Does Cracking on Count as a Resolution?
Katie Orr
Chief Regulatory Officer at Training Qualifications UK
Best known for her ferocious appetite for reading, Katie joined TQUK in 2014 after a stint working at our regulator, Ofqual, making her a perfect fit for CRO. Katie spends her days in the detail of all the documents others don’t want to read, bringing them to life, and making sure that however brightly TQUK colours, it’s always in the lines.
How did you spend New Year’s eve?
From what I can tell, it tends to be approached in one of two ways:
Either with energy and excitement, adorned with sequins and surrounded by friends, or, in my case, with a quiet plan for hunkering down with a cheese board, a good film and a slight irritation at the interruption of fireworks when midnight arrives unexpectedly.
Now, two weeks into 2024, we’re back into the cold light of day with a vague sense of rejuvenation and hope for the year now that the ‘holiday season where time stands still’...as I heard it described in the TQUK kitchen yesterday, is over.
Most of us also adopt an attitude of ‘new leaf’, making resolutions and promising all sorts of changes to ourselves and others.
Of course, the root of this is identifying what you want to improve.
For example, your mood, your health, your relationships with family and your contribution to the local community are all worthy causes.
Over the last few years, we’ve seen an explosion of the ‘self-care’ trend with a focus on incremental, small improvements that add up and make all the difference.
Self-evaluation, reflection and evolution are more than just a fad for TQUK though (and not just because Ofqual make us do it!). We’re constantly reviewing what we do and altering, tweaking, changing, improving, or even ripping up and starting again.
We’re never complacent, we’re never good enough to stop and say, ‘we’re done’.
I think it comes from right back at the start in 2013 when we entered a market with no reputation, no customers, and could take nothing for granted.
In 2017 we moved into the end-point assessment (EPA) space and again, needed to focus on the small things to make the big things work.
Our EPA provision is a great example of where we have constantly improved. Over the last six years we have refined our process to make sure we are able to offer innovative products and exceptional customer service that places providers and their apprentices in safe hands.
We put so much hard work into making sure everything runs smoothly and is as efficient as possible, that I like to think we offer something great, amazing even, that will just keep getting better.
But how do we make this all possible?
To start with, at TQUK we are not the type of people to stand still and let the world go by. We are quick thinkers, innovators and people who genuinely love to create new standards that not only enrich the lives of apprentices but also fill the gaps in under-represented sectors.
When I think about this, the first thing that pops to my mind is when we worked with a Trailblazer group in 2023.
This was such an exciting moment for TQUK because we were able to work with a talented bunch of people who shared our desire to create something new and exciting which could deliver high levels of learning and make a difference.
So, what did we do?
The Trailblazer group came to us with a tight deadline, quite a few obstacles and a playworker standard in mind.
As a team, we didn’t shy away from the challenge but instead offered our greatest support and expert advice. We aren’t an Awarding Organisation and End-Point Assessment Organisation for no reason!
Since I’m talking about the amazing support we offer, I might as well mention our lovely account managers, as they are such a huge part of our EPA offering.
I’ll try to keep it short and sweet (as I might end up blabbing on and on about how exceptional they are) but I must say that our account managers bring a wave of personality to the end-point assessment process.
They help create a strong relationship with our providers by scheduling regular meetings, sharing updates and of course (the most important part) understanding their expectations and needs.
Our account managers also have a handy trick up their sleeves:
They can build monthly analytics portfolios which help providers to see how they are doing in comparison to the other training providers we work with.
This valuable offering allows providers to compare first-time pass rates and have all the information they need to benchmark results.
In addition, the portfolio contains a breakdown of individual components and the results that their apprentices received. This gives providers the information they need to know if they want to spend more time preparing apprentices in certain areas.
If there was another area of our EPA services that I had to be particularly proud of it would be our apprentice centric approach which is boosted by our speedy, seamless service.
As an organisation, we don’t want to stand in the way of an apprentice’s success.
In fact, we make it our mission to ensure that all apprentices can transition into their EPA without any delays and are given the support and guidance that they deserve so that they can progress into their dream careers in no time!
Of course, these are not the only benefits apprentices can look forward to when being part of the TQUK journey. More information concerning our SLAs can be found on our website!
So, no big resolutions for TQUK then. But also not just more of the same. Just a great line of yet to be articulated little ones that react to our customers’ needs and make sure that as ‘best’ is redefined, we follow.
Oh, and Steph is going to do more biscuit runs.
