Apprenticeships

For Employers

Apprenticeships represent excellent value for money as they are, in most instances, exempt from the regular National Minimum Wage and National Insurance Contributions at least for the first 12 months of the Apprenticeship. This gives you the opportunity to train and develop Apprentices, ensuring maximum productivity by the end of the programme.

The National Minimum Wage for Apprentices under 19 years of age, or over 19 and in the first year of their Apprenticeship is currently £3.70 per hour.

All Craven College Apprentices are in ‘full-employed status’ and as such, must be employed for at least 30 hours per week (this can include time spent in College).

Craven College offers a wide range of Apprenticeships which are regularly reviewed to meet business demand. If you need an Apprenticeship that is not listed in an area of business, please contact us.

Our Apprenticeship provision is constantly growing to meet your needs, we currently offer Apprenticeships in the following areas:

• Accounting – Assistant Accountant, Professional Accounting Taxation Technician
• Agriculture & Countryside – Agriculture, Countryside Worker, Horticulture/Landscape Operative
• Business – Business Administrator, Team Leader/Supervisor
• Catering & Hospitality – Commis Chef, Chef de Partie, Hospitality Team Member, Hospitality Supervisor
• Childcare – Early Years Educator
• Computing – Infrastructure Technician, Software Development Technician
• Construction – Bricklayer, Carpentry & Joinery, Painter & Decorator, Plasterer, Property Maintenance Operative
• Customer Service – Custome Service Practitioner/Specialist
• Hair & Beauty – Beauty Professional, Hair Professional
• Mechanic/Engineering – Land-based Service Engineering Technician, Heavy Vehicle Service & Maintenance, Motor Vehicle Service & Maintenance Technician

Our comprehensive service will:

• Offer a wide range of Apprenticeships and help you decide which one best fits your business needs
• Assign an Apprenticeship Co-ordinator who will be your point of contact right through from recruitment of an Apprentice to the achievement of their qualification
• Manage the recruitment process and advertise your vacancy, screen all applicants and provide you with a number of suitable candidates for you to shortlist, interview and even trial before appointing someone
• Plan and design training to meet the needs of your business and those of the individual, providing additional support and bespoke programmes where required
• Monitor Apprentice progress and provide regular feedback to the individual and the employer at least every 12 weeks
• Appoint experienced assessors and tutors with excellent knowledge and working experience of the relevant industry to deliver the framework or standard your Apprentice is working towards
• Organise End Point Assessments
• Provide ongoing support, information and guidance throughout the process and help any existing staff within your organisation that may benefit from this or other training

The cost of Apprenticeship Training will depend on the size of your business and the age of the Apprentice.

Incentive payments and grants may also be available to you when employing a young person as an Apprentice.

We will be happy to discuss this in more detail with you on enquiry – please contact apprenticeships@craven-college.ac.uk or call us on 07156 693 681.

• Allow an assessor to come out to your workplace once every 3-4 weeks at a mutually agreed time to observe, guide and assess the Apprentice in their work environment
• Release your Apprentice to attend College on a part-time basis to complete the knowledge-based units of the Apprenticeship, sit exams or Functional Skills tests (where required)
• Support the Apprentice through: providing an induction; monitoring their progress; coaching or mentoring them; on the job training; feedback on their performance – ensure that the Apprentice is working in a safe environment and is properly supervised at work
• Meet with the Apprenticeship Co-ordinator responsible for your Apprentice to review progress every 12 weeks or as required
• For Apprentices working with children or vulnerable adults, it’s the employer’s responsibility to carry out the appropriate level of DBS check with the Disclosure and Barring Service
• Allow a third party (such as an Awarding Body) to deliver an End Point Assessment on your premises or at a designated assessment centre at the end of the Apprenticeship to complete the programme

An Apprenticeship will usually take anything from 12 to 24 months at Level 2 and a direct Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship could take up to three years. Higher and Degree Apprenticeships can take anything from 2 to 5 years. The competence based elements are quite flexible and can be fast tracked depending on level of experience and commitment.

Generally, anyone over 16 can apply for an Apprenticeship but offers are subject to being eligible for the funding.

To be eligible for an Apprenticeship the candidate must:

• Be 16 years or over
• Be employed within the same industry as their chosen Apprenticeship and be working at least 30 hours per week (this can include time spent in training)
• Be a citizen of the EU or resident in the UK for at least three years
• Not hold a higher qualification such as a Degree, Foundation Degree, HND/HNC and in some cases, depending on age, other Level 2 or Level 3 qualifications in the same industry sector
• Apprenticeships are available to new or existing members of staff

Contact us to arrange an initial meeting to clarify your needs and enable you to find out more about our Apprenticeships.

Email us at apprenticeships@craven-college.ac.uk or call us on 07156 693 681.