How apprenticeships work

Off-the-job learning

Westminster Adult Education Service (WAES) is the off-the-job training provider for the Level 7 Archivist and Records Manager apprenticeships. WAES is an experienced apprenticeship training provider, offering multiple courses across the cultural, heritage and information sectors. WAES is also a training provider for the Level 3 Libraries, Information and Archive Services Assistant apprenticeships.

Like all apprenticeship training providers, WAES uses the apprenticeship standard as the blueprint for its off-the-job training to ensure that apprentices learn the Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours (KSBs) that are listed in the apprenticeship standard and that every apprentice must learn to complete the apprenticeship.

WAES provides training nationally for the Level 7 apprenticeships so that it doesn’t matter where your archive is based. Apprentices will often use their one day a week of off-the-job learning to research, complete assigned self-learning projects or write up assignments that contribute to the portfolio of evidence that is used in the end-point assessment. Once a month, the day of off-the-job learning will be a taught session, alternating between online and in-person.

In-person learning is vital as it allows apprentices to exchange ideas better and get to know one another. However, we recognise that travel can be difficult and expensive, which is why we have asked WAES to group apprentices into regions. There are currently three regions, but these regions may get smaller as more apprenticeships start:

• South West
• South East and London
• Midlands and North

When apprentices have an in-person training day every two months, they only need to travel to another apprentice-employing archive within their region, rather than going further afield. This also gives apprentices important exposure to archives of different sizes, types and specialisms. Employers take it in turns to host a training day so some months will require no travel at all for the apprentice. Hosting just means providing the space for the training – WAES still provide the training itself. WAES have contracted experienced archivists to deliver this training in each region outside of their London base.

On-the-job learning

The apprentice should be employed to learn how to do a real job that the employer needs someone to do. An apprentice is, first and foremost, an employee so all work tasks and duties you ask them to undertake should be authentic and set against need. This is why there is no set ‘syllabus’.
The apprenticeship standard is all the guidance an employer needs to check whether they have a role suitable for an apprentice to undertake. If the role you need to recruit someone for cannot meet the minimum requirements of the standard, you should re-consider offering the role as an apprenticeship.

Apprentices are assessed as competent at the end of their apprenticeship, so as long as they have acquired the Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours (KSBs) set out in the standard, it doesn’t necessarily matter which order an apprentice gains these in. Naturally, there will be some KSBs that make sense for the apprentice to gain sooner rather later as they will lay the foundation for the other KSBs that need to be developed and gained.

It is advisable that the apprentice’s line manager puts in place a personal development plan and/or a clear set of objectives that align to the standard so they can clearly review and track the apprentice’s progress on the job.

As mentioned above, the training provider is responsible for putting in place a structured and relevant training programme that provides the underpinning off-the-job knowledge and skills the apprentice needs to perform effectively on the job. The training provider has a dedicated syllabus for the off-the-job training that will inform the apprentice’s associated training plan. You will be required to support the apprentice to meet the requirements of this training plan by ensuring they undertake work that is relevant.

When an apprentice is deemed to have reached competence by their employer and has completed their off-the-job training with the training provider, they can be progressed to ‘gateway’. Gateway refers to a specific period of time when the apprentice has completed all of their on and off-the-job training and then prepares for and completes the end-point assessment.

The apprentice remains in paid employment during gateway. Gateway cannot be instigated before 12 months of training have been completed (or equivalent if part-time), nor before the employer deems the apprentice to have reached competence as described by the respective standard.

All End Point Assessment must involve at least two different methods of assessment, set out in the end-point assessment plan of the respective apprenticeship standard. Depending on the apprenticeship, this period may include the completion of a time-limited project that the apprentice is assessed against and/or the preparation of a portfolio of work used as part of the assessment.

End Point Assessment Organisations (EPAOs) must be registered on the Apprenticeship Provider and Assessment Register (APAR), which is managed by the Department for Education. They must also be registered with the relevant regulator to undertake this role, which for most apprenticeships is Ofqual. If an organisation seeks to be the EPAO for Degree Apprenticeships (apprenticeships that feature the delivery of a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree as standard), the regulator is the Office for Students (OfS).

EPAOs are responsible for using assessors with relevant industry knowledge and experience to assess apprentices appropriately and fairly at the end of their apprenticeship. The end-point assessment organisation for the Level 7 Archivist and Records Manager apprenticeships is CILIP Pathways. We are working closely with CILIP Pathways and the Archives & Records Association to identify qualified archivists to be assessors.

