When you bid for a Modern Apprenticeship contract and you're successful, you'll get support and advice from colleagues in Skills Development Scotland. You'll be assigned and be in touch with four people:
1. A Contract Executive
They'll get in touch once you have your award letter and explain the first steps to getting started. They also manage the delivery of the volumes and value of your contract.
2. A Skills Investment Adviser (SIA)
Your SIA will guide you through important documents, employee roles and responsibilities and our policy and processes. They'll provide support whenever you need it.
3. A Compliance Executive
They’ll take you through the Modern Apprentice programme conditions and specification. They’ll also answer any questions you have about staying compliant throughout your contract.
4. A Quality Assessor
Our Assessors lead on the process of quality assurance. It includes reviewing documents you’ll need to complete each year and, with notice, making visits to review your organisation’s progress.
You also need to prepare the following below before your contract is activated.
You should do this and return the contract to Skills Development Scotland. There are instructions about how to do this in your Award Letter.
You need to submit your cumulative forecasts for volumes and values for the year. Your contract executive will provide guidance on how to do this.
You’ll need to get a Funding and Information Processing System (FIPS) Licence Agreement and provide the details of delegated authorities who require access. You can do this by completing the FIPS User Permission Application Form – New Training Providers which you'll find in the FIPS area. Send the form to fips@sds.co.uk and they'll allocate a username and password to each of the delegated authorities.
A creditor code from SDS is also required before you start to deliver training. You can get one by completing the New Supplier Form which is emailed to you along with your contract. Once we receive it, your organisation will be on our Finance systems and generate a creditor code. This code will be attached to your contract in FIPS, which will allow payments to be processed.
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