- The Nurture End Point Assessment Portal (the “Portal”) is operated by Nurture Training &
Development Ltd., (Company Number 12167755) (“Nurture”), a company incorporated
and operating under the laws of England and Wales, having its principal place of business at
Millennium Centre, Corporation Street, St Helens, WA10 1HJ. By registering an
account on the Portal and/or by electing to purchase any products and services offered through
the
Portal, Customers accept and agree to all applicable Terms & Conditions
detailed herein.
- This current version of the Terms & Conditions replaces any former Terms & Conditions published
by Nurture. These Terms & Conditions were last updated on 1st June 2020.
Nurture may update the Terms & Conditions at any time and without notice. Customers must review
the current Terms & Conditions each time they visit the Portal.
Definitions
- In these Terms & Conditions, the following words and expressions have the following meaning:
- “Customer” an EPAO, Training Provider or Assessor.
- “Assessor” a Customer offering apprenticeship assessment services on a freelance basis. This
may include freelance individuals as well as incorporated organisations providing
the services of their employees to provide EPA assessment services.
- “End Point Assessment Organisation (EPAO)” a Customer seeking to source Assessors to provide
End Point Assessment (EPA) services.
- “Training Provider” a Customer who is an independent training provider, further education
college, or employer delivering apprenticeship services.
- “Apprentice/Apprenticeship” a learner undertaking an accredited apprenticeship funded by the
Education & Skills Funding Agency (ESFA).
- “Job” a requirement by an EPAO for an Assessor to provide EPA services to a specific apprentice
learner.
- “Booking” any job accepted by an Assessor via the Platform.
- “Booking Confirmation” the agreement reached between an EPAO or Training Provider and an
Assessor for a Booking including any applicable Terms & Conditions agreed
between these parties relating to that Job in addition to these Terms & Conditions.
- “Seat Fee” the applicable fee due from an EPAO to Nurture in relation to registering and
tracking the EPA requirements of individual apprentice learners.
- “Data Protection Legislation” the General Data Protection Regulations (2016/679) (GDPR), the
Data Protection Act 2018, as amended and all applicable laws and regulations
relating to the processing of personal data (defined in GDPR) and privacy, including where
applicable the guidance and codes of practice issued by the UK supervisory
regulatory body;
- “Force Majeure” means any event outside the reasonable control of any party affecting its
ability to perform any of its obligations (other than payment) under these Terms &
Conditions, including without limitation: fire; flood; lightning; war; revolution; terrorism;
riot; strike; lock-out or other industrial action; failure of supplies of power,
telecommunication network, fuel, transport, equipment, raw materials or other goods or services;
Registering an Account on the Portal
- All Customers (Assessors, EPAOs and Training Providers) are required to register an account when
first signing up to the Portal. Customers may only register for an account on
the Portal where the person registering the account is at least 18 years old, holds a valid
email address, and possesses full legal capacity. Customers will be required to verify
their identity and email address upon registration. Nurture will require Customers to
participate in any additional registration checks as it deems necessary in its sole
discretion.
- Information and activity uploaded on the Portal by Customers must not: be false, inaccurate, or
misleading; be in breach of any applicable laws, regulations, licences, or
third-party rights; or interfere in any way with the proper working of the Portal. It is the
responsibility of Customers to provide accurate information and to confirm that they
hold all relevant accreditations and qualifications (e.g. approved status on applicable
Education & Skills Funding Agency registers). Nurture has no liability for the accuracy of
information listed on the Portal by any Customer, and Customers who may be considering working
together should undertake their own respective due diligence.
- Where an individual registers an account on behalf of an EPAO, Training Provider, or any other
incorporated party, then it is understood that the individual has the necessary
authority to bind the organisation in question to these Terms & Conditions.
- Customers agree that their Portal account is non-transferable and may not be assigned or licensed
to any third party. Customers agree not to grant access to their Portal
account to any third party. Should a Customer believe that their account is being used without
their permission, or that their account password has been compromised, they
must contact Nurture immediately. Nurture will not be liable for any unauthorised use of a
Portal account.
- There is no minimum subscription term. Please refer to the termination provisions of these Terms
& Conditions for details of how a subscription may be terminated.
