Become a Partner

The Department for the Economy NI sets out the requirements for employers to participate in the Higher Level Apprenticeship Scheme.  In general - you must:

• Have a permanent base in Northern Ireland
• Employ apprentices for a minimum of 21 hours/week, including the time they spend at University
• Pay your apprentices via HMRC/UK Payroll

In addition to meeting DfE's requirements, the University expects you to be in a position to provide mentorship to the apprentice throughout the degree programme.  In the next step you'll consider the programme that your apprentice will study; you should consider if you have the capacity/subject experts to provide the on-the-job training required to complement the off the job training that we will deliver.

An important factor in your apprentices' success will be to ensure that the programme of study is appropriate for your business and their intended career pathway.  You should focus on programmes that are relevant to your current operations and that will develop the skills that your apprentices will need to succeed both now, and in the future.

Once you've decided on a programme of study that suits your business, It's time to get in touch with us - use the form at the bottom of the page to get started.  We'll get in touch with you as soon as possible to arrange a short conversation to answer any questions you have, to discuss the delivery model of the programme, and what you're committing to when you sign up.

Once you've completed your interviews and identified successful candidates, you should relay these to the University.  We'll send you and your apprentice instructions to apply to for the course, and we'll make an offer of study that is conditional upon the apprentice demonstrating that they've met the academic entry requirements for their programme, as well as the DfE eligibility criteria for apprentices.

You may wish to identify reserve candidates for your apprenticeship roles, just in case your first choice candidate(s) either fail to meet the academic entry criteria, recieve another apprenticeship offer, or decide to pursue higher education on a full-time basis.  Reserve candidates should only apply for study via our website in the event that the first choice candidate does not accept their offer of employment.

For Applicants who are completing their Lv 3 qualifications (A Level, BTEC, or equivalent) their results are not known until mid-August.  If your chosen candidate already has their necessary qualifications at Lv 3, they can be made an unconditional offer of study once our Admissions team are satisfied they are eligible to participate.

Once your Apprentice meets the academic entry requirements for the programme, we'll extend an unconditional offer of study, and you can issue a formal, unconditional offer of employment.  You should complete a separate Contract of Employment for each apprentice.  You'll also be asked to complete some DfE paperwork, including the Tripartite Agreement.  This agreement sets out the commitments of each party (Employer, Training Provider, and Apprentice) and enables the University to share performance-related data with you, including attendance and module results.

Apprentices typically receive joining instructions at the start of September, roughly 3 weeks before the start of term.  In addition to completing online enrolment, where students select their modules and register for the course, you and your apprentice may be invited to induction events at the start of the academic year to help familarise yourselves with the University.