Postal Strikes With the ever present threat of postal strikes, please avoid sending us urgent documents by post and use email and the Walled Garden portal wherever possible.
To minimise disruption to our customers we have launched a Certificate Hotline. To ensure you receive urgent certificates in time. Email us or telephone 01543 266831. We will also accept signed SORs by e-mail for the duration of the postal strike.
• Certificate hotline
We anticipate that our standard 15 working day turnaround for issuing certificates will be affected by the strikes. If you have not received your certificates within five working days of your awards ceremony, or urgently require them for any other reason, please use our Certificate Hotline 01543 266831 or email us quoting the relevant order number and we will dispatch your certificates by courier for delivery within two working days.
• Approval confirmations
In addition to posting approval confirmation, as usual, we will also be issuing them by email.
• Schedules of results (SORs)
Wherever possible, avoid submitting Schedules of Results (SORs) by post. For the duration of the postal strike, you can e-mail SORs to your EV or – if you have direct claim status – to your quality administrator. For the duration of the postal strikes, we will accept either of the following:
o A digital scan of your signed SOR e-mailed as an attachment
o A word document with your name typed into the signature box
Please ensure you are sending these from your centre’s business email address. We are unable to accept SORs sent from a personal or generic e-mail, such as hotmail or yahoo.
• Walled Garden
If possible, avoid paper registration altogether, and use the Walled Garden to register your candidates electronically. Centres can apply for multiple named user accounts where required. If you do not have a walled garden account, or require an additional walled garden account for a colleague, please apply for one.
Walled Garden accounts
Don’t be limited to one ILM Walled Garden account. Every user of the ILM Walled Garden should have an account to ensure that automated emails, confirming your candidate’s successful submission onto the programme, are sent to the right person. Additional accounts can be applied for on the
Walled Garden homepage. Download the Walled Garden
User Guide for further help
Free City & Guilds approval
City & Guilds are pleased to offer all ILM centres free fast track centre approval to help you access all the component parts of Management Apprenticeships.
Apprenticeships are a practical way of combining skills and qualifications helping business to harness new talent. At ILM and City & Guilds we believe there has never been a better time to offer apprenticeships because an important government priority is to bridge the skills gap in the UK. Their target is to see 500,000 apprenticeships on offer each year by 2020, and there’ll be significant funding available for approved centres and training to do this.
Management Apprenticeships are made up of a combination of City & Guilds and ILM qualifications, and awarded by the Management Standards Centre.
Team Leading Apprenticeship
• ILM Level 2 Dual Award in Team Leading
• City & Guilds Key Skills at Level 1 in Application of Number, plus Level 2 Communications
Management Apprenticeship
• ILM Level 3 Dual Award in First Line Management
• City & Guilds Key Skills at Level 2 in Application of Number, plus Level 2 Communications
Once a learner has all three certificates and completed the Employment Responsibilities and Rights element through a Workbook (available online via MSC), you can claim a Full Apprenticeship certificate from MSC
National variations to note-
In Wales there is an advanced apprenticeship available at Levels 4 and 5
In Scotland apprenticeships are the responsibility of Skills Development Scotland not the MSC
Next steps-
City & Guilds will offer free qualification approval to ILM centres wishing to deliver the full package; subject to approval criteria being met. Centres only need to contact their local Business Manager first who will put them in touch with the City & Guilds local Quality Manager.
This is a reciprocal arrangement, so City & Guilds centres are offered free Dual Award approval; subject to approval criteria being met and only need to contact their local Customer Relationship Manager
Further information
ILM Customer Service Team: 01543 266867
City & Guilds Customer Relations: 020 7294 2800
City & Guilds Apprenticeship packages
Volunteer Management
We secured an extension for our Management of Volunteers NVQs, so we're pleased to accept candidate registrations for these specialist qualifications until the end of December 2010.
NVQ news
From 1 January 2010 we will start issuing transcripts instead of unit certificates to learners on full payment route S/NVQs. This change is in direct response to customer feedback and will not affect learners on unit payment route S/NVQs.
PR success story
A centre in Dorset secured a fantastic piece of media coverage last month in The Business (Dorset edition) using the PR Toolkit and Index of Leadership Trust report to gain themselves coverage as an ILM qualification provider. Associating your centre with the current news agenda or a business issue and highlighting your qualifications as a solution is good PR practice.
Centre Support Toolkit
Make sure you take advantage of all marketing materials available to your centre. The Centre Support Toolkit includes posters, new brochures and banner stands to order, a power point presentation to download, ILM's film, the web-to-print service to co-brand material and much, much more.