National
Management
Trainee Scheme
Frequently Asked Questions for hosts
andy.williamson@nsasocialcare.co.uk
2012
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can host a trainee?
Host organisations come from the private, voluntary and statutory sectors in
England. Some will be providing care services for a locality, some are national
organisations with a policy and strategic remit and others are local Councils.
They are all committed to social care in its many forms. We ask that all host
organisations are members of the National Skills Academy for Social Care.
http://www.nsasocialcare.co.uk/membership/
What placement opportunities will I need to offer my trainee?
Trainees will learn through a variety of roles with their host organisation, with
the expectation that their learning curve will be steep. The roles they take up
will need to extend their knowledge of adult social care and develop the
management and leadership skills necessary to achieve excellence in their
careers. We ask that each Trainee is suitably challenged by being given real
responsibility in their placement.
How long does the placement last?
The programme lasts for 12 months during which time, (in addition to the time
spent on work-based placement within your organisation), the Trainee will need:
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An estimated 23 days leave for attendance at scheduled learning events and
Action Learning sets.
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An additional 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays. It is anticipated that
some of this time will be used for study/reflection during the year’s training.
What are the benefits to us of hosting a trainee?
Hosts
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receive:
High quality additional resource for their organisation
Full-time 12-month paid placement
Access to leadership and management development for their own staff
Skills Academy training and support
Potential pool of new staff
Benefits to hosts include:
- Access to a centrally funded high quality Graduate who has gone through
a robust recruitment process
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National Skills Academy for Social Care | 85 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1T 4TQ |
T: 020 7268 3277 | E: gradscheme@nassocialcare.co.uk | www.nsasocialcare.co.uk |
Charity number: 1131969 | Company registration: 6996828
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A graduate who will bring enthusiasm, new thinking, and intellect to your
organisation, and who will have been recruited for their potential to
improve services
Access to Leadership Development Training for the designated “Placement
Supervisor”
Support in performance managing the trainee from the National Skills
Academy for Social Care
Access to leadership and management development, as Trainees bring the
training they receive as part of the scheme back to your organisation
The opportunity to develop and subsequently recruit someone with the
potential to become a future leader in social care
An opportunity to contribute actively, collectively and coherently to
leadership and management development across social care
Promotion of your organisation as being in the vanguard of leadership
excellence in adult social care
Will the trainee be an employee of my organisation?
No. Participation in the Graduate Trainee Scheme does not constitute a contract
of employment. You, the National Skills Academy for Social Care and the trainee
will sign a placement agreement.
In addition to this agreement you may want to ask your trainee to read and sign
your organisation’s Code of Conduct for employees by way of affirming their
agreement to abiding with its contents. In particular, we would expect you to
make your trainee fully aware of your safeguarding and whistleblowing policies
and procedures.
How does the NSA select trainees?
We advertise for potential trainees on graduate recruitment websites and of
course on our own website. Applicants are required to have a minimum of a 2:2
degree (or equivalent), or above. Applicants are screened using online
psychometric tests, and then we invite a number to day-long assessment
centres. We take up references and enhanced Criminal Records Bureau
clearances for all prospective trainees.
Whilst we can’t promise that your participation as an assessor at our assessment
centres will guarantee you a trainee, we welcome the participation of potential
host organisations in the selection of the pool of trainees.
How does the NSA match trainees to host organisations?
It is vitally important that the placement is mutually beneficial. The Graduate
Scheme Manager and key stakeholders (both internal and external) will match
3
National Skills Academy for Social Care | 85 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1T 4TQ |
T: 020 7268 3277 | E: gradscheme@nassocialcare.co.uk | www.nsasocialcare.co.uk |
Charity number: 1131969 | Company registration: 6996828
trainees to the placements available across the country, giving consideration to
the following:
Organisational commitment to quality through membership of National Skills
Academy for Social Care (mandatory)
Participation in National Skills Academy for Social Care Leadership &
Management Programmes
Quality of placement experience, based on expression of interest form
submitted by organisation
Spread of organisations across the country to ensure national coverage
Individual circumstances of trainees
New organisations are given an opportunity to participate
Previous experience and support to Scheme, including through recruitment
process
Quality of experience of previous trainees hosted by organisation, e.g.
exposure to senior management environment, organisation of an effective
induction programme, productive learning environment and opportunities,
real responsibility, return on investment opportunities.
Commitment to Tripartite Agreement
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How are the trainees funded?
Each trainee will be paid £18,000 p.a. as a bursary. This will be paid in twelve
monthly installments through the National Skills Academy for Social Care. This
will not constitute a contract of employment.
The payments will be conditional on active participation in the scheme and would
cease immediately if the training place was terminated for any reason by the
Trainee or the National Skills Academy. The trainee will be responsible for their
own living expenses, including travel to the host’s base site. The host will
reimburse the costs within their own expenses arrangements of carrying out
placement responsibilities. The costs of learning sets, learning events and
enrolment on a management and leadership training programme will be met by
the National Skills Academy for Social Care.
Is there any cost to us of hosting a trainee?
