What is special about apprenticeships standards?
The apprentice standards have been brought into place to ensure that they are completely employer led, being designed by Trailblazer groups to meet not only the needs of the employer, but also the needs of the specific industries and the wider economy. The aims are to:
• Increase the quality of apprenticeships
• Put employers into the driving seat
• Simplify the system
• Give employers purchasing power
What is a Trailblazer?
A Trailblazer is a group of employers developing apprenticeships standards specific to job roles in their sector. These standards are for job roles which have never had an apprenticeship programme, or that will replace existing programmes for other job roles.
The standards have been tailored to focus on how an apprentice should demonstrate mastery of an occupation and meet professional registration requisites in sectors where such certification exists – in the case of accountancy, engineering and science for example.
Overall, the standard serves as a written document that outlines the knowledge, skills and behaviours required of the apprentice in order to do their chosen job once the apprenticeship has been completed.
What do all standards have in common?
To ensure every standard is of high quality there are seven criteria that all apprenticeship standards must meet which are:
- Be short and concise
- Set out the knowledge, skills and behaviours needed in an occupation, so that, on completion, the apprentice is able to competently carry out the role in any size of employer across any relevant sectors
- Have the support of employers including smaller businesses
- Be sufficiently stretching so that it will require at least a year of training (before the end point assessment) with off the job training accounting for at least six hours a week.
- Align to professional registration where it exists
- Contain minimum English and maths requirements and any digital skills required
- Only include mandatory qualifications under certain circumstances.
How can South Devon College provide support in this process?
South Devon College is dedicated to supporting employer development. If you would like to discuss the opportunity to develop a standard, contact us by either emailing [email protected] or by calling us on 01803 540692
