What is an apprenticeship?

Apprenticeship Standards have been written by employers and industry experts and consist of approved industry based skills, knowledge and behaviours.  Apprentices have a period of learning and development, followed by a series of end point assessment activities which are conducted by registered end point assessment organisations.

For some Standards, there is the opportunity to gain nationally recognised qualifications, which can lead to industry body membership.

All apprenticeships are now ‘Apprenticeship Standards’ and they have an ‘End Point Assessment (EPA)’ to confirm achievement of the apprenticeship. This assessment can take a variety of forms such as a knowledge test, portfolio of evidence, an interview, project presentation, observation or professional discussion.

Every apprentice will complete 20% relevant off-the-job training activities, to support the achievement of their apprenticeship.  This is time for you to learn things related to your apprenticeship and support the achievement of your qualification. This can include practical training, job shadowing, mentoring, coaching, industry visits, theory training, online learning, manufacturer training or can be used to spend time writing assignments/assessment or attending College for theory lessons, workshops or masterclasses.

Anyone living in England, over the age of 16 (who has completed Year 11 at secondary school), and wants to work in a job full-time whilst gaining qualifications, can apply for an apprenticeship as long as they are not already enrolled on a funded learning or training programme such as a college course or another apprenticeship. There is no upper age limit to starting an apprenticeship.

You can do an apprenticeship after GCSEs, after A-levels or even after doing a degree, however in order to access any Government funding, your apprenticeship must be different to your degree or provide you with significant new learning opportunities.

The majority of apprenticeships are registered on the Government’s National Apprenticeship Service website here Find an apprenticeship – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). If you know which company you wish to work for, check out their website; most employers promote their vacancies on their websites. The vacancies being offered through Cirencester College can be found here

First you need to find a vacancy (see above). If you have found a job you like, follow the instructions on the vacacny page.  If the vacancy is being promoted by Cirencester College, you can call 01285 626259 or email apprenticeships@cirencester.ac.uk and we will be happy to help you to apply.

Any business can employ an apprentice, as long as the apprentice is employed for not less than 30 hours per week.

In addition to recruiting apprentices to your business, an apprenticeship programme can be used as part of a comprehensive CPD programme for employees that have recently changed roles or been promoted.

If you are looking to recruit an apprentice to your business, we would love to help you. The team at Cirencester College will:

• arrange to meet with you and explain exactly how apprenticeships work and how they might work for your business.
• once you have decided to recruit an apprentice, we ask you to complete a job description form and then we will advertise the vacancy for you.
• we will advertise your vacancy on the National Apprenticeship Website, our own website, our internal student Job Shop and through various other forms of social media.
• help you every step of the way through the recruitment process and beyond.
• once your new apprentice has started in the workplace, we will arrange to meet with you and your apprentice to go through all of the enrolment for the appropriate apprenticeship programme.
• after the apprentice is on programme we will continue to meet with you and them throughout the programme to review progress, support both you as an employer and our apprentice, and answer any questions or queries.

There is funding available to employ an apprentice depending upon the size of your company and whether or not you pay the apprenticeship levy. There are also incentive payments to take on apprentices which differ depending upon the age of the apprentice, the level of qualification and the size of the employer. The funding changes frequently; to ensure you have the latest details please check the Government website here Apprenticeship funding – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). However, we are very happy to help you with any questions you have.