1. Apprenticeship Opportunities in Schools
Patrick Leeson
Corporate Director
Children Young People and Education

2. The Apprenticeship Levy
LA maintained schools must pay 0.5% of their payroll bill into the KCC levy.
Non-maintained schools must set up and pay into their own digital account if their payroll bill exceeds £3million.
Non-levy payers would only contribute 10% of the training costs, the other 90% would come from Government.
The Skills and Employability Service can provide advice and support for any school relating to the levy.
Since 2012/13 the number of schools employing apprentices has more than doubled from 24% to 51%
The table illustrates apprenticeship starts in Kent

3. The Kent picture
Kent has a successful history of apprenticeship recruitment in with 51% of schools employing a total of 453 apprentices up to February 2017.
KCC continues to work in partnership with the Kent Association of Training Organisations (KATO) and Further Education Colleges to drive up the number and quality of apprenticeships in Kent.
KCC has seen a steady increase in the total number of apprenticeship starts over the last 3 years. In 2016 we achieved 3,020.
2013/14
2014/15
2015/16
2,560
2,760
3,020
Since 2012/13 the number of schools employing apprentices has more than doubled from 24% to 51%
The table illustrates apprenticeship starts in Kent

4. National picture from businesses employing apprentices
1 in 5 companies have an apprentice at board level
51% of organisations said that the average time for an apprentice to reach management was 5 years or less
71% of apprentices stay with the same employer on completion of their programmes.
75% of employers found that recruiting apprentices reduced their recruitment costs.
Apprenticeships boost the productivity of businesses on average £214 per week

5. Employing apprentices in Schools
It is a great time to recruit an apprentice in your school.
The Apprenticeship Levy presents an excellent opportunity to invest in training for your existing workforce in a way that meets your needs.
Apprenticeships enable schools of all shapes and sizes, from small primaries to multi-academy trusts to grow their workforce.

6. A Kent success story
“Our school employed its first apprentices in 2013.  Following a short process of application, two trainee Teaching Assistants were appointed. 
They worked four days in school and one day at college.  Both recruits proved enthusiastic and settled in well as part of the team.  The support from the college motivated them to learn and volunteer ideas that have been implemented in the workplace. 
I have been very impressed with the calibre of students and have been able to recruit one of the apprentices to a substantive role following their year of training.  With a little time from willing staff to act as mentors and occasionally meet with the assessor, the benefits can be valuable to the workplace. Highly recommended.”
School Business Manager, Christ Church CEJ School, Ramsgate
In 2013 Christ Church CEJ Ramsgate, with the support of Skills & Employability, successfully recruited two teaching assistant apprentices. They have made a real difference to the School and the School would highly recommend apprentices.

7. Apprenticeship Opportunities
Schools wide can take advantage of a variety of standards and frameworks, in order to develop a robust and valuable apprenticeship scheme. Some examples include;
Teaching assistant
Site maintenance
Laboratory technician
Catering
Finance
IT technician

8. Apprenticeship Levels
Intermediate Apprenticeship
Level 2
12 – 18 months
Equivalent 5 GCSEs 9 - 4
Advanced Apprenticeship
Level 3
18 months – 2 years
Equivalent 2 A levels
Higher & Degree Apprenticeship
Level & 7
2 – 6 years
Equivalent to HNC up to Masters
Fellow speakers from The University of Kent, Canterbury Christchurch University and Pfizer will expand on their innovative higher and degree apprenticeship programmes

9. Recruitment Support
ApprenticeKent is the apprenticeship recruitment portal in Kent, managed by KCC. It was designed to enable support to be offered to those applying for apprenticeship vacancies, particularly in instances when applicants are being regularly rejected.

10. Applications have dramatically increased over the last two months as a result of the Made in Kent campaign and the launch of an active Facebook page in February people are registered on the site, the Facebook page has around 2400 likes.

11. Those registered by current status – Young People currently in School make up 64% of applicants.

12. Support for your School
The Skills and Employability Service has resources to assist your school throughout the process of recruiting apprentices. This includes:
Identifying opportunities (new roles and upskilling)
Procuring a college or training provider
Creating a job description
Advertising

13. Support for your learners
The Skills and Employability Service offers a bespoke service provided by apprenticeship ambassadors for your learners. This includes:
Assemblies
Focused information sessions
CV and cover letter workshops
Application support
Use of data to assist young people in making informed choices
Vicky and Craig, apprenticeship ambassadors, will explain more about their role and a new toolkit available to Schools later in the day.

14. These are the top 12 sectors of interest of the candidates registered on the site.

16. KCC Skills and Employability Service
apprenticekent.com