Safety Training Awards specialises in qualifications for the leisure industry and is regulated by Ofqual (England) and Qualifications Wales, and accredited by SQA Accreditation (Scotland).
STA uses the Approved Training Centre (ATC) model to ensure our regulated qualifications are available across the UK, promoting consistency, high standards and public confidence in the qualifications we make available.
In order to deliver STA regulated qualifications you must become an Approved Training Centre (ATC). An ATC is any business, organisation or tutor which has the required resources and competence to deliver, tutor, assess and quality assure qualifications whilst meeting our approval criteria.
The ATC model includes any business, organisation or tutor who wish to offer regulated qualifications. This could be an educational establishment, such as a school or college, or a training provider.
The ATC Model
How to Become an Approved Training Centre (ATC)
There is no cost to gain ATC status with Safety Training Awards.
To become an ATC, businesses/organisations/tutors need to gain centre approval status with Safety Training Awards by reading and understanding the ATC manual and by completing an ATC agreement (application form), providing evidence that the relevant resources, policies and procedures are in place to ensure continuous adherence to the relevant regulations and requirements.
International ATCs choosing to deliver STA qualifications
The UK regulators have implemented new regulations in relation to the verification process for UK regulated qualifications. Due to these changes STA are implementing a new policy for International ATCs – where English is a first language the International ATC will be able to continue offering STAs UK regulated qualifications, if English is not a first language the International ATC will no longer be able to offer STAs UK regulated qualifications. However, they will be able to offer STAs new unregulated courses.
Click here for more information on STA’s unregulated courses.
Become an Approved Training Centre (ATC)
To become an Approved Training Centre (ATC) with Safety Training Awards, please download the editable application form below. Once complete, email to qualityassurance@safetytrainingawards.co.uk, along with supporting evidence (as below), and a member of our friendly team will be in contact with information on next steps.
Download Application Form
To support your completed application, we require you to submit the following additional evidence:
- Tutor / Assessor / IQA Agreements for all ATC staff;
- All mandatory policies and procedures, as listed in the ATC Application Form;
- IQA Stratagy and IQA Sample Plan listing all future STA courses (please refer to IQA Guidance within our Resource area for further information).
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)
Why wouldn’t you want to join the STA as an ATC? You can deliver all of our aquatic, lifesaving, pool plant and first aid qualifications from a single ATC, which saves on costs and reduces administration. Plus, you have the assurance that we are a recognised Awarding organisation for OFQUAL, SQAA and QW. We also have a dedicated customer support and admin team who will guide you through the application process and help set you up as an ATC.
Our team will provide you with the latest guidance and explain the compliance policies needed to support a learner’s journey. If required as part of the application process, if this is new to you, we can also assist by sending you guidance on how you can write your own policies.
On application, you will be assigned a dedicated team member who will help you complete the ATC process. We aim to approve centres as soon as we can, but timing can vary depending on how quickly you can provide us with your policy documents and staff agreements. Our aim is to have you up and running within a maximum of 12 weeks, but in most cases, where policies are already in place, it is a lot quicker.
You need to know the courses you would like to deliver and which tutors, assessors and IQAs you plan to use to deliver the courses – we can help you plan your staffing if you have any questions. You will also need your ATC policies in place.
Once we have reviewed your application, we will then arrange for a Pre-Approval visit, which will be conducted by a member of the quality assurance and compliance team. Once this is completed and approval is granted, the ATC will be activated and you can register and deliver STA courses.
Yes you can, and you can choose to deliver either our regulated (UK) qualifications as an ATC or our unregulated qualifications (or both).
As an international organisation with many international members, our unregulated courses have been created to offer flexibility for tutors and employers in countries, which do not follow UK legislation, Health and Safety Executive (HSE) or professional body requirements. The courses have been shaped to offer a high standard of quality training, but by being unregulated, tutors delivering them overseas do not need to be attached to an ATC.
