The New Apprenticeship Standards

The 6th April 2017 is the milestone date that should be on everyone’s mind who is involved in Apprenticeships. This is when employers need to have registered for their Apprenticeship Levy in readiness for the new apprenticeship standards that come in to effect on the 1st May 2017.

As with any change there is often confusion around what needs to be done to prepare for this. Fortunately some London Hospitality employers attended the Levy Ready Event held at the iconic Wembley Stadium. This was run by Umbrella Training together with the Skills Funding Agency and Upskill People to explain how to smoothly transition.

I also attended this event as I am working together with both Umbrella Training and Upskill People to build their e-learning courses – more about that later.

Levy Ready event at Wembley with Umbrella Training, Upskill People and Star Quality Hospitality

At Wembley with Sam Coulstock and Adele Oxberry from Umbrella Training (either side of me) and Pete Fullard from Upskill People (towering behind us)

It is time to get up to speed with the new apprenticeship standards and information on the apprenticeship levy. Read my article in Hotel Industry called Are You Ready for the Apprenticeship Levy?

To get yourself Levy Ready

  1. Select an Apprenticeship Training Provider that you want to work with. You can find these on the government approved Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers (RoATP). Your chosen provider will be able to explain to you their proposed delivery model for the Apprenticeship standards. You should also put in place a service level agreement with them.
  2. Set up a Digital Apprenticeship Service account (DAS). This can be done through the Skills Funding Agency. From here you will be able to estimate the apprenticeship funding amount. Choose the apprenticeship standards and link this to your chosen training provider. Manage your apprenticeships. Add apprentices to your account. Advertise and recruit apprentices. Levy paying employers your deadline to set this up is the 6th April 2017.
  3. From 1st May 2017 your apprentices will be working towards the new standards. This will be done together with you as their employer and your chosen Apprenticeship Training Provider. 20% of this training must be off-job and so may include some form of e-learning element.
  4. After a minimum of 12 months your apprentice should be fully competent. Then they can take their End Point Assessment which will be carried out by an independent assessor.

One of the key changes with the new apprenticeship standards is the delivery model. This is something that you as an employer must fully understand. Your chosen training provider will assist you to map this out to your individual organisation. As mentioned earlier 20% of the apprenticeship training must be carried out off-job. More than likely some form of e-learning will take place.

Umbrella Training have partnered with Upskill People to use their platform to host the e-learning courses that will bridge this gap.  I have been working with both Umbrella Training and Upskill People to develop and build these interactive courses for that platform. This is all provided to employers that choose Umbrella Training as their Apprenticeship provider.

For more guidance and assistance use these links for the Apprenticeship Levy and Apprenticeship Standards.