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Planning your apprenticeship

Planning your apprenticeship

How to get started

January / February / March / May / September

January

Task: Start workforce planning

Action

  • Review vacancy list
  • Review business demand
  • Consider where your apprentice will come from: will you develop existing support staff or recruit new staff?

Resources/tips

  • Identify a workforce need and an apprenticeship that could help solve this
  • Create a long-term workforce plan including staffing budgets, resources required to support the apprenticeship, short-term recruitment plans and long-term pipeline.
Task: Decide how you will fund your apprenticeship salary

Action

  • Skill-mix existing vacancy or will you need to develop a business case?
Resources/tips
  • Review existing vacancies within the team - can this be skill mixed?
  • Consider the initial cost compared with the benefit of additional income
  • Review recommended pay scales for apprentices: although no set pay scale the apprentice must be paid minimum wage
  • Most NHS Trusts use support worker salaries of band 3-4 or annex 21 band 5, a progressive payscale which reflects increasing competencies as the apprentice learns.
Task: Decide how you will fund the academic learning for the apprenticeship

Actions

  • NHS Employers will have access to the apprenticeship levy through their apprenticeship team
  • Private practice can access levy as a transfer from their local NHS provider or access government funding.

Resources/tips

Task: Establish relationships, internal and external

Actions

  • NHS Employer: workforce lead, AHP lead, Finance team, Recruitment team, Apprenticeship lead
  • NHS and Private: Health Education England Relationship Managers

Resources/tips

Task: Ensure the team is ready to support apprenticeships

Actions

  • Team engagement

Resources/tips

  • Check if the team is on board with apprenticeships and supporting an apprentice in the workplace. Early engagement and discussion with the team will win hearts and minds and bring the team on board.
  • Identify roles within the team - line manager and clinical educator or mentor.
  • Check if the team has the skills they need to support apprentices such as supervision, teaching and mentoring skills and identify any training needed.

See New podiatry undergraduate and post-graduate apprenticeship course now available, NHS England

February/March

Task: Identify preferred education provider and register interest

Actions

  • Consider the type of programme delivery:
    • Distance learning, blended programme
    • The academic level of the course – Bsc/MSc
    • Length of the course – the shorter the course means a higher percentage of off-the-job learning and absence from the workplace. 

Resources/tips

As an employer you will need to meet the requirements set by the education provider to ensure you can provide all elements of on-the-job learning for the apprentice.

March

Task: Start the recruitment process

Actions

  • Develop a job description and person specification if one is not already available
  • Create an advert and apprenticeship information to share with prospective apprentices.

Resources/tips

  • Consider a progressive person spec which increases in complexity as the apprentice passes through their competencies. This will support on-the-job learning and increase productivity in the workplace, improving apprenticeship experience and job satisfaction
  • All HEIs have information on their websites for sharing with prospective apprentices which can be shared with potential applicants and go out with any adverts.
Task: Advert go live

Actions

  • Complete the recruitment process and share the advert

Resources/tips

  • External
  • Royal College of Podiatry website
  • NHS jobs
  • Social media

Internal expression of interest via apprenticeship team if working in an NHS Trust.

May to July

Task: Shortlisting and interview

Resources/tips

  • Include your education provider in the shortlisting interview process. This will be invaluable for checking the academic qualifications and assessing if the candidate will be able to study to the required level.
  • As a minimum, candidates must have level 2 Maths and English (GCSEs and Grade C/4, or functional Maths and English), ideally at the point of enrolment but must be completed before the end of the programme and endpoint assessment.
  • Most education providers require evidence of recent academic study to level 3, typically 3 A Levels or an equivalent assessed course.

September

Task: On-boarding new apprentice

Actions

  • Inductions/enrolment

Resources/tips

  • Legislation on employing apprentices in private practice including insurance
  • Employment contract for private practice employers
As the employer of an apprentice you will need to:
  • Ensure the apprentice has a suitable contract that covers the duration of their programme. In the NHS your apprenticeship lead and recruitment team will support you with this. In private practice, the RCPod has a contract template including legislation on apprenticeship employment.
  • Pay the apprentice at least apprenticeship minimum wage
  • Allow the apprentice time to complete their programme of study, and allow them access to opportunities to enable them to develop through their job role
  • Regularly liaise with the apprentice’s training provider
  • Provide a suitable mentor in addition to the line manager.
  • Ideally, have a job role for them to progress to upon completion.
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