There are a lot of changes that are set to be made to apprenticeships that will affect providers, employers and apprentices alike over the next few years, but one more immediate shift is intended to make it easier to access and interact with government services in the sector.

The UK Government has been gradually rolling out their One Login system across a range of services and it has recently announced that five of the tools used by the Apprenticeship Service are now covered by the new system.

This rollout means that 50 services are covered by the secure unified login system over three years, which the government claims will make accessing and using apprenticeship services easier under the new system, not only for apprentices but also for employers.

The five services covered include apprenticeship confirmation, searching for an apprenticeship, the assessment service, the provider and assessment register, and the service dashboard for employers.

This means that apprentices are able to not only look at available apprenticeships and apply through a single account that was not available before, but they can also track their progress and manage the assessment data they need within a single sign-on system.

It also allows apprentices to apply for basic DBS checks directly through the One Login system, should they need to as part of their application.

This was not the case in the recent past, with the apprenticeship service having its own login credentials, whilst the apprenticeship application system was connected to the other employment services part of the government website.

For providers, the benefits include the ability to access assessment and registration data integrated into their existing workflow.

As for employers, they can track the recruitment of apprentices, monitor progress and see at a glance whether compliance and documentation requirements have been met.

Gov UK has suggested that it saves up to six minutes of time whenever they access a new service, but the extent to which it benefits apprentices remains to be seen.