To celebrate National Apprenticeship Week, we thought we’d share a little on our experience of apprenticeships.
We’ve employed apprentices at Prospectus since 2010 across our recruitment, marketing, finance and operations teams and over the years we’ve typically had at least one person completing an apprenticeship at any one time, if not more. Currently we have four apprentices!
If you’re reading this, perhaps it’s because you’re considering whether apprenticeships are suitable for your organisation. Or even just wondering what an apprenticeship is! Put simply, apprenticeships are jobs with an accompanying skills development programme. For anyone aged 16+ they are a way to join the workforce rather than remaining in full time education (as applies to 16-18 years olds in England), while still learning. Apprentices will do a combination of learning in the workplace and formal off-the-job training with the opportunity to practice their new skills in the workplace. Apprentices spend 20% of their time on the off-the-job training and this can take many forms.
People often assume apprenticeships are just designed for school leavers but actually anyone can undertake an apprenticeship. Employers can offer apprenticeships to new starters or to current employees. They range from the educational equivalent of GCSE level all the way through to the equivalent of a master’s degree. There are apprenticeships in a whole host of different jobs across a huge range of industries from the practical, like construction or engineering, to careers in marketing, recruitment and many others. Too many to list here!
Aside from the support with training your employees, other benefits to you as an employer can include:
– No NI contributions for some apprentices under 25 (dependent on salary)
– £1000 payment if the apprentice is aged 16-18
– £1000 payment if the apprentice is aged 19-24 and has previously been in care or has a local authority education, health and care plan
If an organisation’s annual pay bill is over £3 million then they will be paying into the Apprenticeship Levy to provide for the cost of apprenticeships. The government tops this up with an additional 10%. If an organisation doesn’t have to pay the apprenticeship levy then they will pay just 5% of the cost of training an apprentice, with the rest funded by the government.
One of the key aspects to get right to make the apprenticeship a success for both the apprentice and the employer is finding the right training provider. On the government’s apprenticeship guidance you can select the type of apprenticeship you’d like to offer and then select a training provider, all of whom are rated by other employers they work with. If this is a role you are recruiting into, many of these training providers will advertise the vacancy and shortlist applicants for you. We would recommend that you reach out to a few of the providers and speak to them before making a decision on which to engage with. Ask them questions about how they will support both you and the employee and make sure the level of contact and support is right for you before moving ahead. If you are recruiting into the role, once they have shortlisted suitable candidates for you, you can then follow your normal recruitment process.
We’ve been really pleased over the years to see the development of our employees who have undertaken apprenticeships. Whether they have stayed at Prospectus, or moved on to new roles elsewhere, it’s been great to be able to support them with their learning and career development.
