decision to pursue their chosen pathway. All 6 encounters must happen for a reasonable period of time during the standard school day. Provider encounters that take place outside of school hours, for example parents evenings, do not count towards fulfilment of the legal requirement for 6 provider encounters, but schools are still encouraged to provide these complementary experiences for pupils and their parents. Schools and providers should work together. Schools should ask each provider to inform pupils about: the provider the approved technical education qualifications or apprenticeships that the provider offers the careers those technical education qualifications or apprenticeships might lead to

The careers leader should review the policy statement annually and agree it with the governing body. An example of a suitable policy statement can be found on the CEC resource directory.