What is an apprenticeship?
An apprenticeship is a job with training. It is a great way to learn in a professional environment through on-the-job and off-the-job training and accompanying study.
An apprentice will work for you and you will pay the apprentice a salary whilst supporting their training and learning.
An apprentice’s wage will be at your discretion. However, the National Minimum Apprenticeship Wage is £4.15 per hour (as of April 2020; rising to £4.30 April 2021) This wage is paid for the first 12 months of their apprenticeship, after that an apprentice will be paid the National Minimum Wage for their age group.
If you are upskilling a current member of your team, you may wish to keep the salary the same. For further information please visit www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates
An apprenticeship is as challenging as any other type of study within college or university. An apprentice will be expected to work a minimum of 30 hours per week as well as study towards their apprenticeship. There is a lot of effort required to succeed on an apprenticeship and apprentices will need to show a great level of dedication and commitment to their training, work and studies in the hope that on completion they will progress into further study, or a permanent role within your organisation.
There are a multitude of apprenticeships on offer and at Preston’s College and we are proud to offer a full range of apprenticeships from Level 2 to Level 5 and in a variety of areas, from Business and Professional, through to Science, Pharmacy and Health.
The apprenticeship level will be determined by the apprentices current qualifications, work experience and the apprenticeship they are doing. They will also undertake an initial interview with our Apprenticeship Team who will speak to them about the apprenticeship they wish to study.
Apprenticeships are a little different to other methods of study in how they are assessed. During an apprenticeship, apprentices will be assessed throughout through a mixture of on-the-job and off-the-job training. Most apprenticeships require an element of written assignments, work place or industry demonstrations and portfolio building.
An apprentice will also be assigned a work based tutor throughout their training who will support and train them throughout their journey. You will also have regular reviews with the work based tutor who will also support you as you train your apprentice.
Anyone can be an apprentice – as as long as they’re over 16, living in England and not in fulltime education. In fact, more than half our of apprentices with Preston’s College are over 19 years of age!
