Tailoring Your Apprenticeships

Tailoring your Apprenticeships

At GLP Training, we champion bespoke apprenticeship experiences, understanding that every organisation and apprentice is unique. Through this guide, discover how to craft a programme that truly resonates with your organisations goals and helps conquer any skills gaps and challenges. Let’s navigate this journey together.

Tailoring your Apprenticeships with embedded and additional qualifications

Every apprenticeship journey is unique and designed to meet specific training needs and organisational goals. A critical aspect of customising this journey lies in the realm of qualifications – both embedded and additional. Let's delve deeper into understanding these, enabling you to design an apprenticeship programme that aligns perfectly with your vision.

Embedded Qualifications:
The Core of the Apprenticeship

At the heart of many apprenticeship standards lie the embedded qualifications. These aren’t just add-ons; they are pivotal components that set the standard and depth of learning within the apprenticeship.

Characteristics of Embedded Qualifications:

Mandatory Nature

They are non-negotiable. For an apprentice to successfully complete their apprenticeship standard, achieving these qualifications is paramount.

1

Integrated Learning

Embedded qualifications aren’t separate modules but are seamlessly integrated into the apprenticeship. They ensure that the apprentice gains a thorough and holistic understanding of their field.

2

Financial Aspect

A significant advantage for employers is that the financial aspect of these qualifications is straightforward. They fall within the apprenticeship’s designated funding band. This translates to no hidden costs – everything is covered either by the government's contribution or any co-investments the employer might make.

3 Additional Qualifications

Fine-Tuning the Apprenticeship Experience
While embedded qualifications lay the foundation, there's room for enhancement. This is where additional qualifications come into play, offering a chance to further tailor the apprenticeship journey to better suit specific business requirements or to provide the apprentice with a broader skill set. This could include specific qualifications that meet a legislative requirement in your industry or a CPD course that you’ve decided would be a great addition to a team’s skillset.

Characteristics of Additional Qualifications

Flexibility

These are optional qualifications that can be added based on mutual agreement between the employer and the training provider. They offer an avenue to impart specialised skills or knowledge that might not be covered by the standard apprenticeship.

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Cost Implications

The financial aspect of additional qualifications requires careful consideration. When integrated into the apprenticeship: They can be absorbed into the existing funding band, ensuring the costs are streamlined with the overall apprenticeship funding. In some cases, these might come at an extra cost, borne separately by the employer, outside the standard apprenticeship funding.

2

Maximising the Apprenticeship Journey:

By thoughtfully combining embedded and additional qualifications, employers can craft a bespoke apprenticeship experience. Embedded qualifications guarantee robust foundational training, while additional ones provide the flexibility to mould the program to perfection. In essence, understanding and strategically selecting qualifications ensure that apprentices are not only job-ready but are also equipped with a skill set that's tailored to drive business growth and innovation.

3

Tailoring the delivery method

Apprenticeships aren't just about the content; it's also about how that content is delivered. With the evolving landscape of education and training, apprenticeships have adapted to offer diverse delivery methods. The flexibility in delivery ensures that both the employer and apprentice can engage in a learning journey that's aligned with their preferences, logistical considerations, and the nature of the apprenticeship itself.

If certain conditions are met, such as the number of apprentices, our employer partners can tailor their apprenticeships to be delivered in the way that best suits their specific industry and organisational requirements.

These delivery methods include:

Remote

Embracing the digital age, remote learning allows apprentices to engage with their coursework, trainers, and peers from anywhere. It offers flexibility, reduces logistical barriers, and is particularly useful when consistent face-to-face sessions are challenging.

Face-to-face

Traditional yet ever-effective, face-to-face learning promotes interpersonal interactions and hands-on experiences. It's beneficial for apprenticeships that require practical demonstrations, equipment handling, or where personal mentorship is pivotal.

Masterclasses

These are specialised sessions focusing on specific topics, delivered by experts in the field. Masterclasses offer in-depth insights, allowing apprentices to delve deeper into certain areas of their training. These can be offered both virtually and in class-based locations.