Appointing an Assessor through the Portal
- The Portal allows for EPAOs and Training Providers to manage their EPA requirements, in sourcing
and appointing Assessors to fulfil the EPA component of an apprenticeship
and providing a platform through which EPA requirements for individual apprentices can be
reported and verified. The Portal allows Assessors to view and apply for EPA jobs
posted by an EPAO, and for EPAOs to directly appoint Assessors based on their published
profiles.
- In consideration of the use of the Portal, EPAOs and Training Providers shall pay Nuture a
monthly Portal Subscription Fee, at the current rate as listed on the Portal at the date
of registering an account. This fee must be paid using a valid credit card via the Portal on the
date of registration, whereby the Customer consents for Nurture to make
subsequent monthly Portal Subscription Fee charges to the same credit card, until such date as
the Customer terminates its subscription. The Customer must ensure credit card
details provided to Nurture remain valid.
- EPAOs and Training Providers accept that the Portal Subscription Fee is payable for the use of
the Portal only and payable irrespective of the outcome of any posted Job. Portal
Subscription Fees are non-refundable. No additional fee or commission will be charged to an EPAO
or Training Provider by Nurture for any Booking which is offered and
accepted.
- There is no restriction on the number of Jobs which an EPAO or Training Provider may post on the
Portal whilst they are an active Portal subscriber. An individual Job posting
will remain active on the Portal for a maximum period of 30 days, or until a Booking is made,
after which time it will become dormant. EPAOs or Training Providers may relist
dormant posts.
- Assessors can utilise the Portal, and the associated functionality to create a profile and
respond to Job postings, for free, with no fee payable to Nurture.
- By offering the Job via the Portal, the EPAO or Training Provider represents and warrants to
Nurture and the Assessor (i) that it has the required authority to offer the Job
and/or has full authority to enter into a Booking and thereby offer the Job to the Assessor, and
(ii) that the Job is correctly and adequately specified and described in the Job
posting on the Portal.
- By accepting the Job, the Assessor represents and warrants to the EPAO and/or Training Provider
that he or she has the required authority to accept the Job, has the skills and
experience to perform the Job, and/or has full authority to enter into the Booking. Nurture
accepts no liability for any Booking made with an Assessor who may subsequently be
considered not to have the necessary skills, experience, or authority to complete the Job.
- Where an Assessor is offered and accepts a Booking from an EPAO or Training Provider, the
specific terms of reference for that Booking must be agreed separately between
the EPAO or Training Provider and the Assessor. This includes the extent of any fee due to be
paid to the Assessor, and the terms of payment. Nurture is not party to any
Booking. Disputes arising between the Assessor, EPAO and Training Provider out of and/or in
connection with a Job and/or Booking must be settled between the Assessor,
EPAO and Training Provider. Nurture disclaims all liability in this respect.
- Nurture, EPAOs and Training Providers have no obligation to offer any Job or to purchase any
services from any registered Assessor, and nor is the Assessor under any
obligation to accept any Jobs if offered or otherwise make its services available at any time.
- As a strict condition of these Terms & Conditions, and in particular access and use of the
Portal, EPAOs, Training Providers and Assessors agree and will ensure that all Jobs
offered to and Jobs accepted by the Assessor are facilitated through the Portal. This includes
posted Jobs, any extensions of Jobs, and any subsequent Jobs. The solicitation of
Jobs between registered parties outside of the Portal is prohibited by these Terms & Conditions.
Should any Customer attempt to circumvent the Portal, Nurture reserves the
right to suspend a Customers use of the Portal and/or immediately terminate a Customer’s access
to the Portal.
Managing an Apprentice through the Portal
- Where a Booking is accepted by an Assessor, then the EPAO exclusively agrees to register the
apprentice learner (or learners) to which the Booking relates on the Portal,
creating a learner account, allowing for the management of data through the Portal in relation
to tracking portfolios of evidence and EPA information. Such registration must
be completed within 5 working days of the Booking being made. The EPAO agrees to pay the
applicable Seat Fee for each registered apprentice learner, as stated on the Portal
as at the date of posting the corresponding Job advert. Payment must be made via credit card
through the Portal on the date of registering the learner. The Customer must
ensure credit card details provided to Nurture remain valid.
- Once an apprentice learner is registered on the Portal, the EPAO will be able to offer access
permissions to other users (e.g. Internal Verifiers), as well as their Booked Assessor
for the Job, to access the applicable learner information held on the Portal. All such
additional users will be subject to these Terms & Conditions and will be required to accept
them at the point of being granted access permissions.
