Apprentice Declaration &
Authorisation Form V3
www.apprenticeships.org.uk/certificates
Guidance Notes for Completion
OVERVIEW
The Federation for Industry Sector Skills & Standards has been designated as the English Certifying Authority
by the Chief Executive of the Skills Funding Agency.
The English Certifying Authority has the power and duty to issue Apprenticeship completion certificates and
has prescribed the manner in which these certificate applications are to be made. Every Apprentice must
complete and sign a declaration and authorisation form, as part of the Apprenticeship certification process.
A copy of this completed form, along with all the other required evidence of framework achievement, must
be uploaded to Apprenticeship Certificates England (ACE), before submitting a completion certificate claim.
In the majority of cases, Apprentices choose to authorise a third party, usually their training provider, to
make the certificate claim on their behalf. By signing this form they are giving their authorisation for a
named organisation to undertake the claim submission.
Third party claimants should ensure that the Apprentice understands the content and purpose of the
declaration & authorisation form and why they are required to sign it as part of the Apprenticeship
certification claim process
If a claimant is unsure as to what completion evidence is required for a framework then they should refer to
the specific framework document which can be accessed via the framework library stored on the
Apprenticeship Frameworks Online (AFO) database www.afo.sscalliance.org/frameworkslibrary
PLEASE ALSO NOTE THAT PAYMENT FOR ALL APPRENTICEHIP COMPLETION CERTIFICATES IS NOW
REQUIRED TO BE MADE AT THE POINT OF CLAIM SUBMISSION AND PAYMENT WILL BE MADE TO THE
FEDERATION FOR INDUSTRY SECTOR SKILLS & STANDARDS.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
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GUIDANCE FOR APPRENTICES
ALL INFORMATION WRITTEN ON THE FORM SHOULD BE CLEARLY LEGIBLE TO AVOID UNECESSARY CLAIM
REJECTIONS WHERE INFORMATION ON THE FORM IS UNCLEAR OR UNREADABLE.
Apprentice Name:
Handwritten

The Apprentice must clearly write their forename and any middle name.
 This should match the forename and, where applicable, middle name that have been input
to ACE on the Basic Details Tab. The forename and, where applicable, middle name input to
ACE will be the ones that appear on the Apprenticeship completion certificate. If a different
format is wanted by the Apprentice then please amend the information on ACE. For
example, if Becky is required rather than Rebecca or Josh is required instead of Joshua.

The Apprentice must clearly write their surname.
 This should match the surname that has been input to ACE on the Basic Details Tab. The
surname input to ACE will be the one that appears on the Apprenticeship Completion
Certificate.
NB: If there are any significant difference between the Apprentice forename/s or surname recorded on ACE
and those on any of the submitted evidence, or on the Apprentice Declaration & Authorisation Form, then
an explanatory note should be uploaded to the Additional Documents field on the ACE Evidence Tab to
explain the differences. For example, marriage, divorce, changes of name by deed poll, change of name
due to family circumstances etc. This will avoid unnecessary claim rejections due to submitted
documentation containing inconsistent name formats.
Electronic
Electronic completion of the Apprentice Declaration & Authorisation Form is acceptable and this includes
electronic signatures. However, we are aware that there is a vast array of software packages in use by
training providers and employers to manage Apprentice data. Many of these packages include a method of
capturing electronic signatures. It would be impossible for us to have a working knowledge of all the systems
that are available, and in use, and to make a definitive statement as to what we will, or will not, accept as
valid electronic signatures on this form.
If you wish to use electronic signatures then, prior to implementing this process, please contact The
Federation Support Team on 0845 072 5600 or ace@fisss.org for further advice and guidance and, where
required, our prior approval.
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Apprenticeship Training Dates:
The Apprentice is required to provide the date that their Apprenticeship started (this should match the Start
Date submitted on the ILR) and also the date that their Apprenticeship learning was completed. This is their last
day in learning*.
*This is the date that the Apprentice was informed that all training activities, assessments and exams relating to
their Apprenticeship have been successfully completed (please note that final achievement confirmation may be
subject to test results, IV/EV verification and/or certification by a relevant Awarding Organisation).
Framework Declarations:
The Apprentice is signing to declare that:

IF they started on or after 6th April 2012, an Apprenticeship Agreement was in place for the duration of their
Apprenticeship or;

If they started before 6th April 2012 then an Apprenticeship Agreement was not required (this option is covered
by the wording “Where Required”) or;

Alternative Completion Conditions applied to their Apprenticeship and an Apprenticeship Agreement was not
required, irrespective of their start date. A list of Apprenticeships covered by the Alternative Completion
Conditions can be accessed on: www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/1199

They have met all of the requirements of their Apprenticeship, as detailed in the framework document. Not all
of the declarations listed on the form will be relevant for every Apprentice which is why some of them are
prefixed with the words “Where applicable”.
Please Note: An Apprentice can still sign the form if their framework did not require one of the listed
components. It has been designed to be multi-purpose. For example, pre-SASE frameworks have no PLTS
requirement and Higher Apprenticeships, first issued after March 2013, do not have a mandatory requirement
for Transferable Skills, ERR or PLTS (please check specific framework documents for details of requirements).

