Preliminary steps
Prior to offering an apprenticeship, there are some key preliminary steps to be followed by the hiring or line manager:
- Determine the department’s needs in offering an apprenticeship programme. This should consider long-term financial and resource planning as well as the skill requirements, and through this determine the level and nature of apprenticeship programme to be offered. Such determinations must account for the University’s usual recruitment policies and processes, including approval from the Exception Recruitment Panel where necessary.
- Read the skills funding guidance, which provides essential information on apprenticeship programmes and outlines the criteria which need to be met in order for the funds from the apprenticeship levy to be used.
- Search for an Apprenticeship Standard at the right level and in the appropriate industry or discipline. An apprenticeship standard covers the statutory requirements of the apprenticeship programme, defines the qualifications being undertaken, and is used by colleges, employers and training providers to ensure apprenticeship programmes are delivered consistently. For more information on developing Apprenticeship Standards, visit www.instituteforapprenticeships.org.
- Find a training provider that offers apprenticeship programmes in the applicable industry. All training providers must be registered with the Register of Apprenticeship Providers (RoAP) and will handle apprentices’ external training, qualification and assessment. Some training providers will also assist with advertising, recruitment and selection.
- Managers can access the list of registered training providers and apprenticeship standards here. Through Find Apprenticeship Training https://findapprenticeshiptraining.apprenticeships.education.gov.uk/ line managers can now search for a Training provider by name and see all of the apprenticeships which they offer and have loaded onto their portal.
- Managers must obtain the training provider’s Unique Provider Reference Number from the Training Provider in order to enable the provider to draw down from the University’s apprenticeship levy fund.
- Managers must adhere to the University’s procurement process prior to entering into an agreement and contracting with a training provider (see here for more information).
- Managers can access guidance on identifying independent end point assessment organisations and the register of independent organisations here.
There are four levels of apprenticeship funding bands (as defined by www.gov.uk)
| Name | Level | Equivalent Educational Level |
|---|
| Intermediate |
2 |
5 GCSE passes at A* to C |
| Advanced |
3 |
2 A level passes |
| Higher |
4, 5, 6 or 7 |
Foundation Degree |
| Degree |
6 or 7 |
Bachelor of masters degree |
When appointing a 3rd party Training Provider organisation (registered on the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers) they will have overall responsibility for the training and on-programme assessement (conducted by themselves or their sub-contractors) as well as the apprenticeship end-point assessment (conducted by a separate organisation).
As well as containing on-programme training and assessment, all apprenticeship standards must contain an end-point assessment. A 3rd party Independent Assessment Organisation must be involved in the end-point assessment of each apprentice so that all apprentices following the same standard are assessed consistently. The apprentice will not be able to achieve the apprenticeship without passing the end-point assessment. Training Providers may have existing relationships with assessment organisations, but it is the manager’s responsibility to ensure that an assessment organisation is engaged as part of the apprenticeship contract process
Next: Procurement process
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