Apprenticeships

What are Apprenticeships?

Apprenticeships are chosen each year by around 300,000 people nationally as a method of enhancing their skills and gaining a meaningful qualification. When a Learner is enrolled on an Apprenticeship, or an Advanced Apprenticeship programme, they will be working towards the achievement of framework which will include an NVQ, Key Skills, Employment Rights and Responsibilities and in some cases a Technical Certificate.

The Apprenticeship programme enables service personnel to get skills to NVQ Level 2, which can then lead to progression to the Advanced Apprenticeship.

Servicemen and women who progress to an Advanced Apprenticeship will be developing skills as potential supervisors, technicians and managers to Level 3 and there is scope to progress further if an individual or their employing officer requires it.

The Royal Logistic Corps, for example, currently has over 2,000 of its soldiers working towards an Apprenticeship or Advanced Apprenticeship. These soldiers gain the NVQ element by providing evidence from their workplace which is assessed against a set of National Standards. To achieve Key Skills they are given tuition to enable them to create a portfolio of evidence over a period of time and to sit an on-line exam. (Key Skills in Communications and Application of Numbers are proxies for the equivalent Basis Skills and therefore by gaining Key Skills an individual is no longer required to achieve Basic Skills.

All Apprentices have to be in employment. The training programme usually lasts for:

• Apprenticeship approximately 12 months
• Advanced Apprenticeship approximately 18 months.