- The Portal allows for EPA portfolio evidence items for a specific apprentice learner to be
uploaded by their Training Provider for them to fulfil the EPA requirement. It is the
respective responsibility of an EPAO and Training Provider who are delivering to the same
apprentice learner to ensure that they are both have active subscriptions on the
Portal to achieve this. Nurture accepts no responsibility or liability should either such party
not take-up a subscription.
- The functionality of the Portal allows for all EPA evidence requirements to be fulfilled, and
for the EPAO to certify the completion of the apprenticeship. The outcome of the
EPA is solely a matter for the EPAO, the Training Provider, and the Assessor. Nurture will not
hold any liability should an apprentice not complete their apprenticeship for any
reason. Where an apprentice is a non-completer, the EPAO must log them as such on the portal.
Should a learner account be dormant for 12 months, it will be assumed that the
apprentice is a non-completer, and Nurture will update their record accordingly.
- Where an apprentice successfully completes their apprenticeship, their learner account will be
deleted by Nurture 6 months after the recorded completion date, including the
deletion of any personal data relating to the apprentice, in any instance where the EPAO has not
already deleted the learner account.
Privacy Policy
- Nurture will ensure that any data, information, and documentation made uploaded by a Customer on
the Portal is securely stored, and shall not be copied, published or used for
any purpose by Nurture other than the delivery of Portal services in relation to which they were
provided.
- Nurture is committed to ensuring that the privacy of its Customers is protected. Should a
Customer be asked to provide certain information by which he or she can be
identified when using this Portal, then it will only be used in accordance with this privacy
policy as defined within these Terms & Conditions. Nurture will not sell, distribute, or
lease Customer information to third parties unless it has permission from a Customer, or it is
required by law to do so.
- Nurture may collect Customer information through the Portal, including names, job titles, and
contact information including phone numbers email addresses. Such data may
be used for internal record keeping, improving products and service, sending promotional
communications about services and offers. The examples provided are not intended
to be exhaustive. Should a Customer believe that any information held by Nurture about them is
incorrect or incomplete, please write to or email Nurture as soon as possible.
Nurture will promptly correct any information found to be incorrect.
- In accordance with Data Protection Legislation, Customers give consent to Nurture to hold and
process data, including personal data and sensitive personal data, for purposes
of administering this services provided through the Portal and for the purposes of Nurture’s
legitimate business interests as a supplier to the Customer. Upon request to
Nurture’s Managing Director, Nurture will provide the Customer with a list of any potential
personal and sensitive personal data in scope of Data Protection Legislation that
Nurture holds about the Customer and its employees where applicable.
- Nurture acts as a controller in the provision of its Portal services to Customers. Customers
are controllers in the provision of and receipt of any data which they upload to the
portal for the purposes of providing EPA services to an apprentice. This includes any data they
may upload relating to a specific apprentice and/or his or her employer. The
Customer is accountable for ensuring that any necessary permissions have been obtained before
uploading such data.
- Customers will receive alerts and emails to the email address registered to their Portal account
for the purpose of administering the Portal services, giving notices and updates
regarding the Portal services, service communications for Jobs, and news about Nurture upon
registering a Portal account. Customers can opt-out of these alerts and e-mails
except for communications which are critical to the use of the Portal and/or the provision of
services via the Portal.
- Any Customer data which falls within the scope of Data Protection Legislation which is held by
Nurture will be retained for a maximum period of 3 years after the Customer has
terminated its account on the Portal. After this time the said data, will be permanently deleted
from Nurture’s servers and IT assets, returned to the Customer, or otherwise
securely disposed of.
- Visitors to the Portal, including Customers, are asked to accept cookies. A cookie is a small
file which asks permission to be placed on a computer’s hard drive. The file is added,
and helps Nurture analyse data about Portal traffic and improve the Portal. Nurture only use
this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed
from the Portal. A cookie does not give Nurture access to a Customer’s computer/device.
Customers can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically
accept cookies, but Customers can usually modify their browser setting to decline cookies if
preferred.
- Nurture may store data uploaded to the Portal outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) or
within a country which does not have an adequacy decision from the European
Commission. Customers warrant, represent, and undertake for their data to be stored as such.
- Nurture and Customers will promptly notify each other of any applicable subject access request,
complaint, or correspondence exercising Data Protection Legislation rights
relating to data held on the Portal.
