An apprenticeship is a job with an integrated formal training program. 

Apprenticeships are work-based training programmes that are designed to help employers and individuals train for specific job roles. Apprentices get a paying job with valuable training while working towards a nationally recognised apprenticeship standard. 

Both new and existing staff may embark on an apprenticeship.

Anyone in a job role who will benefit from substantial new learning to carry out the role. 

We will support employers and applicants to recruit and fill positions.

• No age restrictions 
• Cannot be on any other apprenticeship or programme funded by the AEB or DfE. 
• Able to achieve Level 1 English and maths whilst on programme (specific rules for those with an EHCP).
• All Level 2 apprentices are required to sit Level 1 Functional skills but they do not have to have achieved them. 

There are residency conditions:  https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apprenticeship-funding-rules-for-employer-providers/annex-a-eligibility-criteria-who-we-fund  

The apprentice is paid a lawful wage (minimum of £5.28 per hour from April 2023) 

The apprentice cannot contribute towards the cost of the apprenticeship 

An initial assessment must consider whether the individual already possesses any of the training content e.g. the knowledge, skills and behaviours required by the apprenticeship: 

• It is important to know the apprentice’s starting point so that the training plan does not duplicate prior learning. 

• Any existing relevant qualifications will be checked against the Apprenticeship Standard criteria during the initial assessment to ensure there is no duplication.  
• Significant new learning must be required.  

Only knowledge, skills and behaviours in the Apprenticeship Standard are relevant, existing non-relevant qualifications at the same or higher level do not exempt learners from the programme, e.g. a degree in landscape design when completing a Level 3 Early Years Educator Apprenticeship.

12 months on programme plus End Point Assessment. 

• L2 Early Years Practitioner Apprenticeship
• NCFE CACHE Level 2 Diploma for the Early Years Practitioner 

• Monthly face to face training with the Apprenticeship Tutor in the workplace (Covid allowing)  to deliver Knowledge elements 

• 8 week review meetings with Apprenticeship Tutor 

• Monthly Observations with Apprenticeship Tutor/mentor to evidence skills 

• Reflective accounts and work products confirmed by witness statements to evidence behaviours 

• One to one maths and English tuition if required

The apprenticeship is a work-based qualification, which means that the majority of the training and assessment for the apprenticeship will be completed at your workplace. You will need to build an apprenticeship e-Portfolio of evidence. Your Apprenticeship Tutor will observe you in the workplace and guide you on which pieces of work-based evidence are suitable for your e-Portfolio. 

Delivery will also be through webinars, online courses and face to face training days with the dedicated apprenticeship tutor (dependant on current legislation). 

Throughout your apprenticeship you will have face to face visits (dependant on current legislation and guidance from BPN and your workplace) with your Apprenticeship Tutor to carry out reviews and observations and support you and your employer. 

Once you have completed all the criteria for the apprenticeship and mock tests you will have a gateway meeting with your Tutor and Line Manager/Mentor to agree you are ready for your End Point Assessment (EPA). The EPA is completed to assess the knowledge, skills and behaviours that you have learnt throughout the apprenticeship. 

• Early Years Practitioner Qualification (level 2)  

• English & Mathematics at Level 1, and Level 2 attempted  

• Professional discussion underpinned by portfolio – 90 minutes and ten questions 

• Knowledge test 40 multiple choice questions

As an apprentice you must be paid at least the Apprenticeship Minimum Wage of £5.28 an hour from April 2023.

If you are 19 after completing the first year of your apprenticeship, you must be paid at least the full National Minimum Wage.  

All apprentices are employed and have a contract of employment. You are counted as a regular employee so get all the benefits such as holiday and sick leave as well. 

It is up to you what you do when you have finished your apprenticeship. There may be an opportunity to stay on at the same company and progress to the next level of apprenticeship or you may want to look for a new job or professional development opportunity. 

For example, on completing the Level 2 Apprenticeship your employer may wish to support you on to the Level 3 Early Years Educator Apprenticeship.

Email: EYApprenticeships@bestpracticenet.co.uk telling us your name, phone number and location and we will arrange a call to discuss your options and to support you towards finding an apprenticeship. 

 Any current vacancies will be advertised on the National Apprenticeship Service at https://www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship 

Yes, apprentices can move employers but they must check that the new employer is happy to support them on the programme and the employer will need to complete checks and contracts with us first.

For the apprenticeship, a certain amount of your working hours should be focused on gaining new learning. The amount will be dependent on your contracted hours per week. 

• Off-the-job training is about upskilling an individual to reach full occupational competency, not accrediting their existing skills. 
• Off-the-job training must be away from the apprentice’s normal working duties and must teach new knowledge, skills and behaviours relevant to their specific apprenticeship. 
• You can deliver off-the-job training in the apprentice’s normal workplace or at an external location.  
• Progress reviews and on-programme assessment do not count towards off-the-job training. 
• Apprentices may choose to spend additional time training outside paid hours, but this must not be required to complete the apprenticeship. 
• If training must, by exception, take place outside of the apprentice’s normal working hours, e.g. in an evening or at a weekend for an apprentice that normally works Monday to Friday between 9-5, we would expect this to be recognised, for example through time off in lieu or by an additional payment to the apprentice. 

Benefits of Off-the-job training 

Apprenticeships are about upskilling an individual. Reaching occupational competency takes time.  

