How does it work?
The new Apprenticeship standards were co-developed by employers, professional bodies, training providers and the government, which means the development and demonstration of key skills and behaviours are given equal if not more weighting to technical knowledge. In addition to completing the exams or assignments of a professional qualification, an apprentice must also complete an end point assessment towards the end of their programme.
Through at least 2 forms of assessment, including case studies, reflective statements, professional discussions, projects and portfolios of work, apprentices must pull together all of their technical knowledge and their skills and behaviour training, demonstrating competence across the whole Apprenticeship standard. This broader focus gives you greater confidence apprentices can deliver the best results within their role (and not just be good at passing exams), and will be more suitable for progression opportunities as they arise.
Who can be an apprentice?
The government has an ambitious target to recruit 3 million apprentices by 2020, meaning that the new Apprenticeship Standards are more inclusive than ever before. Under the new standards, current employees and university graduates are both eligible for Apprenticeships, as long as there is substantive new learning taking place. An Apprenticeship programme can include courses from Level 2 (entry level) right the way up to Masters degree (Level 7), and there is no age restriction.
Funding an Apprenticeship
If your company doesn't pay the Levy, you'll only need to pay 10% of the Apprenticeship training costs, and the government will cover the remaining 90%. This also applies to marginal Levy paying organisations who don’t have enough to fund all of the Apprenticeship training they'd like to.
If you pay the Levy, you'll have access to a Digital account where your Levy funds will accumulate until you’re ready to commence Apprenticeship training. You'll need to use an accredited-training provider like Kaplan to make payments from the account. You have 24 months to spend your Levy. If you use all the Levy and still want to engage in more Apprenticeship training, you will be eligible for the 10%/90% co-investment detailed above.