APPRENTICESHIPS


A PARTNERSHIP FOR SUCCESS


Tips and everyday examples to help prepare for apprenticeship reforms By Cerian Ayres


T


he successful implementation of the apprenticeship reforms depends upon carefully navigating the mapped technical routes, standards and assessment plans. Further education providers are working in tandem with


employers to deliver high-quality apprenticeships, as exemplified by the case studies on these pages and elsewhere in this supplement. There is, of course, a learning curve as providers transition from frameworks to new apprenticeship standards, and prepare individuals for end-point assessment. The Education and Training Foundation (ETF) offers apprenticeship


support in five key areas: understanding requirements, systems delivery and capacity; planning for transition and delivery; delivering apprenticeship standards; preparing for end-point assessment; innovation and delivery improvement. A number of useful resources have been developed to support


providers in delivering high-quality apprenticeships. Some of the most frequently used include: • The Future Apprenticeship Toolkit helps providers involved in apprenticeship delivery to set their apprenticeship agenda and journey for the next two years. It covers a range of topics from strategy and planning to implementation. See Colin Bentwood’s article (right) for a link.


• The Employer Engagement Toolkit (apprenticeships) is aimed at providers who offer apprenticeships, helping them better engage with employers who might use their services (see link below).


• The Employer Engagement (apprenticeships) CPD Module has been designed to provide information and support for staff within apprenticeship providers who may be new to apprenticeships or might benefit from refresher training (see link below).


• Video support with five short films addressing key topics in the apprenticeship sales cycle and curriculum planning to support provider frontline staff, focusing on developing effective provider/ employer relationships. In addition, through the ETF’s Taking Teaching Further Programme


there is an innovation project fund to support collaboration between providers to successfully engage industry. Find out more about apprenticeship support on the ETF website or,


if reading your digital issue, click on goo.gl/gNvswH Find out more about the ETF’s Taking Teaching Further Programme online or at goo.gl/VfvH7n Contact Cerian Ayres at cerian.ayres@etfoundation.co.uk


Cerian Ayres is head of technical education at the Education and Training Foundation.


10 AUTUMN 2018 • inTUITIONTECHNICAL TEACHING


LEARNING POINTS FROM FUTURE APPRENTICESHIPS


By Colin Bentwood


The publication of the Richard Review of Apprenticeships in November 2012 signalled the start of the most radical reform of our apprenticeship system for a generation. A great deal of progress has been made. We have


more than 300 apprenticeship standards ready for delivery (replacing the old frameworks); more than 200 in development; the apprenticeship levy for large companies; a growing apprenticeship end-point assessment system; graded apprenticeships; and an entirely new funding system. But there is a long way to go. We’re just about getting


to the point where the number of apprenticeship starts on the new standards is outstripping those using the old frameworks. What does all this mean for practitioners? Over the past


four years the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) has been working to provide practical support through a wide range of partners. One example is the Future Apprenticeships Toolkit. The toolkit uses the new apprenticeship journey to highlight some of the changes for practitioners. These include: co-design of programmes with employers; funding decisions in the hands of employers; and no mandated qualification as part of the programmes. Work done by the ETF and its partners means that


awareness of the reforms is now very high, but not universal at all levels. Many providers and practitioners are not fully ready, and quality is becoming a much more live issue. I strongly recommend that if you’re delivering, or


about to deliver, apprenticeship standards, that you step back and develop a clear readiness plan for yourself as a practitioner. • If you’re an apprenticeship trainer-assessor, how will your role be changing?


• If you’re involved in business development and employer engagement, how will your work with employers need to change?


• If you’re a curriculum planner, how might your processes for programme design be different? This year the ETF has taken the next step and commissioned practitioner-led research through its Outstanding Teaching, Learning and Assessment Programme (OTLA) to explore delivery in apprenticeship standards. We’re running 10 practitioner-led collaborative projects and plan to share findings with the sector next spring, eventually developing an additional toolkit.


Colin Bentwood is managing director of The Strategic Development Network (SDN). Colin was programme manager of the Future Apprenticeship Programme, and is director of the OTLA programme to explore delivery in apprenticeship standards.


colin@strategicdevelopmentnetwork.co.uk The Future Apprenticeships Toolkit is available at https://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/content/etf2326


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