• Many employers and apprentices have praised the positive effect off-the-job training has on their productivity  
• Apprentices feel valued by the significant investment in their training.  
• It can be delivered flexibly, for example, as a part of each day, one day per week, one week out of five or as block release.
• You may already have existing training programmes or materials you can use to deliver elements of the apprentice’s off-the-job training. 
• We have developed a range of delivery styles to suit employer and apprentice needs. Employers should work with us to decide when and where off-the-job training should take place and who is best placed to deliver it. 
• Learning support - To be successful, learners may need a range of approaches and support, which will be targeted appropriately. As well as material assistance, such as physical adjustments or access to accessibility software, some apprentices may benefit from additional time, revision or personal support from their training provider, to help them to stay on track and to achieve specific knowledge, skills and behaviours.  
• Develops strategic leadership skills and behaviours 
• Improves core management techniques 
• Focused learning experience
• Builds leadership capabilities to motivate and inspire your teams 
• Builds self-awareness 
• Addresses real organisational issues 
• For those that are engaged on an apprenticeship there may be an initial loss of productivity, due to the time the apprentice is engaged in training, but in the long term the new skills that the person brings back to the workplace, which makes them fully occupationally competent, should compensate for this. 
• The importance of off-the-job training to a quality apprenticeship was emphasised in the Richard Review of Apprenticeships and more recently in Taking Training Seriously, a report by the Gatsby Foundation which compared English apprenticeships to those in other countries. This report reinforced the need for off-the-job training and concluded that 20% should be the bare minimum if England is to compete with the strongest apprenticeship programmes internationally. 
• Ofsted and the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) have also highlighted the importance of off-the-job training to a quality apprenticeship in their various publications.  
• A key element of Ofsted’s inspection regime is a judgement about how well apprentices make progress from their starting points i.e. what an apprentice can do as a result of their training and experience on the apprenticeship programme that they were unable to do before. 

Off-the-job training examples 

• Research 
• Networking events 
• Seminars  
• Shadowing others  
• Employer induction programme, e.g. conflict resolution and corporate induction as these are part of the required knowledge. 
• Reflective learning 
• Self-directed distance learning (where the apprentice is working on their own with no real-time support) 
• Interactive online learning (virtual classrooms where the learner can receive support, in real-time, from their training provider).  
• Practical training 
• Mentoring 
• Time writing assignments 
• Lectures, role-playing, simulation exercises 
• Online learning 
• Industry visits 
• Learning support 

Funding 

• This 14-month apprenticeship costs £4,000 but can be delivered at no cost to you or your setting if your setting is an Apprenticeship Levy payer. 
• If your setting doesn’t pay into the Apprenticeship Levy Fund, the government will pay 95% of your fees, with your setting contributing just 5%, which is £200. More details can be found on the  Government website. 
• Contact our friendly apprenticeship team to confirm the availability of funding for your setting.

Employer Incentive

Apprenticeship Levy Transfer

If an employer pays into the Apprenticeship Levy and has unspent funds, they can transfer up to 25% of that contribution to another employer. That means you can benefit from the levy-contributions of a different organisation to cover the full costs of an apprenticeship for a member of your team.

Organisations who are actively willing to transfer unspent funds can be viewed on the pledge page. Learn more about the Apprenticeship Levy Transfer on the Government website.

 Apprenticeship funding is available for employers from the government. The size of the funding employers receive varies depending on whether they pay the apprenticeship levy or not. Non-levy paying companies currently pay 5% of the cost with the government paying the rest. For levy-paying employers the funds are drawn from their levy accounts or topped up by the government if they have insufficient funds. 

https://www.apprenticeships.gov.uk/employer/how-much-is-it-going-to-cost  

• The entire apprenticeship is eligible for funding 
• The apprentice cannot pay towards an apprenticeship 
• Resits may incur extra costs to the employer

Payments are spread across the entire lifetime of the apprenticeship - taken each month by your training provider. This means that you don’t have to meet the full cost of the apprenticeship at the start of the training. You just need enough funds in your account to meet the monthly payments. In addition, 20% of the cost of the apprenticeship will be held back and taken from your Apprenticeship Service (AS) online account at the end of the apprenticeship. 

Do Levy funds run out? 

Yes. Levy funds will expire 24 months after they enter your digital account unless you spend them on apprenticeship training. For example, funds that entered your account in July 2019 will expire in July 2021. If you don’t use them, you will lose them. The account works on a first-in, first-out basis. Whenever a payment is taken from your digital account it automatically uses the funds that entered your account first. 

What happens if an employer’s Levy funds don’t cover the full cost of training? 

If an employer pays the Apprenticeship Levy but their funds do not cover the full cost of the apprenticeship training, then additional support is available. The government will pay 95% of the additional costs (up to the maximum of the relevant funding band) -with you as the employer ‘co-investing’ 5%.

As part of our Early Years initiative, learners who wish to become early years professionals, or those already working in this area of education, can take part in our programmes and advance onto other qualifications related to early years and child care. This initiative supports you in achieving your own ambitions and allows you to gain the skills required to support the next generation in being able to reach theirs.

Our Early Years Career Pathway has been developed to support your career development, take into account the variety of roles within the early years sector, and help you develop your career.

This pathway includes the following programmes: Early Years Practitioner (EYP) Apprenticeship Level 2, Early Years Educator (EYE) Apprenticeship Level 3, Early Years Lead Practitioner (EYLP) Level 5 and Early Years Initial Teacher Status (EYIIT) (eligible with a degree top-up).