WHAT CAN YOU OFFER?
CAN YOU OFFER AN APPRENTICESHIP OPPORTUNITY TO A YOUNG PERSON?
If you have employed apprentices before then you will know what is involved and what a valuable contribution an apprentice can make to your organisation. If you are new to Apprenticeships your training provider will provide you with all the support and guidance that you need. They will also explain about the additional financial support which might be available to you if you are a small employer. Most importantly they have walked this path hundreds of times before and so have a wealth of experience with which to guide and support you.
You need to consider the type of person that your organisation is looking to recruit, their personal characteristics and the level of experience that you require.
Although some apprentices will come straight from school or college with little or no work experience, many will be looking for an Apprenticeship after having spent some time in the workplace.
Like any new employee, in the first few weeks they will require support and supervision but over time they will be able to work more independently. Your organisation, whatever the size, needs to be able to offer them that support.
Your chosen training provider will help you develop the skills needed to support apprentices.
Apprenticeships are a valuable tool for recruiting young people and in succession planning for your organisation.
APPRENTICESHIPS FOR EXISTING EMPLOYEES
Apprenticeships are also available to help you develop existing employees. Whether you are a levy payer or an SME you can use apprenticeships to develop & enhance the skills of any employee of any age. Employees can even do apprenticeships at a lower level than existing qualifications that they might already have, providing it is developing new skills for them required by the business.
WHAT APPRENTICESHIP DO YOU THINK THAT YOU CAN OFFER?
You will obviously know your organisation, what it does and so have a good idea of the sort of Apprenticeship that you wish to offer. However, there are hundreds of different types of Apprenticeships available, known as Apprenticeship standards, designed to ensure that the Apprenticeship exactly suits your organisational requirements. Your chosen training provider can also further tailor the standard to ensure that your apprentice is covering the areas that you need them to learn.
There are different levels of Apprenticeship to suit the experience and prior qualifications that employers require .They are available at Intermediate, Advanced, Higher & Degree level, covering more than 170 industries and 1500 job roles:
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Intermediate Level Apprenticeship (Level 2) – equivalent to five A*–C GCSEs
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Advanced Level Apprenticeship (Level 3) – equivalent to two A Levels
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Higher Apprenticeship (Level 4 -7) – equivalent to degree level and above.
HOW IS THE APPRENTICESHIP FUNDED
Apprenticeships are funded by the government in two ways depending on the size of employer. Larger employers (with an annual payroll of more than £3 million) pay the Apprenticeship Levy which they can then use to pay for apprenticeship training and assessment.
All other employers, including levy payers that have used up all of their “levy pot”, have their apprenticeship training funded through the “co-investment model”. This funding formula requires the employer to pay 5% of the training costs directly to their chosen training provider and the government pays the remaining 95%. The government have also determined the maximum “cap” that training providers can charge for an apprenticeship and these are clearly displayed on the
Government Apprenticeship
website.
Levy, co-investment & grants
Apprenticeships have undergone root and branch reforms which were introduced in May 2017. Part of the reforms is in the funding and the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy mentioned earlier. There has also been a fundamental reform in how apprenticeships are delivered and assessed with the introduction of Apprenticeship Standards to replace the existing Apprenticeship frameworks. One of the main differences is that the apprenticeship standards have been designed by employers in order to ensure that the knowledge, skills and competence gained exactly match the job role. Apprenticeship Standards are assessed at the end of the apprenticeship by an independent organsisation that will conduct an End Point Assessment, or EPA, of the apprentice (a bit like a final exam) to ensure that they have reached the necessary standard to be awarded the Apprenticeship. Apprenticeship Frameworks, which are assessed throughout the apprenticeship by the training provider that delivers the training, will gradually be replaced by the introduction of new Standards as they are developed and approved.
One opportunity introduced under the reforms is that anyone can be an apprentice, regardless of age and whether new to a role or an existing member of staff. Employers can therefore provide apprenticeship opportunities for both young people that they are recruiting to invigorate their work force and also to existing employees wishing to develop or learn new skills relevant to their existing or new roles.
It is now possible to start an apprenticeship at a lower level than qualifications already help, provided that it is in a new learning area to existing higher qualifications and relevant to your job role. This means, for example, that graduates can now re-train using apprenticeships in new vocational areas.
There is also a new incentive of £1,000 to encourage employers to recruit 16 to 18 year olds and 19 to 24 year olds with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. If you have fewer than 50 employees you will also be exempt the 10% co-investment contribution for these learners.