Management

Our business structure and controls are essential to ensure we operate efficiently and focus on the priorities of our key stakeholders.

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Executive structure
Steering groups
Risk based approach

Executive structure

Our business structure within Kaplan UK is supported by both our parent company Kaplan Inc and its owner Graham Holdings as well as external expertise from our advisory boards.

Graham Holdings is a listed company in the US. Kaplan Inc is its largest subsidiary which includes Kaplan UK. Kaplan Inc provides support and governance over significant decisions such as major investments.

Our Executive Leadership team is responsible for:

Establishing our vision and purpose
Designing and driving our strategy
They delegate responsibility and governance of the commercial education business to the Professional Senior Leadership Team, and responsibility and governance of the apprenticeship function to the Apprenticeship Leadership Team (ALT).

The ALT is overseen and guided by the External Assurance Board (EAB) and receive learner voice input from the Kaplan Apprenticeship Advisory Panel.

External Assurance Board (EAB)

For apprenticeships, we have an independent EAB to provide oversight, knowledge, and strategic challenge to our programmes.

The EAB is comprised of leading experts from the Further Education and Careers Sector, including:

A highly experienced CFO (including of the St John’s Innovation Group and Further Education provider) and Corporate Governance author, trainer and examiner, Chris Lang ( Chair)
Expert Careers Coach, member of the International Coaching Federation and former CEO of a College Network: Christine Doubleday
The Chief Quality and Curriculum Operating Officer of a large peer provider, Paragon, and Vice Chair of the Association of Employers and Learning Providers, Ian Bamford
The Chair of Youth Employment UK and former CEO of the Association of Employers and Learning Providers, and former CEO of an independent training provider, Stewart Segal
CEO of an Apprenticeship and Skills business and former Director of the large companies unit at the ESFA: Tony Allen

The EAB meets at least ten times a year and receives detailed reports from Kaplan’s Apprenticeship Leadership Team.

Kaplan Apprenticeship Advisory Panel

Our Kaplan Apprenticeship Advisory Panel (KAAP), represented by current and former Kaplan apprentices, meets quarterly to continually evaluate and help improve our Apprenticeship programmes. The KAAP members are from a range of apprenticeship standards and employers.

Steering groups

We have a number of steering groups and specific boards focussing on key areas who make decisions and where appropriate escalate to the executive team and/or advisory boards.

Curriculum Board This board meets quarterly to ensure that Kaplan’s curriculum is continually fit for purpose and meets the needs of the learners and employers that train and work with Kaplan.
IT steering group This group meets quarterly to ensure we are investing and working on the business priorities and adjust for these priorities as they change.
Quality improvement committee This committee meets monthly to review our overall learner delivery, with particular focus on apprenticeship programmes. Its aim is to ensure we are continually improving the experience for our learners. The regular agenda includes items such as safeguarding and Prevent, curriculum, programme delivery, and compliance.
GDPR steering group This group, chaired by CEO Kathy Walton, is supported by Kaplan’s IT security and compliance team, ensuring that we’re compliant with the latest data protection regulations.
EDI steering groups We have EDI steering groups and an EDI learner working group in place for our learners and our employees ensuring we are listening to and representing the needs of everyone we work with.

Risk based approach

We operate risk logs, which are reviewed monthly, at both strategic and operational levels, with oversight and support from Kaplan Inc. This ensures a consistently high standard of delivery at all times.