What the EPAO register was
For several years, an organisation that wanted to deliver end-point assessment in England applied to a Department for Education register. That register was the Register of end-point assessment organisations (RoEPAO). DfE withdrew the RoEPAO application guidance on 1 August 2023. The replacement record was the apprenticeship provider and assessment register (APAR). APAR lists organisations that can assess the standards they are approved for. Being listed has never meant that DfE or ESFA recommends the organisation, and the withdrawn guidance said organisations must not use departmental logos as a badge.
Employers and providers still look organisations up. The public service “Find an end-point assessment organisation” remains online and still says the organisation must be independent from the training provider. A finder entry is not the same thing as an application form.
The DfE application that was withdrawn
DfE withdrew “Joining the APAR as an end-point assessment organisation” on 11 December 2024. The banner on that page says end-point assessment organisations no longer need to apply to be on a Department for Education register. The steps that used to sit on that page — including a separate APAR application after Ofqual recognition — are withdrawn guidance. Do not follow them as the current process.
What the withdrawn page described, and what is useful only as history, is that Ofqual-regulated standards were added to an organisation’s APAR listing after recognition and an entry on Ofqual’s register of regulated qualifications, rather than through a second assessment by DfE. Office for Students regulated integrated-degree standards followed a different check. That history explains why people still say “join the EPAO register”. It is not an instruction.
What Ofqual requires now
Ofqual’s current page “Apply to have your qualifications regulated”, updated on 2 September 2025, is the place to start for regulated apprenticeship assessment. An organisation applies to become a recognised awarding organisation for the qualifications it wants Ofqual to regulate. Ofqual does not charge a fee to apply. The application is assessed against the Criteria for Recognition. The supporting information asks the applicant to show subject, sector and technical assessment expertise, governance, controls and financial capacity. Ofqual recommends a pre-application meeting before the rest of the form. The decision is Ofqual’s, after it has reviewed the evidence and, where the application is capable of meeting the criteria, usually after a recognition panel.
Once an organisation has Ofqual recognition for apprenticeship assessments, Ofqual says it needs a Department for Education apprenticeship service account if it does not already have one, and a UK provider reference number (UKPRN) from the UK Register of Learning Providers. Ofqual’s page points to the apprenticeship assessment service for the detail.
Since December 2025, the 2025 to 2026 changes page says Ofqual recognition for apprenticeship assessment is based on a combination of apprenticeship assessment, the sector subject area and the level. Where the sector subject area and the level stay the same, existing recognition continues even if the assessment plan or the standard version changes. An expansion application is required for a standard outside the current sector subject area or level. The changes page points to Ofqual’s apply guidance for that expansion.
What a listing does not mean, and what Meritura cannot do
A register entry, a finder entry or Ofqual recognition is not a recommendation of any software product. Meritura cannot put an organisation on the EPAO register, the APAR or Ofqual’s register. It does not submit a recognition application, and it does not predict or guarantee the outcome.
What the product can do is narrower. An awarding organisation can keep its own recognition-readiness evidence in Meritura, reviewed by named people, against Criteria A to D, with no predictive score. Day-to-day assessment operations — cases, conflicts, materials, centre arrangements and human result release — sit in the same tenant. None of that is a substitute for the Criteria for Recognition or the General Conditions.
Related Meritura pages
Questions
Can an organisation still apply to the DfE EPAO register?
No. DfE withdrew the joining guidance on 11 December 2024 and said end-point assessment organisations no longer need to apply to a Department for Education register. The current route for regulated apprenticeship assessment starts with Ofqual recognition.
Does Ofqual recognition automatically mean every standard is in scope?
No. Since December 2025, recognition for apprenticeship assessment follows the sector subject area and the level as well as apprenticeship assessment itself. A standard outside that scope needs an expansion application. Read the 2025 to 2026 changes page and Ofqual’s apply guidance before acting on a specific standard.
Will Meritura register an organisation as an EPAO?
No. Meritura does not submit applications to Ofqual or to a government register, and it does not confer recognition. A workspace can store the organisation’s own evidence for human review.
Where is Meritura data hosted?
Your data is hosted in the UK, with our core databases and application servers in London. We work only with trusted, GDPR-compliant providers, and any processing outside the UK is covered by UK GDPR safeguards. A list of sub-processors is available on request.