Posted: 27 July 2020
Back in April, we communicated that the minimum spend requirement for the 2019/20 academic year would be suspended as a result of Covid-19. Since then, our pulse customer satisfaction survey and conversations with customers have indicated there is significant concern over meeting this requirement for 2020/21.
When we introduced the minimum spend, its purpose was to reduce the risk that YMCA Awards could spend more on support and quality assurance for a provider than they bought in through registrations. We have reviewed the requirement and believe the following flexible approach would still meet this goal but may be more achievable for small providers including the charities and community interest groups that we work with.
Existing requirement
We set a minimum spend of £750 on qualifications each year (1 August – 31 July). If you spend less than £750 on qualifications in a year, you’ll be charged the difference to cover our administration and external quality assurance costs.
Proposed new requirement
We require customers to spend a minimum of £350 on qualification registration fees per EQA activity. If you require an EQA activity and have spent less than £350 on qualification registration fees since we last completed quality assurance for your centre, you will be charged the difference to cover our administration and external quality assurance costs.
We welcome your feedback on the proposal, which you can provide by completing this two-question survey. The survey will close at 23:45 on Friday 31 July 2020 and we will confirm the outcome no later than Friday 7 August 2020.
Worked examples under the new proposal
Scenario 1:
You register a single cohort of 10 learners on our Level 2 Certificate in Gym Instructing (£35 per learner), meeting the minimum spend requirement. When you are ready to claim for these learners, you would not be charged anything more for any required external quality assurance activity.
Scenario 2:
You register a single cohort of 6 learners on our Level 3 Diploma in Teaching Pilates (£55 per learner). When you are ready to claim these learners, we will invoice you a further £20 for any required EQA activity – the difference between your registration fees and the £350 minimum spend.
Scenario 3:
You register two cohorts:
- 10 learners on our Level 3 Award in Emergency First Aid (£15 per learner)
- 4 learners on our Level 3 Diploma in Gym Instructing and Personal Training (Practitioner) (£80 per learner)
When you ready to claim these learners, you will have met the minimum spend requirement providing the EQA activity can cover both qualifications. If the qualifications are claimed separately and evidence for both programmes is not available, we will invoice you a further £200 for the first activity and £30 for the second activity.
Scenario 4:
You register a single cohort of 10 learners on our Level 2 Certificate in Gym Instructing (£35 per learner), meeting the minimum spend requirement. During your delivery, we identify potential risks to the quality of your provision and requiring us to complete two EQA activities on this cohort. We will invoice you a £350 for the additional activity.