A 2024 Department for Education (DfE) review found that while apprenticeships deliver strong outcomes, the assessment process can be overly complex and burdensome for learners and employers.

In response, the DfE introduced Apprenticeship Assessment Principles (2025), which aim to simplify assessment, reduce duplication, and ensure closer alignment with employer-defined occupational standards.

This guidance provides a simple, proportionate process for employers to confirm that apprentices have demonstrated the behaviours required for their occupation, as set out in the occupational standard. The focus is on recording or logging naturally occurring examples, not gathering extensive evidence or paperwork.

Under the previous gateway to end-point assessment arrangements, employers were required to confirm that apprentices had sufficiently demonstrated the required knowledge, skills, and behaviours. Behaviour verification should therefore be integral to existing performance management and staff development processes.

It is not intended to introduce new assessment systems or additional administrative burden. Instead, it formalises routine and established employer practices, such as supervision, feedback, induction conversations, and regular check-ins, which naturally support and evidence apprentices’ behavioural development.