Why develop your management team through apprenticeships?
Apprenticeships are becoming an increasingly popular way to recruit, train and retain staff across all sectors - particularly for management development. The major apprenticeship reform taking place in England is seeing standards being developed in line with employer and industry needs, ensuring apprentices are securing training tightly aligned with best practices needed for their roles.
Management apprentices are likely to be heavily committed to their apprenticeship - as not only are they progressing within your organisation, but they are securing highly valued management qualifications. With high quality management being such a crucial component of business success, many employers are looking to management apprenticeships to secure highly skilled and invested managers, who can drive performance throughout their teams.
New managers or promoting staff?
It is possible to hire new managers or develop existing staff through apprenticeships. Apprentices will work on-the-job and spend 20% of their time on off-the-job training and end-point assessment. Training must last a minimum of 12 months, ensuring managers are fully invested in their role and are able to put their skills into practice throughout their apprenticeship. Management apprentices do not have to physically be away from your organisation for 20% of the time. They just need to be doing something
that isn’t part of their usual role, such as job-shadowing and studying for the qualification aspect of the apprenticeship.
Management apprenticeship standards and frameworks
You can train a managerial apprentice at different levels, in line with the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF), which outlines qualifications in terms of size and level of demand. Every qualification is assigned a level, ranging from Level 1 to Level 8 (plus Entry Level 1-3). The higher the level number, the higher the level of demand required to complete the apprenticeship.
Apprentices will need to be trained in line with managerial frameworks or standards, which outline what an apprentice will be doing and the skills required of them, by job role. Apprenticeship frameworks are gradually being replaced by employed-led standards, in order to improve the quality of training an apprentice receives. At present, you can choose a framework or standard in order to develop your managers. These currently include:
- Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship - Level 6 (48 months)
- Operations/Departmental Manager Apprenticeship - Level 5 (30 months)
- Management: Leadership and Management Level: 5 (12 months)
- Management Apprenticeship - Levels 3 and 4 (12-18 months)
- Management: Team leader/supervisor - Level 3 (12 months)
- Management: Team Leading - Level 2 (12 months)
What will management apprentices learn?
While training content and qualifications depend on the individual apprenticeship (and level), management apprenticeships will typically cover:
- Operational strategy
- Project management
- Business finance
- Sales and marketing
- Digital business and new technologies
- Leading and developing people
- Developing collaborative relationships
You can find more details about exactly what the apprentice will learn from the training providers and discuss how best to work the apprenticeship around your requirements.
Entry requirements for taking on an apprentice are usually set by employers, but the standards outline recommendations.
The Apprenticeship Levy and Co-investment
All employers in England can get help funding management apprenticeships. The government has introduced 'The Apprenticeship Levy' - a tax for all UK employers with an annual pay bill of more than £3 million, who need to pay 0.5% of their pay bill towards the levy. Employers in England can access this money to fund apprenticeships according to specific rules. Employers can only use funds on providers from the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers and end-point assessment organisations. Funding is provided up to the limit of the funding band and the employer has to pay the full amount for any cost above this limit.
For employers who don’t pay the levy, support is still available! Pay 10% of the apprenticeship training costs and the government will pay the rest (90%), up to the funding band maximum. This is known as ‘co-investment’.
Learn more about government funding for apprenticeships.
Funding bands for management apprenticeship standards
- Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship: £27,000 (Funding Band 15)
- Operations/Departmental Manager: Apprenticeship: £9,000 (Funding Band 9)
- Management: Team leader/supervisor: £5,000 (Funding Band 7)
Other management apprenticeships
Management covers the breadth of all industries and sectors. Standards are continuously being developed for managers in a range of industries. These include:
- Construction Management Apprenticeships
- Property Management Apprenticeships
- Facilities Management Apprenticeships
- Care Management Apprenticeships
- Project Management Apprenticeships
- Leadership
- Team Leader / Supervisor
Keep up-to-date with the latest apprenticeship standards.
Ready to take on a management apprentice?
Browse the list above and fill out a 'Request Information' form. We will then connect you with Registered Apprenticeship Training Providers to discuss your requirements further.
If you want to learn more about apprenticeships, visit our dedicated Apprenticeships Hub.
