Central YMCA: implementing Aptem Skills and Aptem Apprentice to enable end-to-end delivery

Central YMCA is a large and established training organisation delivering learning across three core divisions: skills, education and commercial provision. With a long-standing commitment to employability and skills development, the organisation supports around 6,000 learners each year across a wide range of programmes. 

As part of its ambition to modernise delivery and strengthen operational control, Central YMCA made the decision to implement Aptem Skills and Aptem Apprentice as its primary platforms for delivering provision within the Education and Skills Funding Agency remit. The longer-term goal was to move towards a fully unified, end-to-end system capable of supporting learners, employers and staff across all programmes. 

Why Central YMCA chose Aptem 

Central YMCA contracted Aptem with a clear objective: to onboard all existing programmes onto Aptem Skills and Aptem Apprentice, creating a consistent and compliant digital delivery model. The organisation wanted a platform that could support end-to-end delivery, including learner onboarding, assessment, tracking and reporting, while also providing strong data visibility for management and quality teams. 

From the outset, Central YMCA recognised that this would not be a simple system change, but a broader business transformation. The decision to adopt Aptem was therefore grounded in a need for transparency, flexibility and partnership, rather than a purely technical solution. 

Preparing for implementation 

Implementation planning was approached in a structured and deliberate way. Central YMCA appointed four internal project leads, each responsible for different workstreams, who worked closely with Aptem’s implementation consultant throughout the process. This structure helped ensure that responsibilities were clear and that progress across different areas of the organisation remained aligned. 

Ryan Palmer, Director of Quality and Impact at Central YMCA, oversaw the implementation and described the preparation process as clear and transparent from the outset: 

“We knew that there was going to be a series of administrative tasks that we would have to prepare. It was quite clear what they were going to be, and nothing was a surprise. Once that process had taken place, then we discussed where the work would need to be. It was very transparent.” 

Central YMCA set an ambitious target to be fully live with end-to-end functionality within 16 weeks, a tight timeframe given the size and complexity of the organisation. Both teams understood the scale of work involved and placed a strong emphasis on communication and shared accountability. 

Building and configuring the platform 

The build phase included a number of complexities, including qualifications that were new to Aptem and therefore required bespoke configuration. Learning outcomes had to be built and structured before content could be fully resourced within the platform. 

Throughout this phase, Central YMCA highlighted the importance of hands-on support. Rather than relying solely on documentation, Aptem’s implementation consultant worked directly with project leads, walking them through processes and configuration decisions in real time. 

“Throughout implementation our project leads were physically shown how it was done, rather than just giving out workbooks and telling them to crack on with it. Whenever a challenge occurred, or a question asked, we were taken through the ins and outs of how to manage our own problems once we were fully up and running.” 

This emphasis on capability building helped ensure that Central YMCA’s teams felt confident managing the system beyond go-live. 

Going live and early outcomes 

Despite the complexity of the build, Aptem went live at Central YMCA on the agreed target date, which the organisation viewed as a significant achievement. 

“The fact that we went live on the day we committed to going live was, for us, a great achievement, particularly given the complexities of the build.” 

Training, data conversion and programme transitions were largely successful, with any issues around file formats or compatibility resolved quickly. Programmes that had not previously used online delivery or ePortfolios were also transitioned smoothly. 

One area that required additional work was the 16 to 19 education provision, which operates under different funding and reporting requirements to apprenticeships. Rather than treating this as a blocker, Central YMCA worked with Aptem to scope and build the additional reporting needed, supported by clear communication around timelines and next steps. 

“Aptem has been very open with their communication and very clear on timeframes. You are working on it, and we understand when it will be ready. So that’s been good. We’ve resolved it nicely.” 

Benefits of implementing Aptem 

Following implementation, Central YMCA began to see tangible benefits across delivery, compliance and management oversight. 

The organisation now operates with a genuinely end-to-end system, supporting learners and employers through a single platform. Assessment formats such as ePortfolios have strengthened evidence capture and learner engagement, while real-time data has improved operational control. 

From a management perspective, Aptem’s reporting functionality has proved particularly valuable: 

“From a management perspective, it has given us access to a huge swathe of live reports, something we didn’t have before. And that allows us to have real-time reporting and real-time performance management of our staff.” 

Central YMCA also reached a point where it felt confident enough to switch off legacy systems, having initially retained them as a backup during transition. 

“We’re now feeling comfortable enough to turn off all our old systems because we kept them out just as a backup. But now we’re confident that we’ve got to the point where we’re functioning beyond where we were before we got started.” 

Partnership working and cultural change 

A recurring theme throughout the implementation was the importance of partnership. Palmer described the relationship with Aptem as an innovation partnership, particularly as Central YMCA explores bringing commercial learners onto the platform. 

The organisation also acknowledged the cultural change involved in adopting a highly efficient digital system. 

“Because Aptem involves a culture change, it is a very efficient system, and if you’re not as efficient, it can seem confusing at first. I’ve got admin that have been doing the same thing for ten years. They are used to doing things a certain way, even if we don’t need to do that anymore.” 

“What’s important, though, is that the team at Aptem are there to help. They are very responsive.” 

Advice for other training providers 

Reflecting on the experience, Central YMCA emphasised the importance of trust and transparency during procurement and implementation. 

“Trust what they say during the tender because they will be honest. Aptem will tell you what is sensible and what can or can’t be done.” 

For a complex organisation, confidence in scalability and delivery capability was critical, and the experience to date has reinforced that confidence. 

Looking ahead 

While implementation required significant effort, Central YMCA is now seeing the long-term benefits of adopting Aptem. With improved visibility, stronger compliance, and a unified digital platform, the organisation has laid the foundations for continued growth and innovation across its provision. 

“Introducing Aptem has been hard work, but now we are out the other side, we are all beginning to see the benefits.”