Your Guide to Apprenticeships
WHAT ARE THEY? WHO ARE THEY FOR? HOW CAN I FIND AND GET ONE?
An apprenticeship is a training scheme where you get paid to learn on the job and build up experience and qualifications at the same time.
Apprenticeships are not just for school and college leavers they are available at all ages. Apprenticeships are on offer in a wide range of trades and professions (more on that in a minute!) but are usually based around hands- on, practical (sometimes called “vocational”) skills. The end goal of an apprenticeship is to train and qualify you to be competent and experienced in the skills employers want. Apprentices earn a salary and will spend part of their working week on off-the-job training. This could be time spent at college or a training centre one day a week, or could be spent all on the job, online learning – or a combination of these. Many providers of apprenticeship training can now deliver all or most training on the job and online, so it’s not always required for apprentices to travel to attend their training.
APPRENTICESHIPS COME IN FOUR DIFFERENT LEVELS: 1. INTERMEDIATE (equivalent to 2 GCSEs) 2. ADVANCED (equivalent to 2 A-Level passes)
3. HIGHER (equivalent to a Foundation degree) 4.DEGREE (equivalent to a Bachelor’s or Master’s)
The apprenticeship level you start on will depend on different factors including, whether you have any previous work experience and qualifications, the type and level of the apprenticeship and the responsibilities you’ll be undertaking. You might start on a lower-level apprenticeship than your previous education level or any qualifications you have already achieved. Don’t worry, this is quite normal and will only be because you will be learning new skills and knowledge in a job or industry sector that you may have little or no experience of.
Once you have completed an apprenticeship, it is possible to then move onto a higher-level apprenticeship course, enabling you to continue to develop your skills, knowledge, experience and qualification levels.
18
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator