IfATE have today (29 November) made new guidance and resources available for the next cycle of Higher Technical Qualifications (HTQs), due to open in Spring 2024.

The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) are the government body who work with employers to create and review apprenticeships and other technical qualifications.

Approved qualifications at Levels 4 and 5 receive a prestigious quality mark from IfATE, signalling that these qualifications contain the knowledge, skills and behaviours that employers value highly and need for their workforce.

These qualifications can be submitted by awarding organisations, awarding bodies, further education colleges, independent training providers and higher education institutions. IfATE want to support these groups and their applications and so will be providing individual support sessions prior to and during the application window.

Ahead of the new cycle’s application window opening, IfATE are also running an online webinar on the 6 December at 10am for those interested in applying.

Supporting the guidance being made available, Carmel Grant, deputy director for technical education implementation said;

“The HTQ quality-mark has been a key part of the government reforms in technical education, and will give learners confidence the qualification they are doing aligns closely with our occupational standards and deliver what employers need.

“Educational institutes, awarding bodies and others in the sector are invited to apply for their qualifications to have this prestigious quality mark, and we want to make the process as simple as possible for them.

“We are looking forward to working with all applicants in the coming months on this process.”