The IOG has been approved as the External Quality Assurance Provider for the Apprenticeship Standards for a Sports Turf Operative by the Institute for Apprenticeships (IfA).

Within this role, the IOG will help to ensure the new higher quality apprenticeship standards, which have been successfully initiated by government and lead by employers, are maintained across the entire industry.

According to IOG learning programme architect, Chris Gray, who has been instrumental in gaining this approval, the IOG will be monitoring the validity, reliability, comparability and independence of the assessors and assessments.

“We will be gathering feedback from apprentices and employers on the standard and assessments, as well as their experience of the training provision,” says Chris. “Our findings will be reported to the IfA to ensure these high-quality standards are not just maintained, but to ensure that continual improvements are identified and actioned.

"We thoroughly welcome the raising of standards and look forward to working with the IfA in making this approach a sustainable success.”