Block release

Here, apprentices spend a specific period (usually a few days) entirely focused on their training, followed by a period where they return to their regular work. It's an immersive approach, beneficial for intensive learning sessions. This delivery method is usually specific to our Trade and Building Services apprenticeships where practical, hands-on experience and training is essential.

Workshops

Interactive and engaging, workshops are geared towards collaborative learning. Apprentices work on projects, participate in group discussions, and engage in hands-on activities to reinforce their learning.

Choosing your cohort type

We offer both open national cohorts and closed single-employer cohorts. Each of these offers different experiences for apprentices.

Closed Cohorts

If you're an employer with a sizable number of apprentices, you might consider a closed cohort. This means your apprentices undergo the training exclusively with their peers from your organisation. The advantage? The training can be highly tailored to your company culture, objectives, and specific industry insights. However, there's a requisite size for closed cohorts to ensure effective learning dynamics.

Open National Cohorts

Diversify the learning experience by enrolling your apprentices in open national cohorts. Here, they interact with peers from various companies across the nation. The exposure is vast; apprentices’ benefit from networking, sharing experiences, and understanding diverse workplace cultures and challenges. It's a melting pot of ideas, fostering a broader perspective.

Benefits of Tailoring Your Apprenticeships: Insights from Years of Experience

In our journey of aiding employers to sculpt their apprenticeship programmes, we've witnessed the profound impact of a tailored approach. Customisation isn't merely about tweaking a curriculum; it's about curating a learning journey that aligns with the intricate dynamics of a workplace, industry trends, and the aspirations of the apprentices. Drawing from our rich tapestry of experiences, here are some of the benefits of tailoring your apprenticeships:

Enhanced Relevance

Industry-Specific Knowledge: A tailored apprenticeship ensures that the learning modules are in sync with industry requirements, arming apprentices with knowledge that's timely and pertinent.
Role-Specific Skills: When apprenticeships are customised, apprentices acquire skills that are directly relevant to their roles, reducing the learning-to-application gap.

Improved Engagement & Retention

Personalised Learning: Customised programmes resonate better with apprentices, as they find the content more engaging and relevant to their career aspirations. This heightened engagement often translates to improved retention rates.
Ownership & Involvement: When apprentices feel that the programme is sculpted keeping their needs in mind, there's a stronger sense of ownership and commitment to the learning journey.

Strengthened Company Culture

Aligned Values: Tailored apprenticeships can emphasize company values, ethics, and culture, ensuring that apprentices not only gain technical skills but also imbibe the ethos of the company.

Cohesive Team Dynamics: By opting for closed cohorts or specific delivery methods, you can foster a sense of camaraderie among apprentices, which eventually spills over to healthier team dynamics.

Financial Efficiency

Optimised Budgeting: By tailoring the apprenticeship, unnecessary modules can be eliminated, ensuring that every penny spent is for content that adds value.
Return on Investment: A well-crafted, tailored programme often results in apprentices who are job-ready sooner, contributing effectively to the organisation and ensuring a higher ROI on the apprenticeship investment.

Broader Network & Perspectives

Diverse Interactions: Through choices like open national cohorts, apprentices can network with a diverse group of peers, bringing fresh perspectives and ideas into the organisation.
Industry Collaboration: Tailored apprenticeships can pave the way for collaborations with industry partners, trainers, or experts enriching the learning experience.

Flexibility & Scalability

Adaptable Frameworks: Tailored programmes offer the flexibility to adapt to changing business needs, industry evolutions, or feedback loops from past apprentices.
Scalable Models: Customised apprenticeships can be scaled, tweaked, or expanded easily based on organisational growth or changing skill demands.

Let's craft your apprenticeship journey together!

Navigating the realm of apprenticeships can be intricate, but you don't have to do it alone. With our expertise and commitment to customisation, we're here to help you sculpt a programme that perfectly mirrors your organisation's aspirations and needs.

Get in touch today and discover how we can assist in tailoring your apprenticeships, ensuring they're impactful, relevant, and transformative. Let's embark on this journey together and forge a brighter, skill-rich future for your team.