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As an Apprenticeship Employer, you are making a commitment to your Apprentice and the University. These commitments are set out in the Tripartite Agreement that is completed and signed at the start of the Apprenticeship programme for each individual Apprentice. This section sets out what you are committing to when you take on an apprentice.
Contract, Pay, and Day Release
We're often asked for more information in relation to apprentice pay and wages. By signing the Tripartite Agreement, you are agreeing to the following:
- Separate from the Tripartite, you need to provide a Contract of Employment which sets out the terms and conditions for the apprentice for the duration of the apprenticeship. You should adhere to all legal and contractual responsibilities as you would for any other employee, including providing reasonable adjustments for apprentices who have declared a disability to you.
- Apprentices must be paid at least the National Minimum Wage for their age group. You should note that this is not the 'Apprenticeship rate,' which only applies for apprenticeships at Levels 2 and 3.
- Apprentices must be contracted for a minimum of 21 hours/week, which includes their time at University (see next).
- You must release apprentices to attend off-the-job training at University. For example, a busy period at work is not a sufficient excuse to miss a day in University, and can jeopardise the apprentice's progress and ability to stay on the programme.
- Apprentices must be paid for their time at University. This includes any contact time including but not limited to lectures, labs, tutorials, seminars, and assessments. Most apprentices work 'full time' and are paid a salary, with their time in university is counted against their weekly contracted hours.
Dedicated Mentorship and Support for Apprentices
As an employer you need to ensure that you have dedicated mentorship provision for your apprentice, and set out a relevant, on-the-job training plan which will ensure that your apprentice gains the necessary skills that they will need to succeed in their role. Mentorship and training varies based on a number of factors including size of the organisation, the programme of study, and the size of the apprenticeship cohort.
A Mentor can be a line manager, a staff member senior to the apprentice, or a dedicated person within the organisation who supports early careers staff and oversees their development. Apprentices don't necessarily need the same mentor throughout their entire journey - in fact some apprentices benefit from having multiple mentors while doing different kinds of work. Even if this is the case, there should be a single person who is responsible for engaging with the university about the student's progress. This person should be named on the Tripartite Agreement and the university should be informed if the Apprentice's mentor changes.
Most employers have training plans and professional development embedded in the workplace already. As an Apprenticeship Employer, you must ensure that your apprentice's on-the-job training is relevant, and as closely related to the modules that the apprentice is studying as possible. This ensures that the apprentice has the opportunity to apply what they are learning, and that they are able to use their experience on-the-job to inform their study and assessment. Some Apprenticeship programmes (Civil Engineering, Quantity Surveying and Commercial Management) require training plans specific to the demands of relevant professional bodies (ICE and RICS, for example). On the rest of our apprenticeship programmes, training plans can be more open-ended but you should set on-the-job performance and training targets that align with the training provided by the university and your organisation's own strategy and goals.