There is an administration fee of £3,500 to host a trainee. This helps to cover
the NSA’s administration costs, and also covers the cost of the Placement
Supervisor attending a day’s Leadership Development Training. This cost covers
the whole year, and all other costs are covered by the NSA with the exception of
placement-related Trainee expenses.
If you are interested in hosting more than one trainee, additional costs may
apply.
4
National Skills Academy for Social Care | 85 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1T 4TQ |
T: 020 7268 3277 | E: gradscheme@nassocialcare.co.uk | www.nsasocialcare.co.uk |
Charity number: 1131969 | Company registration: 6996828
What supervision arrangements will I need to put in place?
Placement Supervisors play an integral role in the success of the programme,
supporting participants to make the most of the opportunity.
As we’ve already said, it is vitally important that the placement is mutually
beneficial. Host organisations will need to identify and provide a Placement
Supervisor and details of the arrangements for effective management,
placement induction, supervision, performance management and assessment.
The placement supervisor will act as a line manager, overseeing the trainee’s
work, their learning activities within the placement and meeting with a member
of the NSASC’s Leadership & Management Team at the beginning of the
placement and at least twice during the placement.
Placement Supervisors are ideally placed to identify the trainees’ strengths and
development needs, as well as being a key source of feedback on the
programme as a whole. As such we value the relationships that we have with
Placement Supervisors.
What support will the Placement Supervisor receive?
The Graduate Scheme Manager will provide day-to-day support to the Placement
Supervisor via e-mail and over the telephone. They will also visit the Placement
Supervisor and Trainee at least 3 times over the course of the 12 month period,
for a Settling in Meeting and two subsequent Performance Review Meetings.
In addition, the Placement Supervisor will be invited to attend a Leadership
Development training day at the start of the Scheme. This will include
information on the Scheme and will cover the role of Placement Supervisor in
detail.
What evaluation documentation will the Placement Supervisor need to
complete?
You will ensure that the Trainee has clear work objectives to work towards, and
that they are reviewed at regular intervals. It is also important that the trainee
has a Personal Development Plan which they will work towards with the support
of the Placement Supervisor. You will evaluate the Trainee’s progress through
regular planning and supervisory meetings.
In addition, the Graduate Scheme Manager will facilitate two performance review
meetings during the year. These will be recorded and will be used to determine
whether the trainee is eligible to graduate at the end of the programme.
We are happy for you to use your organisation’s supervision recording
documents but, in addition, we will ask you to review the Performance Review
Meeting form, which will be completed by the Graduate Scheme Manager,
5
National Skills Academy for Social Care | 85 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1T 4TQ |
T: 020 7268 3277 | E: gradscheme@nassocialcare.co.uk | www.nsasocialcare.co.uk |
Charity number: 1131969 | Company registration: 6996828
following the Performance Review Meetings and the Graduation Criteria
Evaluation form at the end of the Scheme.
What academic work will the trainees have to do during their
placement?
Trainees register for an Institute of Leadership and Management Level 4
Certificate in Management. The qualification is undertaken in a group with the
other national social care management trainees.
Trainees will need an estimated 23 days leave to attend learning events,
including facilitated learning sets and development days.
In addition to this, we would expect you to provide your trainee with access to
your own induction programme; and where relevant, to your in-house staff
training and development programmes as appropriate.
How else can my organisation support our trainee during their
placement?
As a host organisation we believe that you will benefit from having a capable and
ambitious graduate management trainee within your organisation. In return we
would expect you to make it possible for your trainee to have access to
appropriate opportunities to observe your organisation’s governance in action
and to shadow key individuals.
Our experience of running the scheme has shown that the most successful
placements take place within organisations that can offer trainees access to a
broad range of learning opportunities and give them exposure to real
responsibility. They do this by providing support, advice, information and
motivation that enables the trainees to achieve their personal goals.
We would also hope that host organisations continuously explore opportunities
within to recruit the trainee permanently at the end of the Scheme.
What happens if our trainee gets a job during their placement?
The aim of the scheme is to attract bright and capable graduates into Adult
Social Care management. Ideally we would want them to be securing
employment towards the end of their trainee placement, rather than earlier.
If they secure employment within the sector during the 12 month traineeship,
we would look to the employing organisation to broker with us a set of
arrangements that enabled them to continue with their supervised learning,
whilst beginning to take up their employment.
6
National Skills Academy for Social Care | 85 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1T 4TQ |
T: 020 7268 3277 | E: gradscheme@nassocialcare.co.uk | www.nsasocialcare.co.uk |
Charity number: 1131969 | Company registration: 6996828
If a trainees secures employment outside the sector that would be treated as a
resignation and access to the NSA learning activities will be withdrawn.
Who should I contact at the NSA if I want to discuss any issues about
my trainee’s placement, or can answer any further questions that I
might have about the scheme?
Andy Williamson is the Graduate Scheme Manager. You can contact him by
telephone on 020 7268 3274 or by e-mail andy.williamson@nsasocialcare.co.uk
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National Skills Academy for Social Care | 85 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1T 4TQ |
T: 020 7268 3277 | E: gradscheme@nassocialcare.co.uk | www.nsasocialcare.co.uk |
Charity number: 1131969 | Company registration: 6996828