A successful apprenticeship programme should work for your business as well as your apprentices. That means choosing the right apprenticeship standard, understanding the skills your employees need, and making sure workplace activities and formal training complement each other.

If you're considering an apprenticeship programme for new recruits or existing employees, a training provider can help you build a programme around your business needs.

This article focuses on apprenticeships in England, where apprenticeship funding and delivery rules apply.

How Kaplan designs an apprenticeship programme

• Understand your business: we start by understanding your roles, objectives, workforce plans, and challenges.
• Identify skills gaps: we map job roles and development needs against relevant apprenticeship standards.
• Map existing training: we look at your internal learning and workplace activities and identify where they support the apprenticeship.
• Design the programme: we recommend a structure that brings together provider-led training, workplace learning, and relevant business activity.
• Agree and launch: the employer, apprentice, and training provider agree the training plan before training begins, then review progress throughout the programme.

How do you identify skills gaps?

The first step is understanding what you want the apprenticeship programme to achieve.

You might be looking to:

• Build a pipeline of future talent.
• Develop technical skills within an existing team.
• Prepare employees for more senior roles.
• Address skills shortages in a particular department.
• Introduce new capabilities, such as data, technology, or digital skills.
• Create clearer career pathways for employees.

Start by looking at the roles you want apprentices to move into. Review job descriptions, responsibilities, current skills, and the capabilities you'll need in the future.

A training provider can then help you map those requirements against the knowledge, skills, and behaviours included in relevant apprenticeship standards.

For example, the current Assistant Accountant standard includes responsibilities such as supporting day-to-day financial activities, preparing financial information, and contributing to areas such as VAT and tax.

This mapping exercise can help you understand not only which apprenticeship is appropriate, but also what you should expect an apprentice to learn during the programme.

How do you map internal training and workplace activities?

Your business may already have a substantial amount of training in place.

That could include:

• Induction and onboarding.
• Technical training.
• Internal systems training.
• Mentoring and coaching.
• Leadership development.
• Team projects.
• Client or customer events.
• Internal conferences.
• Business improvement projects.
• Shadowing experienced colleagues.

Rather than starting from scratch, your training provider can look at how your existing activities complement the apprenticeship curriculum.

However, it's important to distinguish between normal on-the-job work and eligible off-the-job training.

For an activity to count as off-the-job training, it must teach new knowledge, skills, or behaviours, be directly relevant to the apprenticeship standard, take place during the apprentice's normal working hours, and meet the other eligibility requirements in the funding rules. Activities must be planned and documented in the training plan.

The amount of off-the-job training required isn't a universal percentage. Each apprenticeship standard has its own minimum volume of off-the-job training hours, which should be reflected in the apprenticeship agreement and training plan.

What workplace activities could support an apprenticeship?

The right activities will depend on the apprentice's role and the apprenticeship standard they're following.

These activities should be considered alongside the requirements of the specific apprenticeship standard. An activity isn't automatically off-the-job training simply because it is useful or developmental. It needs to meet the relevant requirements and contribute to the apprentice gaining new knowledge, skills, and behaviours.

How do you design the apprenticeship programme?

Once the skills requirements and existing activities are understood, the next step is to bring everything together into a programme structure.

Your training provider should help you consider:

What training will the provider deliver?

This could include taught sessions, online learning, workshops, assignments, practical activities, and other structured learning required by the apprenticeship.

What will the apprentice learn in the workplace?

The apprentice should have opportunities to apply what they're learning and develop the occupational competence required by their apprenticeship.

How will learning fit around business activity?

Consider busy periods, annual events, project deadlines, seasonal activity, and other commitments that could affect the apprentice's time.

What support will the line manager provide?

Managers play an important role in helping apprentices apply their learning, understand expectations, and make progress.

How will progress be monitored?

The employer, apprentice, and training provider should agree how progress will be reviewed and recorded. The training plan is a working document and should be kept up to date if the programme changes.

The aim is to create a programme where the different parts work together, rather than treating workplace activity and formal training as separate things.

What should an apprenticeship programme design include?

A well-designed programme should give everyone a clear understanding of what will happen and who is responsible for each part.

Depending on the apprenticeship, this could include:

• The apprenticeship standard and level.
• The apprentice's role.
• The planned start and end dates.
• The training and learning activities.
• The minimum volume of off-the-job training.
• How training will be delivered.
• The responsibilities of the employer, apprentice, and training provider.
• How progress will be reviewed.
• How workplace activity will support the apprenticeship.
• Any relevant prior learning.
• The support and adjustments the apprentice may need.

The training plan must be agreed between the training provider, employer, and apprentice before training is delivered. It records the planned content and schedule and confirms the employer will allow the apprentice to undertake training during their normal working hours.

How do you launch an apprenticeship programme?

Once the programme has been designed, there are several practical steps before the apprentice starts.

1. Confirm the apprenticeship standard

Make sure the apprenticeship is appropriate for the role and the skills you want the apprentice to develop.

2. Choose your training provider

Compare providers based on their experience, programme content, delivery approach, support, and ability to work with your business.

3. Confirm funding

Check what apprenticeship funding is available to your organisation and whether any employer contribution applies.

4. Agree the training plan

Work with the provider and apprentice to agree the training content, schedule, responsibilities, and required off-the-job training.

5. Prepare the workplace

Make sure the apprentice has the equipment, systems, supervision, and workplace support they need to perform their role.

6. Brief the line manager

The manager should understand the apprentice's role, learning requirements, training schedule, and their own responsibilities for supporting the apprentice.

7. Start and review

Once the programme begins, keep communication open between the apprentice, employer, and training provider. Regular reviews can identify progress, challenges, and any changes needed to the programme.

How should you review an apprenticeship programme?

An apprenticeship programme shouldn't be treated as something you design once and leave unchanged.

As the business, role, or apprentice's needs develop, the programme may need to be adjusted.

Regular reviews can look at:

• Whether the apprentice is making expected progress.
• Whether training is being delivered as planned.
• Whether workplace activities are providing appropriate opportunities to apply learning.
• Whether the apprentice needs additional support.
• Whether business priorities have changed.
• Whether the training plan needs updating.

Current funding rules allow an alternative progress review timetable to be agreed in advance, provided reviews are no more than six months apart.

Your training provider should work with you to monitor progress and address issues rather than waiting until the end of the programme.

How can Kaplan help design an apprenticeship programme?

Kaplan works with employers to design apprenticeship programmes around their workforce needs, roles, and development objectives.

Our team can help you understand the relevant apprenticeship standards, identify suitable programmes, map learning to workplace activity, and build a training plan that works for your organisation.

We can support apprentices across areas including accountancy, tax, financial services, data, and technology, helping employers develop new talent and upskill existing employees.

If you're considering an apprenticeship programme, we can help you work through the options and identify an approach that fits your business.

Talk to our team to explore apprenticeships for your business