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Guidance

Apprenticeship training provider accountability framework

The framework and specification the Department for Education (DfE) uses to review the quality of apprenticeship training from providers.

Updates to this page

From:
Department for Work and Pensions
Published:
7 February 2023
Last updated:
17 February 2026
Show all updates

  1. Updated to clarify how the past planned end date indicator is calculated.

  2. Updated 'Apprenticeship training provider accountability framework and specification' with changes to the framework that are being introduced at the end of January 2026.

  3. Updated to confirm that foundation apprenticeship achievement rates will not be included in a provider's qualification achievement rate (QAR) for the 2025 to 2026 academic year.

  4. Updated 'Apprenticeship training provider accountability framework and specification' to include a new technical annex (Annex 1). The framework and specification now gives further detail on how the AAF indicators are calculated, and amendments to the employer and apprentice feedback sections reflect the improved presentation of this data in the Apprenticeships Service portal.

  5. Updated 'Apprenticeship training provider accountability framework and specification' with information about new thresholds and benchmarked data.

  6. Updated 'Apprenticeship training provider accountability framework and specification' with changes to the sections on apprentice feedback, withdrawals, apprentices past planned end date, break in learning. In this update, we are retaining the same indicators, but we are introducing higher thresholds for 3 of the 10 indicators and removing the 250-apprentice threshold that applied to 3 of the measures.

  7. Added a link to the apprenticeship workforce development programme.

  8. First published.

Applies to England

Documents

Apprenticeship training provider accountability framework and specification

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Details

Responsibility for this framework moved to the Department for Work and Pensions on 1 April 2026. You should continue to follow this framework.

We use this framework to review the quality of apprenticeship provision for apprentices of all ages. This guidance sets out our expectations, including the:

  • policy framework’s key principles and objectives
  • indicators and thresholds we’ll use to review provider quality
  • range of interventions we may take where provider quality issues are identified

The framework is for all providers currently delivering apprenticeships. It sits alongside the:

In January 2026, several changes were introduced to the apprenticeship accountability framework (AAF) to ensure it remains focused on meaningful indicators of provider quality.

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