Important
Effective from 01 August 2025, the following terminology will change as outlined in Annex B of the Apprenticeship Funding Rules 2025-2026 document:
- Apprenticeship Assessment will replace End-Point Assessment
- Assessment Organisation will replace End-Point Assessment Organisation
- Gateway to Completion will replace Gateway
All the appropriate guidance documents and support will be updated in due course to reflect these changes. Please ensure to use the correct terms when searching for support.
The Department for Education (DfE) issues EPA certificates to an apprentice's employer contact address or another address chosen by the training provider in ACE360 once the apprentice has passed their EPA.
ACE360 automatically sends certification requests through an API (application programming interface) to the ESFA once the final EPA grade has been applied.
- For apprentices who have achieved an overall Distinction grade in their EPA, this is requested within 7 calendar days of the final grade being applied.
- For apprentices who have achieved a Pass/Merit grade in their EPA, the request will be sent 20 calendar days after the final grade has been applied to allow for any appeals from the apprentice and/or training provider.
Once issued by the ESFA, certificates are expected to arrive within 15 working days.
You can check how many days are left before each apprentice's certificate is due to be claimed by selecting the Certificate tab within the apprentice record in ACE360.
Further details on the certification countdown and the certification claim date can be found in the ACE360 Support section, available in the Circle platform.
Please note: ACE360 Knowledge Base articles have now transitioned to the Skills Federation Circle, you can sign up for this here.
Related EPA Articles:
End-point Assessment: Release of EPA Results
End-point Assessment: EPA Component Certificate
End-point Assessment: Missing EPA Certificate
End-point Assessment: Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for EPA
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