Our Apprenticeships

An apprenticeship is a job with training and in a nutshell, it’s an excellent way to gain qualifications and work place experience - all at the same time!

Plus, you’ll also get paid whilst you learn and gain practical skills to help you in your career. Depending on the qualification or the employer, you will:

  • Work four days a week and go to college for one day
  • Work full/part-time and take a week out, on a regular basis, to go to college
  • Work full/part-time with your apprenticeship programme delivered in your workplace

Why choose an Apprenticeship?

Apprenticeships are ideal if you have a clear idea of the career you’d like to pursue, and you’re willing to commit to work and study. Unlike in school, at college or on a traditional degree course, the majority of your learning will be through on-the-job training in your place of work. To be considered for an apprenticeship programme in England, you need to be:

  • Aged 16 or over
  • Living in England
  • Not in full-time education

5 Facts about Apprenticeships

  1. Apprentices should work for at least 30 hours per week
  2. An apprenticeship generally takes between 1 and 5 years to complete
  3. Most of the training is delivered in the work place and the rest is given by a training organisation either at the workplace, off site (perhaps at college) or via e-learning
  4. Training is specifically tailored to ensure you develop skills that an employer wants
  5. The skills and experience you gain will give you a real advantage in the workplace and give you a real chance of getting a job

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Apprenticeships would suit someone who:

  • Has a clear idea of the type of career they wish to pursue
  • Is willing to commit to work and study, but would prefer a more practical and work-related approach to learnin
  • Is ready to start work with an employer, and be based in the workplace most of the tim
  • Is well organised and able to cope with the competing demands of work and academic study at the same time
  • Is ready to be assessed through a mix of assignments and written work, including essays, reports, practical exercises, end tests, and exams

No matter what kind of career you want to follow, you need to do your research and find out if you can reach your career goals through an apprenticeship, or if you need/would prefer to study full-time at university or college.

Apprenticeships aren’t the ‘easy’ option. Holding down a full-time job and studying takes commitment and hard work, and it won’t be right for everyone. You’ll need to prove yourself in the workplace, while getting to grips with studying for a higher level qualification. You’ll be expected to achieve academically and at work, managing your time and adjusting to longer hours, with fewer holidays than at school, college, or university. You might have to travel or relocate to find the right opportunity for you.

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What apprenticeships are available in England?

• Intermediate apprenticeships (Level 2)
• Advanced apprenticeships (Level 3)
• Higher apprenticeships (Level 4 and above)
• Degree apprenticeships (Levels 5 — 7)
Each level has different entry requirements, and each apprenticeship vacancy will specify what these are, along with the qualities the employer is looking for. For higher and degree apprenticeships, employers generally ask for A levels and other Level 3 qualifications.
• The level of apprenticeship you start at will depend on the qualifications you have, the job role, and apprenticeship standard the employer wants to use.
• You can progress your career and work all the way up through the higher and degree level apprenticeships for some job roles and career areas. You can also progress onto other further or higher education courses, including degrees and postgraduate courses.

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Apprenticeship Levy

On April 2017 the Government is introduced a levy for Apprenticeships. Alongside PAYE contributions, employers with wage bills of more than £3m will have to pay 0.5% of their wage bill into an electronic account, regardless of whether or not they employ apprentices. The Government will use this to fund the cost of Apprenticeship training and assessment.

Non-levy paying employers will share the cost of training and assessing their apprentices with government - this is called ‘co-investment’.
From May 2017, you will pay 10% towards to the cost of apprenticeship training and government will pay the rest (90%), up to the funding band maximum.

• Smaller employers will have to make a cash contribution towards the cost of training and assessing an apprentice. The Government will pay 90% of the cost with the employer paying 10%
• However, if the employer has less than 50 staff and they recruit a 16-18 year old apprentice, the Government will pay 100% of the cost of the training and assessment
• The Government are simplifying Apprenticeship funding by placing every existing Apprenticeship into one of 15 funding bands, ranging from £1500 to £27000
• This means that employer contributions could be as little as £150 or up to a maximum of £2700, depending on the type and level of the Apprenticeship training
• All employers, regardless of size, will receive a support payment of £1000 for employing a 16-18 year old apprentice, even where the Government has funded 100% of training and assessment costs
• The training provider an employer works with will also receive an incentive payment of £1000 from the Government for delivering Apprenticeship training for a 16-18 year old.
• An additional £1000 support payment will be available to an employer and their training provider if they employ a 19-24 year old apprentice who was formerly in the care of the local authority or who has an Education Health Plan.

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Benefits of Apprenticeships

The benefits of Apprenticeships to employers include:
• Building skills: 82% of employers take on apprentices to build the skills capacity in their business
• Reducing training costs: up to 100% funding could be available to support Apprenticeship programmes in your business
• Increasing productivity: statistics suggest the average apprentice improves productivity by £214 a week
• Reduced staff turnover: Apprenticeships encourage staff satisfaction and loyalty
• Reduced recruitment costs: Apprenticeship providers can help you find suitable interview candidates
• Apprenticeships are a tested way of re-training or up-skilling existing staff, and attracting new staff with new ideas
• Training can be carried out on your premises; it’s flexible to fit in with staff schedules
• If you employ an apprentice below the age of 25, you are not required to pay employer National Insurance contributions for them

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Current Apprenticeships

• Business Administration - Level 2,3 & 4
• Chef de Partie - Level 2 & 3
• Child Care - Level 2 & 3
• Commis Chef - Level 2 & 3
• Customer Service - Level 2 & 3
• Health & Social Care - Level 2, 3 & 5
• Hospitality Supervision - Level 2 & 3
• ICT - Level 2, 3 & 4
• Management - Level 3 & 5
• Retail - Level 2
• Team Leading - Level 2
• Warehousing - Level 2

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Latest Apprenticeship News

You can apply for an incentive payment of £3,000 for new apprentices who join your organisation.

To be eligible, the apprentices must both:

  • start their employment at your organisation between 1 October 2021 and 31 January 2022
  • start their apprenticeship between 1 October 2021 and 31 March 2022

The closing date for applications is 15 May 2022.

Find out if you are eligible, what you can use the payment for and how to apply.