James Holyfield
Are Apprenticeships The Curate's Egg
Of The Skills Sector?
And what can you do to help improve
the quality of Apprenticeships?
Purpose
The purpose of this session will be to
• provide a context by
- exploring what an Apprenticeship is
- explaining the role of all the different players
- identifying what is already in place to deliver
Apprenticeships
• explore why Apprenticeships are inconsistent and
identify what can be done
• explore opportunities for awarding organisations
A Context
What is an Apprenticeship?
An Apprenticeship
• is more than a wrapper
• is a philosophy
• must be owned by employers
• must give employees the skills, knowledge and
occupational competence they need
• helps employees understand the culture and history of
the sector they work in
• is used to pass on working practices to new
employees
Sadly a definition was never developed so we have no
shared understanding of what an Apprenticeship is. This
could be part of the problem.
What an Apprenticeship is not
An Apprenticeship is not
• just a training programme
• for low achievers
• easy to deliver
• owned by learning providers
An Apprenticeship is a noble and grand idea
The role of the different players
An Apprenticeship is a
partnership between the
Where all three partners are
supported by
• apprentice
• employer
• learning provider
• Sector Skills Councils
• awarding organisations
• funding and regulatory
bodies
• Government
What is in place?
The structures are in place, where
• a lot has been done to develop quality
frameworks issued on AFO
• funding systems have been developed
• certificates can be issued
But where are the gaps and opportunities?
There is little guidance at the operational level
to help apprentices, employers and learning
providers get the best out of Apprenticeships.
Why are Apprenticeships
inconsistent and what can be
done?
Why are Apprenticeships
inconsistent?
• No shared definition of what an Apprenticeship is
- Organisations have their own ideas about what
an Apprenticeship is
• Confused roles
- organisations tread on each others toes
• Lack of guidance at an operational level
- Employers don’t know where to start and
learning providers want to do it all
Working at an operational level
Operational level – apprentices
More needs to be done to help apprentices get more
out of an Apprenticeship, where they
• play an active role in the Apprenticeship
• explore how the workplace is organised
• understand what is expected of them
• understand the culture, history and traditions of
the sector they are joining
• develop the skills, knowledge and occupational
competence they need
What help and support do apprentices need to
become effective employees?
Operational level – employers
More needs to be done to
• help employers take ownerships of
Apprenticeships
• persuade more employers to use Apprenticeships
• help employers recruit good apprentices
• help employers support, mentor and even assess
apprentices
What help, support and guidance do employers need
to take an active role in Apprenticeship delivery?
Operational level – learning
providers
More needs to be done to help learning providers
• deliver the content of the Apprenticeship
• establish partnerships with local employers
• understand the needs of local employers and the
local economy
• put in place learning materials and materials for
assessment
• seek feedback from apprentices and employers
• understand how to support apprentices and
employers
What help do learning providers need so they
understand their role?
Opportunities for Awarding
Organisations
Your role
Awarding organisations play a key role:
- You develop the vocational and other
qualifications
Make sure the vocational qualifications are
• needed by employers
• designed to give the employees the skills,
knowledge and occupational competence
they need
• assessed in appropriate ways
A bigger role
You are well placed to
• develop materials for employers and
apprentices
• produce guidance for employees on how
to support and mentor apprentices
• produce guidance for learning providers
on how to teach and assess your
qualifications
Look for gaps and identify opportunities
A temptation
A temptation is to develop more Apprenticeship
frameworks
But we have loads of frameworks already - see AFO
It might be better to look at developing operational
materials that help deliver quality Apprenticeships
locally.
What materials do apprentices, employers and
learning providers need?
Be ambitious
With the right guidance in place we can be
more ambitious and raise our game.
Apprenticeships could be better used to
develop employees able to
• thrive in their job role
• contribute to the success of their organisation
• be the managers and decision makers of the
future
• help develop sustainable organisations
• help develop a thriving economy