They give their consent for the use of their personal data, to be uploaded to Apprenticeship Certificates England
(ACE), for the purpose of claiming their Apprenticeship Completion Certificate and, more widely, for the
creation of anonymous statistics relating to Apprenticeships in England.
NB: Training Providers, or those responsible for uploading Apprentice data to ACE, are responsible for
ensuring that Apprentices are uploaded against the correct framework and that all of the required
components of the framework have been met and can be suitably evidenced. If providers have any questions
on framework requirements then they should contact the appropriate Certification Body for further
information and guidance.
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Claim Submission Authorisation:
By law, Apprentices can claim their completion certificates themselves by submitting a claim directly to the
relevant Certification Body. However, in practice, this rarely happens and Apprentices choose to authorise a
third party (usually their training provider) to make the claim on their behalf. This part of the form requires
them to name the organisation that they are designating, and authorising, to make the claim on their behalf.
The third party making the claim is responsible for ensuring that they have all the required evidence available
to support the claim being made.
Apprentice Signature & Date:

The Apprentice must sign the form.
Forms without an Apprentice signature will be rejected. The signature must be consistent with all other name
information and/or evidence held on ACE. Where there are any, unexplained, differences this may be queried at
the point of the Apprenticeship Completion Certification claim and additional evidence may be required to
support/confirm the signature on the Apprentice Declaration & Authorisation Form.
Date of Signing:

The Apprentice can only sign and date this form after they have been informed that they have completed all of
the learning associated with each of the required components of their Apprenticeship and that no further
learning input is required. This does not mean that, at this point, they have to be in receipt of all of their final
certificates or have all of the evidence required to make the Apprenticeship completion certificate claim.
NB: They can sign this form before all of the final evidence has been received, and collated, ready for claim
submission. The date of signing must be on, or after, the last day of learning stated on the form.

If, for any reason, the internal/external verification or certificate claiming process identifies any issues that
questions an Apprentice’s successful achievement of any component, and that further learning input is found to
be necessary, then a new declaration and authorisation form should be completed following the confirmation
of the “new” learning completion date and the form should be resigned and dated by the Apprentice.
Please note: Forms where dates have simply been amended and counter signed will NOT be acceptable and will
be rejected on this basis.
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GUIDANCE FOR THIRD PARTY CLAIMANTS
Please note that there is now no requirement for third party claimants to sign or date the Apprentice
Declaration & Authorisation Form.
Next Steps for Third Party Claimant:

Once the Apprentice Declaration and Authorisation Form has been signed and dated by the Apprentice then
third party claimants should ensure that they have all of the required evidence needed to make the
Apprenticeship Completion Certificate claim, on behalf of the Apprentice.

On ACE, input the relevant Apprentice data, ensuring that the Apprentice name is spelt and formatted
correctly.

On ACE, input the Apprenticeship Start Date, as per the Apprentice Declaration & Authorisation Form.

Ensure that the correct framework is selected as this determines the achievement evidence that is required.

Where necessary, all achievement evidence should be uploaded to ACE on the Evidence Tab.
Please note that, going forward, there are plans that some achievement data will be added directly to an
Apprentice record via a “peer-to-peer” data transfer process between ACE and certain Awarding
Organisations. Trials are currently under way and further information can be obtained by contacting The
Federation Support Team on 0845 072 5600 or ace@fisss.org

Only once all the required Apprentice information and achievement evidence has been uploaded to ACE,
should the Apprentice status be changed from “Entered” to “Pending Certification”.

ACE automatically records the date of this status change as the “Submission Date” and the Days Elapsed
count within ACE will start from this date. Certification Bodies have 10 working days to review a submitted
claim and make a decision as to whether it should be approved for certification or rejected.

Where a claim is rejected, the Certification Body must inform the claimant the reason/s why the claim has
been rejected. The Apprentice status moves from “Pending Certification” to “Rejected” and the Days
Elapsed count stops.

Any rejected claims should be rectified ASAP and then resubmitted by changing the Apprentice status back
from “Rejected” to “Pending Certification”. The Days Elapsed count recommences from zero.

Third party claimants have 90 days from the date of first claim submission (which is automatically recorded
on ACE when an Apprentice first changes status from “Entered” to “Pending Certification”) to ensure that
they have received the Apprenticeship Completion Certificate.
This is clearly stated in the SFA Funding Rules and, where certificates have not been received within the 90
day period, the SFA may take steps to reclaim a portion of the Apprenticeship funding. It is therefore very
important that any claims rejected are rectified ASAP and claims are resubmitted on ACE to ensure that
Apprenticeship Completion Certificates are received within the 90 day period stated by the SFA.
Guidance Notes for Completion of ACE Declaration & Authorisation Form V3
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