What is an apprenticeship?
Apprenticeships are paid jobs that offer learning and valuable experiences to develop job-specific skills. They combine work and study, with at least 20% of the time spent with a training provider who helps achieve a nationally recognised qualification. Apprenticeships provide the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in a chosen career or to progress to the next level.
The basics.
Apprentices are:
- aged 16 or over.
- new or current employees
- not in full-time education
- paid at least the minimum wage.
- provided with a minimum of 30 hours work per week (50% of these working hours must be spent in England over the duration of the apprenticeship.)
- enrolled on a programme of training that lasts a minimum of one year.
As an employer you’re responsible for making sure your apprentice:
- works with experienced staff.
- learns job-specific skills.
- gets (paid) time off during their working week for apprenticeship training.
What’s in it for me?
There are many benefits of employing an apprentice for your business:
- You can develop a workforce with the skills your business needs, in turn increasing productivity and improving business performance.
- You can get funding from the government to help pay for apprenticeship training.
- You can adapt their training according to the needs of your business.
- You can hire someone new or upskill an existing employee.
- You can provide hands-on experience, a salary, and the opportunity to gain qualifications while working for your apprentice.
- You can boost your reputation as an employer who invests in people and supports their career development.
Why choose Construction and Plant Assessments?
- Our purpose-built training centre has been created to simulate realistic working environments, providing apprentices the opportunity to learn in a safe yet challenging way.
- Our apprentices are taught by industry experts who focus on high standards and quality workmanship.
- Our training is backed by leading industry manufacturers who provide our apprentices with the best tools and materials to get hands-on with.
- We are an Ofsted ‘Good’ provider of apprenticeship training.
- As a recognised training provider with YPO, we can provide apprenticeship training for Levy employers.
- We can propose bespoke training tailored to your business requirements.
- We offer a free recruitment service that will support you through all stages of recruitment so that you hire the most suitable apprentice for your business needs.
- Small cohorts of apprentices (maximum of 10 learners per group) benefit from more one-to-one time with tutors.
- Our flooring/construction apprenticeship programmes are delivered via block release training which concentrates the learning experience for apprentices, meaning that they will learn maximum skills and knowledge in a relatively short space of time. This way, they will perform well on the job when they return.
- Many of the UK’s largest contractors and local authorities choose us as their preferred training provider and send their apprentices to us for training from all over England.
- Unlike colleges, we have a continuous intake of apprentices throughout the academic year so that cohorts of apprentices can start their apprenticeship journey with us every 8-10 weeks.
How does it work?
Apprentices will attend ‘off the job’ training with Construction and Plant Assessments at agreed intervals throughout the apprenticeship programme, depending on the qualification and expected duration of the apprenticeship.
- Floorlayer – 10 blocks of training over 2 years
- Groundworker – 7 blocks of training over 18 months
- Highways Maintenance Skilled Operative – 8 blocks of training over 18 months.
For example:
Both employer and training provider share the responsibility of ensuring the apprentice has acquired the necessary skills, knowledge, and behaviours to be competent in their occupation. An independent assessor will verify this by conducting an End Point Assessment (EPA).
Useful Resources.
Funding Information
Government information - Employing an Apprentice
Minimum Wage
Create an Apprenticeship Account
