These are a fantastic way for staff to develop in their role if the role expands or they need to learn new knowledge, skills and behaviours as they develop their carer. Staff who are new to post, or who are internally promoted, often find that completing an Apprenticeship Education Programme supports their transition into the new role. For example, if an experienced administrator has now become an office manager they may find the Leadership Level 3 programme supportive, or if a clinical member of staff now needs to work on service improvement activities, they may find the Improving Operating Performance Level 3 very useful.
With 614 apprenticeship standards to choose from nationally the development opportunities are plentiful. Whether it is a Coaching qualification, Service Improvement, Training, HR, Finance, Project Management, Leadership, Plumbing or Pest Control, Health, Scientific degree, Admin or Customer Service, there really is something for every health and social care role.
Health and Social Care in LLR also benefits from having its own main training provider through the UHL Apprenticeship and Development Centre. This means that programmes are tailored to the needs of our workforce and enables us to co-create new programmes for cohorts of health and social care workers that incorporate the national standards. Find out more by sending a direct email to apprenticeships@uhl-tr.nhs.uk
To find out more about Apprenticeship Education Programmes click here: Pathways – HASO (skillsforhealth.org.uk)
All education in the UK is awarded a level to enable people to know what depth of learning has occurred. For example, if you were to complete an Apprenticeship Education Programme at Level 2 it would be equivalent study (and count on your future job applications as equivalent to) 5 GCSE’s at grade C or above. Please see the table below.
Some might say nothing in life is free and in monetary terms, the Apprenticeship Education Programme costs are covered through the Apprenticeship levy in the majority of cases.
Certain learning goals have to be put in place to support the Governments funding rules, for example:
Outside of the programme costs though there is the investment of time by both you and your manager that has an unseen cost associated with it. You may choose to do additional work above the 20% outside of work so the cost there would be to your free time.
As a whole package, if you were to add up all the levy costs and unseen costs of work time it is undoubtedly an amazing investment that is being made in you; our future health and social care workforce.
It should be noted that in rare circumstances a programme may not be funded through the levy, however we would be able to establish that on enrolment so all parties could agree a way forward. If there are any travel, exam or book costs as part of a course which are not covered by a training provider, these are made clear on the outset.
This means that there needs to be an agreement as part of the study leave process on whether the individual or department pay for each element. The cost of the End Point Assessment for Apprenticeship standards is included in the training provider’s price. Wherever possible, one free retake is usually negotiated. Remember you won’t be going through an End Point Assessment until both your learning is complete and you have had a Gateway review with your manager and the training provider. This is where you all sign off that you are happy to progress to this stage. If you are unfortunate and need further retakes that have not been covered with the training provider, these will be paid for by your department/organisation automatically as part of the enrolment agreement.
If you are a member of staff at a non-levy paying organisation, then a co-funded module is usually used. This is a model that sees your organisation and the Government paying for the programme. Alternatively organisations that don’t have enough levy, or who don’t pay levy can be supported with a levy transfer to cover the full cost of the course fees.
Support will be available through both the training provider and the learner’s line manager. Should additional support be required this must be discussed at the Information, Advice and Guidance meeting during enrolment, or as the need occurs within the programme. The training provider will also meet the learner and their manager on a quarterly basis to discuss progress, risk assessments or concerns that any party may have. Staff wellbeing is a key priority during this process. Managers and training providers are aware of the challenges balancing home, work and learning can bring.
Don’t let this stop you from progressing with your enquiry. Contact us to find out more and to see how you can complete an initial assessment to establish your level – we do this for all learners joining Apprenticeship Education Programmes too, as it helps the training provider know what support, if any, the learner will need when completing the programme.
The Government have insisted on a very robust level of support to ensure that everyone on an Apprenticeship Education Programme are supported to achieve, or are able to demonstrate they already have a specific level of English and Maths depending on the programme you are studying.
If you left school without a maths and/or English qualification don’t worry, you will be supported through additional Government funding to get your functional skills qualifications in English and maths up to level 2. Functional skills are not like maths and English at school, it is more relevant skills to everyday life taught in a way that matches your needs.
This means that on any future job applications, if you achieve functional skills level 2, you will be able to demonstrate ‘GSCE English and maths or equivalent’ – how fab is that! It doesn’t always require hours of learning either; if you complete an initial assessment and you come out at Level 2, you can usually just go straight to the test. If you need some support with learning the topics, the training provider will provide that.
Your training provider and manager will help support and guide you in terms of what is suitable off the job learning for your role, development needs and the programme. It doesn’t have to be one day a week and is typically not able to be quite as formal as that. Off job learning happens within the workplace. The manager can help plan this in and the learner should record it. It should equate to an average of 20% of their employed time whilst on the Apprenticeship Education Programme.
Examples of off the job learning can be found below:
Some programmes, for example, Trainee Assistant Practitioner/Nursing Associate Level 5, may require substantially more time to complete the assignments. Some of this may be from your own time once the 20% off the job learning time has been used up, however it will be a discussion and agreement between yourself and your manager on how this extra study is completed.
To find out more about the learning and development and Apprenticeship opportunities within in your immediate organisation, please contact the relevant department / person.
For LLR specific learning and development opportunities, please access the learning and development pages, there will also be an LLR events calendar coming soon!