Liability & Disclaimers
- To the maximum extent permitted by law, neither Nurture nor its related corporations,
Directors, Officers, employees or agents, nor any other person, accepts any liability,
including, without limitation, any liability arising from fault or negligence, for any loss
arising from the use or reliance upon information contained in the Portal, including any
loss of profit, indirect, incidental or consequential loss.
- Nurture may utilise links to third party websites that let Customers leave the Portal. These
linked sites are not under the control of Nurture and Nurture is not responsible for
the contents of any linked site or any link contained in a linked site, or any changes or
updates to such sites. The inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by Nurture of
the site. Customers use of the third-party website may be subject to that third party’s terms
and conditions.
- EPAO and Training Provider Customers acknowledge and accept that Nurture does not provide
freelance services or functions such as a consulting, recruitment and/or
temporary work agency (including any employment business), and that any such freelance services
which are provided in connection with the Portal are provided by Assessors
who are independent third-party contractors who are not employed by Nurture or any of its
associates.
- Nurture strives to publish information accurately, to update the Portal regularly and to correct
errors when discovered. However, any of the content on the Portal may be
incorrect or out of date at any given time. Nurture reserves the right, subject to law, to make
changes to the Portal at any time, including to product prices, specifications,
offers and availability.
- The Portal is intended normally to be available 24 hours a day and seven days a week. Nurture
will not be liable for any failure to achieve this level of availability. The Portal
may be suspended temporarily and without notice in circumstances of system failure, maintenance,
or repair or for reasons beyond the control of Nurture.
- Customers are permitted to browse this site and to reproduce extracts by printing, downloading
to a hard disk and distributing to other people for non-commercial,
informational, and personal purposes. No reproduction of any part of the site may be sold or
distributed for commercial gain, nor shall it be modified or incorporated in any
other work, publication, or site. No other licence or right is granted.
- Notwithstanding the provisions above, Nurture’s total liability to a Customer, whether in
contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty or otherwise arising
under or in connection with the Platform services shall be limited to the total charges paid to
Nurture by the Customer.
Dispute Resolution
- All disputes arising out of, or in connection with, these Terms & Conditions shall to the extent
possible be settled amicably by negotiation between the parties within 30
working days from the date of written notice by either party of the existence of such a dispute.
- For disputes relating to sums of £5,000 or less either party has the option of direct redress
through the small claims courts if reasonable attempts to resolve the dispute have
failed. For disputes relating to sums above £5,000, and where the parties cannot reach
settlement within a period of 30 working days, they will attempt to settle the dispute
by independent mediation.
- The mediator will be nominated by Nurture, and will be an independent solicitor, professional
mediation service, or similar. To initiate the mediation a party must give notice
in writing to the other to the dispute requesting a mediation. The mediation will start no later
than 30 working days from the notice for mediation. The aggrieved party may
initiate immediate legal escalation if the other party declines mediation or fails to respond to
the notice in writing.
- The initial cost of any mediation service engaged will be shared and paid for equally by both
parties. Nurture will provide details to the Customer of the appointed mediator,
including the applicable fees and how these should be paid. Any other costs incurred by either
party to participate in the mediation process (e.g. legal fees, travel expenses,
etc.) shall be borne respectively by each party. If either party should fail to attend a
pre-agreed mediation session for whatever reason, then that party shall be accountable for
the full cost of that session, and for any reasonable unrecoverable costs incurred by the other
party arising from this (e.g. staff time and expenses).
- Neither party shall invoke legal escalation of the dispute until after any mediation process is
reasonably exhausted without achieving a resolution.
- Where the Customer is in dispute with Nurture, the Customer remains obligated to honour and pay
any demands for payment issued by Nurture for services delivered and may
not withhold payment in lieu of any perceived compensation entitlement or for any other reason.
Any dispute for which the Customer may perceive it has a financial
compensation entitlement from Nurture, or grounds for a refund of monies paid, must be subject
to the dispute process in the first instance.
Online Payments
- Customers must ensure that Nurture is provided with current credit card details to charge for
applicable Portal Subscription Fees and Seat Fees. Nurture will be responsible for
fulfilling all applicable statutory and regulatory responsibilities in relation to securely
processing card payments online via the Portal.
