Apprenticeships
Apprenticeships to develop their future prospects and careers
Apprenticeships are high quality work-based training programmes for those who want to develop their future prospects and careers. They help people to further their employment prospects and develop their skills. An apprenticeship will provide an opportunity to:
- Earn a decent wage, avoiding student debt
- Gain valuable qualifications that employers want and need
- Gain valuable transferable skills that will enable you to succeed in your chosen career
| How will I study? | What will I study? |
| Who are they for? | Levels and Entry Requirements |
| Apprenticeships across the UK | Applying for an apprenticeship? |
| Nation Specific Contacts | |
How will I study?
Apprenticeships are delivered by an employer and sometimes by a training provider too. The employer provides you with the hands on, work based element and the training provider, such as a local college, will provide you with the teaching to enable you to succeed on the study part of the programme. Sometimes the employer is also an accredited learning provider, so they can teach the study part as well as the work based part of the apprenticeship.
What will I study?
An apprenticeship is not a qualification - it is a programme of study that is made up of a combination of other qualifications. The qualifications that make up the apprenticeship are:
- A technical certificate
This will give you the knowledge that you need to work in a particular sector of financial services. The technical certificate could be a CII, IFS, SII BTEC, OCR, EDI or City and Guilds award, or a qualification from a professional body. - A competence qualification
Competence means skills, and this section of the apprenticeship qualification is an NVQ or an SVQ. This assesses learners as they develop the skills they need to undertake their job successfully. - Key and core skills
No matter what career path you choose, every employer needs people who have key skills in literacy, numeracy, communications, IT and team work. The apprenticeship will include key or core skills qualifications.
Who can study an apprenticeship?
Apprenticeships are available for anyone of any age around the UK! In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, there is financial help from the Government for training providers and employers who want to operate an apprenticeship programme for their employees or potential employees. In Scotland, the funding for training providers and employers is only available for those employees who are aged 16 - 19 years old. Employers can choose to run an apprenticeship without accessing Government funding but this is the employer's own decision.
Levels of Apprenticeships and Entry Requirements
Apprenticeships, no matter where you live are offered at two levels:
Level 2
A level 2 course means that it is broadly equivalent to GCSEs (England, Wales and Northern Ireland), the Welsh Baccalaureate Intermediate Diploma (Wales), or qualifications at SCQF level 5 in Scotland - such as the Intermediate 2 or the Credit Standard Grade.
Level 2 entry requirements:
To start a level 2 programme, no matter which nation you are living in, no formal entry requirements are needed, but remember that these are work based learning programmes and therefore you will need to meet the requirements set down by the employer. Most training providers that have linked up with the employer to deliver the apprenticeship will work with you to find out the ability level that you are working to.
Level 3:
A level 3 course means that it is broadly equivalent to A levels (England, Wales and Northern Ireland), the Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Diploma (Wales) or the SCQF level 5 or 6 such as Highers and Advanced Highers.
Level 3 entry requirements:
To start a level 3 programme, no matter which nation you are living in, a level 2 qualification (see above) will be required. In Scotland, this means a qualification that is at SCQF level 5 - such as the Intermediate 2 or the Credit Standard Grade.
Apprenticeships across the UK
Depending upon where you work and study, the type of apprenticeship will be called something slightly different and the range of technical, competence and key/core skills qualifications will be awarded by different awarding bodies. This doesn't change what an apprenticeship is however or the benefits you will get from studying one.
England
The options are:
Level 2 Apprenticeship in Providing Financial Services
Pathways in General Insurance & Retail Banking
Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship in Providing Financial Services
Pathways in General Insurance, Investment Administration, Retail Banking & Long Term Insurance
Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship in Advising on Financial Products
Pathways in Financial Advice, Mortgage Advice & Long-Term Care Insurance Advice
Wales
The options are:
Level 2 Foundation Modern Apprenticeship in Providing Financial Services
Pathways in General Insurance & Retail Banking
Level 3 Modern Apprenticeship in Providing Financial Services
Pathways in General Insurance, Investment Administration, Retail Banking & Long Term Insurance
Level 3 Modern Apprenticeship in Advising on Financial Products
Pathways in Financial Advice, Mortgage Advice & Long-Term Care Insurance Advice
Northern Ireland
The options are:
Level 2 ApprenticeshipsNI in Providing Financial Services
Pathways in General Insurance & Retail Banking
Level 2 Advanced ApprenticeshipsNI in Providing Financial Services
Pathways in General Insurance, Investment Administration, Retail Banking & Long Term Insurance
Level 3 Advanced ApprenticeshipsNI in Advising on Financial Products
Pathways in Financial Advice, Mortgage Advice & Long-Term Care Insurance Advice
Scotland
Level 3 Modern Apprenticeship in Providing Financial Services
Pathways in General Insurance, Investment Administration, Retail Banking, Long Term Insurance, Financial Advice, Mortgage Advice, and Long-Term Care Insurance Advice & Pensions.
Applying for an apprenticeship?
Apprenticeships are delivered through training providers and employers. There are three routes to finding out where you can do an apprenticeship.
- If you are already in work and are interested in undertaking an apprenticeship to further your employment prospects, why not speak to your manager or Training Department? The FSSC can offer your employer all the help and support they need to get the scheme up and running, including helping them to access the funding needed to deliver the programme. Ask your manager to contact the Education Manager, Steven Poss on steven.poss@fssc.org.uk or telephone 0845 618 2363 for more information.
- If you are looking to enter work and are interested in finding an employer or training provider that is offering an apprenticeship, you will need to contact the relevant organisation in your nation to access the information. See nation specific contacts for these details. Alternatively you could approach employers in your local area to find out if they are going to be recruiting apprentices in the near future.
Nation Specific Contacts
England
From April 2009, people will be able to apply for apprenticeships via the National Apprenticeship Service. Pilots are already running in some areas - visit www.apprenticeshipsonline.org or call 08000 150 600 for more information.
Connexions: www.connexions-direct.com/index.cfm?go=localServices.
Scotland
Careers Scotland: www.careers-scotland.org.uk
Northern Ireland
Careers Service NI: www.careersserviceni.com.
Wales
Careers Wales: www.careerswales.com/youngpeople/choices17/16to19_train.asp
The Welsh Assembly Government, Department for Culture, Education, lifelong learning and skills (DCELLS):
www.elwa.org.uk/elwaweb/elwa.aspx?pageid=479
For more information visit the apprenticeship section.
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