New Talent apprenticeships

If you have an apprenticeship opportunity in your team, please get in touch with our dedicated apprenticeship co-ordinator by emailing apprenticeships@buckinghamshire.gov.uk.

We are on hand to support you throughout, from recruitment and selection right through to completion of the programme. You’ll also be invited to join our quarterly ‘Apprentice Line Managers Forum’ to network with other apprentice managers and share good practice, swap ideas and discuss relevant issues.

This handy flowchart sets out the steps of the recruitment journey.

Key contractual need to knows…

‘New Talent’ apprentices:

• are employed on a fixed-term contract for the duration of their apprenticeship
• are not part of Contribution Based Pay, but should have regular, documented supervision sessions with clear objectives, that feed into a light-touch C4P process
• are subject to the usual 6 months probationary period
• are entitled to 25 days annual leave p.a. plus bank holidays
• join the LGPS pension scheme but can opt out
• must spend 20% of their time learning new skills
• only the training costs are covered by Apprenticeship Levy Funds

Regular supervision sessions are crucial, and we recommend that you also allocate a “buddy” to provide additional support for your apprentice. A buddy can answer questions and support them in a more informal way. The buddy should be a colleague in the same team, perhaps someone who has recently completed an apprenticeship themselves, and who has a positive attitude, patience and good communication skills.

Your apprentice will be assigned a personal tutor from the training provider who they will meet with every 3-6 weeks to check in and carry out observations, discussions, training/mentoring etc. The tutor will also carry out 10-12 week progress reviews which will involve you as well as the apprentice to discuss progress made in their learning programme both at work and training sessions. Apprentices must spend at least 20% off-the-job recorded training or learning, equivalent to one day a week for a full-time apprentice. This can be split up, for example, two afternoons a week but must take place within the apprentice’s paid working hours.

‘Off-the-job training’ is any “learning which is undertaken outside of the normal day-to-day working environment and leads towards the achievement of an apprenticeship.” The following do not count as ‘off-the-job training’ and are outside the 20%:

• English and Math tutoring (up to level two)
• Progress reviews or on-programme assessment required for an apprenticeship
• Training which takes place outside the apprentice’s paid working hours
• Carrying out tasks in which the learner is competent as part of normal work activities

If you have any performance management issues at any stage with your apprentice, please contact the apprenticeship co-ordinator in the first instance. We will work with you and the apprentice to try to resolve the issues informally. If necessary, action can be escalated to formal procedures, and you can receive advice and support should it reach this stage.

Your apprentice will especially need targeted support in the first few months, so please factor in this time investment. If it still doesn’t work out during the probationary period, you will need to make sure that you have evidence that you have provided all possible support and all possible training.

It’s important that we retain the new talent we have invested in. With that in mind, you should be thinking ahead to what the next steps for your apprentice could be once they have completed. A career-graded post attached to the next level of apprenticeship for example could be an option.

If there are no suitable job opportunities available at the council, an end-of-Contract Consultation will need to be carried out with the apprentice.

You may need to extend the contract slightly to enable your apprentice to complete their qualification. Or if the apprentice completes earlier than the expected end date, the contract can also be shortened. You must have a formal meeting with the apprentice, give them notice and a letter confirming this, in this instance.