- Should credit card details held by Nurture be invalid at the point that Nurture attempts to make
an applicable payment charge, then the Customer will be liable for any
associated fees incurred by Nurture, including any costs incurred in pursuing overdue payment
from the Customer. Nurture reserves the right to suspend a Customer’s account
on the portal if it has been unable to collect any applicable fee from the Customer.
Termination
- EPAOs and Training Providers may terminate their subscription for any reason by giving Nurture one months’ notice in writing and will be required to pay Nurture the
applicable Portal Subscription Fee for that month. Notice to terminate may only be served where the EPAO and/or Training Provider has no active apprentice learners on the
Portal who have yet to complete their apprenticeship. This includes any apprentice learners yet to be registered, for which the EPAO and/or Training Provider has a Booking
Confirmation with an Assessor. Such apprentices must complete their apprenticeship first, with all applicable Seat Fees settled before any period of notice shall begin.
- Nurture, EPAOs and Training Providers may respectively immediately terminate a subscription to the Portal in the following circumstances:
In the event that a party commits a breach of its obligations under these Terms & Conditions and such breach is material and cannot be remedied, or such breach is material
and possible to remedy and but that the Party in breach has failed to remedy such breach within thirty (30) days of having been required in writing to remedy such breach.
- A Party has presented a petition or have a bona fide petition presented by a creditor for its winding up, or shall convene a meeting to pass a resolution for voluntary winding
up, or shall enter into any liquidation (other than for the purposes of a bona fide reconstruction or amalgamation), shall call a meeting of its creditors, or shall have a receiver of
all or any of its undertakings or assets appointed, or shall be deemed by virtue of the relevant statutory provisions under the applicable law to be unable to pay its debts.
- Assessors may terminate their account on the Portal at anytime by serving notice to Nurture in writing, so long as they are not fulfilling an active Booking for an apprentice on
behalf of an EPAO through the Portal. Their account will be immediately deleted upon such a request.
- Termination shall be without prejudice to the rights and remedies of any Party which have accrued up to the date of termination.
- Upon termination Customers will have 20 working days to print or extract or transition any required data from the Portal. Upon termination, howsoever occasioned, Nurture
agrees to fully assist with all reasonable requests from the EPAO and/or Training Provider, and at the EPAO/Training Provider’s cost, to transition data held on the Portal to an
alternative site to ensure minimum disruption. Data remaining on the Portal after working 20 days, or following the completion of any reasonable request, may be
permanently deleted at Nurture’s discretion.
Force Majeure
- If either Party (the “Affected Party”) is prevented from complying with its obligations due to
Force Majeure, it shall not be in breach of these Terms & Conditions or otherwise
liable to the other Party (the “Unaffected Party”) by reason of any delay in performance or
non-performance of any of its obligations due to such events. If such Force Majeure
persists for a continued period of 3 months, then the Unaffected Party shall be entitled whilst
the Force Majeure persists, to terminate its subscription immediately upon
notice to the Affected Party.
General Provisions and Waivers
- Nothing in these Terms & Conditions prevent a Customer from being engaged, concerned or having
any financial interest in any other business, trade, profession, or occupation
or from providing services to any other part, provided that such business activity does not
cause a breach of or create a conflict of interest with the Customer’s obligations
under these Terms & Conditions.
- If, in any jurisdiction, any provision of these Terms & Conditions or their application to any
party or circumstance is restricted, prohibited or unenforceable, such provision shall,
as to such jurisdiction, be ineffective without invalidating the remaining provisions of these
Terms & Conditions and without affecting the validity or enforceability of such
provisions in any other jurisdiction or without affecting its application to other parties or
circumstances. Where possible, any such provision shall apply to the fullest extent
permitted by law and be interpreted and applied to a lesser extent, where necessary to be valid.
- Any dispute arising out of or in connection with these Terms & Conditions, including any
question regarding its existence, validity, or termination, will be referred to and finally
resolved by arbitration in England.
- All contents of the Portal are Copyright © Nurture Training & Development Ltd and/or its
suppliers unless otherwise stated. All rights are reserved. Nurture or its suppliers own
the title, copyright, and other intellectual property rights arising out of, or in connection
with, the Portal and the services provided through the Portal, including the software,
maintenance, training and other services and content.
- No provision of these Terms & Conditions shall be waived unless agreed to be waived by all
respective parties in writing. If any provision is waived, then that waiver shall
operate for that instance only and not future instances, unless agreed otherwise by the
applicable Parties in writing.