Learn as you work
Apprenticeships are all about learning as you work - find out more about how it works.
As you will be in paid employment during your apprenticeship, it is important to familiarise yourself with your apprenticeship agreement and your employee rights, responsibilities and entitlements, ie payslips, equal pay and paid leave per year. For more details please visit gov.uk.
Enhancing and managing your professional and personal development is an ongoing process. During your time as an apprentice, you will be provided with opportunities to reflect on your learning, performance and achievement and to think about what you need to improve and develop. Personal Development Planning (PDP) provides the structure for you to identify your goals and plan your personal, academic and career management.
Tripartite reviews are distinct to apprenticeships and are three-way meetings between you, your employer reviewer and University reviewer. The purpose of the tripartite review is to discuss and monitor your progress on your apprenticeship programme. This includes consideration of: work-based off-the-job learning, campus-based off-the-job learning, and personal and professional development.
A break in learning is a process whereby an apprentice, with the consent of their employer, can stop their learning temporarily and then re-join their apprenticeship programme at a more appropriate time and at the same point in their apprenticeship programme. A break in learning is usually only implemented when an apprentice is going to be absent from all learning (including off-the-job learning) on their apprenticeship programme for more than four weeks.
Usually, a break in learning is implemented for an apprentice in circumstances such as medical treatment, parental leave or other personal reasons. In extraordinary circumstances such as Covid-19, a break in learning is also appropriate.
All Apprenticeship Standards involve an end-point assessment, which is a synoptic test of your knowledge, skills and behaviours gained through your programme and work-based experience. It requires you to demonstrate what you have learned and how you can apply it in the real world, before you receive your apprenticeship certificate. Your programme team will share more details about the arrangements for your EPA.