Here’s everything you need to know about apprenticeships.
What is an apprenticeship?
Apprenticeships are training programmes. You’ll earn a wage, work alongside experienced staff and gain job-specific skills.
About apprenticeships
- Apprentices usually spend four days per week in the workplace and one day in College. However, some apprenticeships are entirely workplace-based.
- Apprenticeships take one to four years to complete. This depends on the level of your apprenticeship, your ability and the sector.
- As an apprentice, you will work 30 to 40 hours per week, which can include time spent at college.
- The National Minimum Wage for apprentices is £4.30 per hour, although you may find employers that offer more.
- Finding an apprenticeship can be competitive.
Key benefits of an apprenticeship
- Earn a salary
- Get paid holidays
- Receive on-the-job training, learning job-specific skills
- Gain qualifications
- Reap the benefits of being a student – discounts and NUS card.
How apprenticeships can boost your CV
During the apprenticeship, you’ll gain loads to enhance your CV. Qualities you’ll develop include team-working, problem solving and presentation skills.
You will also gain specialist job role skills as well as a good level of English and Maths.
What specialist apprenticeships can you do?
There are a huge range of apprenticeships.
Most of these are suitable for both school leavers and adults.
For example, at City of Bristol College we support apprenticeships in a range of career paths.
- Business and Professional services apprenticeships
- Construction apprenticeships
- Computing and IT apprenticeships
- Engineering apprenticeships
- Hair professional apprenticeship
- Health and Social Care apprenticeships
- Production chef apprenticeship
- Transport and motor vehicle apprenticeships
How do you find an apprenticeship?
Finding an apprenticeship means finding an employer who has an apprenticeship vacancy. Here’s some ways you can find an apprenticeship:
- Contact local employers direct to enquire whether they offer apprenticeships opportunities.
- Ask family and friends if they know of any employers who might take on an apprentice.
- City of Bristol College can help match suitable candidates to vacancies.
- Keep an eye on apprentice vacancies on the College’s website.
- Search for apprenticeship vacancies on findapprenticeship.service.gov.uk/apprenticeshipsearch
Did you know? Around 75% of new apprenticeship opportunities are gained by approaching businesses directly. Only around 25% are gained through responding to advertised vacancies.
What about if you’re already employed?
We can assist anyone with an employer who might consider supporting you to be an apprentice.
If your employer is interested and would like to know more about it, you could point them towards our apprenticeships for business information. We can work with them to assist them through the whole process.
Great funding opportunities for employers
Apprentices between 16-18 years old have their training funded by the government, so there are no fees for the employer.
Anyone over 19 years of age will only be partly funded by the government for their training. This does mean that an employer would need to pay a fee for the apprenticeship delivery. This is currently set at 5% of the full cost of the apprenticeship.
City of Bristol College offers free support for people interested in apprenticeships
We can help you with:
- Advice on sectors and job
- Support in creating a CV
- Preparing for interviews.
How to contact us
By phone: 0117 312 5250
By email: apprentice@cityofbristol.ac.uk
