The British Army is holding an event for independent training providers (ITPs) to raise awareness of how their apprenticeship programme is delivered and what support services the Army needs from ITPs. The event will also cover how they can tender for these support contracts.
The ‘Industry Brief for Training Providers’ will be held at the British Army headquarters in Andover on Tuesday 10th May between 10.30am and 12.30pm. Attendees will learn about potential opportunities, timelines and how best to engage in the contracting process and be able to hear from representatives from army personnel policy, army education branch and army commercial.
As an employer provider, the Army delivers the majority of training in knowledge, skills and behaviours, as part of Army standard military courses. However, there are some aspects of a civilian apprenticeship standard which do not naturally fit within Army training.
The Army is looking for training providers who are able to assist them to support Army apprentices through their learning journey. These services include supporting induction and carrying out initial assessment and enrolment onto the apprenticeship; functional skills delivery (when required); managing data entry and individual learner records throughout the apprenticeship; carrying out regular progress reviews; preparation for end-point assessment (EPA) working with the Army nominated end-point assessment organisations (EPAOs) and support through the apprenticeship gateway. The training provider staff need to have the capability to work directly with Army units across a range of UK Army bases offering both face to face and remote support options.
Most of the Army’s apprenticeships commence as the soldier starts their initial trade training course, ensuring the apprenticeship is closely related to a soldier’s role. Offering an apprenticeship means that as well as becoming a better soldier, the soldier can be sure their apprenticeship will be valued both while serving and in the civilian employment sector.
The Army is keen to engage with a range of forward-thinking training providers as this model allows it to access the latest developments in apprenticeship delivery, working jointly to ensure a high completion rate that is well above the national average.
TheArmy was number one in the most recent Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers ranking and 90 per cent of new soldiers are enrolled onto an apprenticeship with more than 14,000 on programmes at any one time.
“Being listed top of the Top 100 was a really significant achievement for the Army. For those inside the organisation it provided reinforcement and validation of the outstanding training offer made to every soldier. Externally it demonstrated the breadth of the Army employment offer as well as its value to the individual whether their career aspirations remained within or outside the Army,” said Col Matt Ketterer, DACOS education branch.
There are currently over 37 programmes in a variety of trades from engineering and construction to hospitality and animal care.
The video below illustrates the breadth of trades soldiers undertake on apprenticeships
Training providers on the register of apprenticeship training providers (RoATP) that have the skills, capacity and capability to support this national programme and wish to attend the briefing event, should send their full name, organisation (max two names per organisation) and contact details to the Army apprenticeship team at ArmyIDev-Apprenticeship-Mailbox@mod.gov.uk by 3rd May 2022. You can also learn more about upcoming opportunities to work on the Army’s apprenticeship program as ITPs and EPAOs on the Defence Sourcing Portal (DSP) (mod.uk) where you can register for alerts.
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