What’s happening
with Apprenticeships in Health and Social Care?
In 2014-15, there were 87,000 starts in Adult Social Care
Apprenticeships. That's 17% of the approximately half a million starts-
the largest proportion of any sector of the economy.
What is an
Apprentice?
An apprenticeship, as described by Skills for Care, is both on-the-job and
off-the-job learning and development.
An apprentice works as a normal employee. With help from
experienced staff they gain the skill set needed for their role within care.
Off-the-job training contributes towards the apprenticeship qualifications.
Apprentices are also paid for their work.
Different Levels
of Apprenticeships
There are two learning frameworks:
Health and Social
Care
Learners follow an adult social care pathway at one of 2 levels:
Care leadership
& Management
This is a higher level apprenticeship- equivalent to Year 2 of
university.
The higher level, introduced in 2012, is widely undertaken by
aspiring managers. It accounted for 43% of higher apprentices in all sectors in
2014-15.
Apprenticeship
Reform- Trailblazer
The Department of Business Innovation and Skills, and the
Department for Education have been leading the Government in reforming the
apprenticeship system. This is known as Trailblazer. The process has been led
by employers, with support from Skills
for Care.
4 New Job Titles
The employer group- led by Helen Wilcox MBE of Woodford Homecare
in the West Midlands, have assessed apprenticeships and decided on 4 generic
occupational job titles:
- Adult Care Worker. (Current level 2
intermediate)
- Lead Adult Care Worker. (Level 3
advanced)
- Lead Practitioner in Adult Care.
(Now level 4)
- Leader in Adult Care. (Level 5 or
higher)
The standards for these titles are on the Government website, but won’t be available to
use for another few months, once details are finalised.
End Point
Assessment
On top of existing competency based QCF Diplomas, an apprentice
must finish with independently administered tests. This requirement is the same
for new apprentices across all sectors.
If an apprentice doesn’t already have maths and English
qualifications, they will have to acquire them:
- Level 2 apprentices will need level
1 in English and maths.
- Level 3 or above apprentices will
need level 2 English and maths.
The Reform Part
1- The One Plus Two Model
The employer is the customer. They have the relationship with
the learning provider- so they should have buying power.
The Current
System
Learning providers claim money from the Skills Funding Agency (SFA). The amount that they
receive is determined by the size of the qualifications and the age of the
apprentice.
Apprentices aged 19 or over attract 50% or less of payments of
the 16-18 year olds. The difference in the cost of delivery is usually made up
from employer contributions. These can be in kind rather than in cash.
The New System
Employers will need to pay in cash. But, there will be no age
based distinction on the cost. The SFA will set a maximum price for each
apprenticeship standard from 1 of 6 caps. The employer will decide on a price
with their chosen learning provider under this cap.
Employers will pay one third of the price and the SFA will
contribute the remaining two thirds.
The SFA will pay additional incentive payments to the employer
if they are small, employing 16-18 year olds and upon completion.
It is also important to note that Employer National Insurance
contributions for apprentices under 25 will be abolished.
Part 2- The Levy
The Apprenticeship Levy will apply to all employers from April
2017. Any employer with a payroll over £3million will contribute 0.5% on the
amount over the £3million.
The levy should only affect around 2% of employers. It includes
private & public bodies, Government departments, Local Authorities and NHS
Trusts.
The money raised will be put in a digital online account for
that employer. It will be matched with a 10% top-up from the Government. This
account will be part of a new digital apprenticeship service. It will combine
databases of learning providers, learners looking for apprenticeships and any
advertised vacancies.
The levy essentially means that employers will have control over
a pool of money to pay for as many apprenticeships as they require.
Government Aims
·
3 million apprenticeship starts between 2015-2020.
·
Public bodies will be required to take on 2.3% of their
workforce as apprentices.
·
To persuade employers to take on more apprenticeships.
The Apprenticeship Ambition programme, driven by Skills for Care
and supported by the Department of Health contributes 17% of all starts. There
is also a high completion rate of 79%.
People who achieve the new Apprenticeship standard will be
of a very high quality. They should take great pride in what they have achieved
and the occupation they have chosen.
Embrace-learning
At Embrace-learning, we are going to
work with both employers and learning providers in the Health and Social
Care sector to help deliver Apprenticeships. Our online content will help to
both reduce training costs for employers and learning providers, and support
apprentices throughout their training.
The better you train your employees, the longer they tend to
stay.
Embrace-learning is a UK leading provider of quality e-learning
resources to the Health and Social Care sector. Find out more about us on our
website www.embrace-learning.com.
You can read more of our blog posts here.