The end-point assessment for the Level 7 apprenticeships consists of two methods:

• A work-based project during the assessment period, written up as a report. The assessor will ask the apprentice questions about the project. The project should be a real project that fulfils a need within the organisation.
• A professional discussion, underpinned by a portfolio of evidence built during the learning period.

View the full Level 7 end-point assessment plan on the Institute for Apprenticeships’ website

It is strongly advised that employers maintain close contact with the EPAO throughout each apprenticeship to share details of an apprentice’s progress and to ensure that the transition to gateway and assessment is seamless and well prepared for.

An apprenticeship has two main costs – the apprentice’s salary and the off-the-job training.

The apprentice’s salary

Employers are required to pay a wage to the apprentice for their full contractual hours, which must include the hours spent undertaking the 20% off-the-job training. The apprentice’s wage (and any on-costs such as pension) is always the responsibility of the employer, although previous grant schemes have been available to support employers with apprenticeship wage costs. It is certainly worth keeping an eye on government websites, local government schemes, as well as sector specific funders.

The salary you pay your apprentice is up to you as the employer but in all instances this must not be less than the mandated National Minimum Wage (NMW). There is a NMW for apprentices that can be paid to all apprentices under the age of 19 or anyone over 19 that is in the first year of their apprenticeship. If the apprentice enters a second year of their apprenticeship and are aged 19 or over, they must then be paid the appropriate minimum wage rate for their age. NMW is reviewed and typically increased annually. Details of current National Minimum Wage rates can be found on the gov.uk website.
We advise following the Archive & Records Association salary recommendations. For the Level 7 Archivist and Records Manager apprenticeships, we particularly recommend matching your apprentice’s salary, as a minimum, to the paraprofessional level for employees working towards a qualification. However, in 2023, many employers paid their Level 7 apprentices more than this paraprofessional recommendation.

The off-the-job training

The off-the-job training for apprenticeships is paid for in one of three ways:

• via the apprenticeship levy
• via co-investment with Government
• via levy transfer

Apprenticeship levy

Since 2017, all employers across the UK that have an annual payroll cost of £3 million or more pay an apprenticeship levy at a rate of 0.5%. The amount of levy a qualifying employer pays is calculated, and taken monthly, by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Levy-paying employers in England can use their apprenticeship levy payments to cover the full costs of the off-the-job training. Up to 20% of the total off-the-job training costs will go to the end-point assessment organisation and the rest will be paid to the training provider. For the Level 7 Archivist and Records Manager apprenticeships, the total off-the-job training costs for the entire apprenticeship (which covers the training and the end-point assessment over the 42 months) is £12,000.

Employers pay the training provider and end-point assessment organisation through their Digital Apprenticeship Service (DAS) account. An employer’s levy can only be used to fund these two elements of an apprenticeship and nothing else (for example, it cannot be used to pay the apprentice’s salary). Very few employers in the cultural industries make full use of their apprenticeship levy currently, which means that your archive (or parent organisation) may have money set aside that it otherwise can’t use except on apprenticeships. This can be a convincing argument if you need to advocate for employing an apprentice at your organisation.

For more details about how HMRC calculates your levy payments and how to set up a DAS account, visit the ‘Frequently asked questions‘ webpage.

Co-investment

When non-levy paying employers in England take on apprentices there are two ways for the apprenticeship training to get funded. The first method is co-investment, which is where the non-levying paying employer pays 5% of the off-the-job training costs and the Government pays 95%. For the Level 7 Archivist and Records Manager apprenticeships, the total off-the-job training costs for the entire apprenticeship (which covers the training and the end-point assessment over the 42 months) is £12,000. In this case, the employer would pay £600 (5%) over the course of the apprenticeship and the Government would pay the rest.

Levy transfer

This is where a levy paying organisation transfers levy funds being held in their Digital Apprenticeship Service (DAS) account to a non-levy paying employer to cover the full cost of their apprenticeship training. This is very straightforward to do. An organisation can transfer up to 25% of the annual value of their levy per annum.

If a levy-paying employer uses up their levy allocation but wishes to employ more apprentices, they can either move to the co-investment model or receive a levy transfer from another levy-paying organisation to fund the training of their additional apprentices.