Government Guidance Forces Temporary Training Centre Closure

The Prime Minister’s announcement of an England-wide lockdown on 04 January 2021 has led to the postponement of all face-to-face training at Simian’s CISRS centres.

Following the announcement, guidance was issued by Department for Education that clearly states Independent Training Providers (amongst other organisations) should not be providing face-to-face training, though practical assessment (CISRS Skills Tests and Apprenticeship EPA) is permitted. The guidance can be viewed here, and key information for Independent Training Providers can be found on pages 4, 5 and 6.

At this stage, we remain unaware of when face-to-face training delivery will resume, but that is likely to be at the same time as schools, colleges and other educational institutions reopen and will be in mid-February at the earliest. Prior to this point, we will be working on rescheduling postponed training bookings and those with bookings will be contacted to advise of rescheduled dates in good time, ahead of revised dates.

From the outset of the pandemic, Simian has committed to following Government guidance, as we endeavour to keep our staff and customers as safe as they can be, and we will continue to do so in the future.

Speaking of the closure, Simian’s Operations Director, Dave Randles, said: “The latest lockdown is not what we wanted as we entered a new year, and Simian, along with everyone else in the UK, was hoping that the new year would be the start of a huge improvement in the way we are all living our lives.

The surge in positive COVID-19 cases has resulted in the Government imposing far more stringent restrictions and issuing very clear guidance in relation to face-to-face training provision, and on top of that, the Board feels it has a moral obligation to help in getting the country back on its feet, so we will continue to act in what we consider to be the most responsible manner, so that some degree of normality returns as soon as it possibly can.

We learned from the March 2020 lockdown that closure creates a significant backlog, as we need to shift postponed courses to new dates that had already been occupied by future courses, so we strongly recommend that those considering future bookings do so quickly, as demand will inevitably increase.”

Those with postponed bookings need not contact us, as we will be contacting them proactively, as soon as we know of a confirmed reopening date.

Those wishing to make new bookings can do so by clicking the ‘courses’ button, above, or by calling 0345 602 2418.

Please note that our consultancy team remains fully operational and they can be contacted in the usual way.