Digital Apprenticeships in England

Apprenticeship Standards were introduced across sectors of the English economy following a comprehensive review of vocational training in 2016. These new occupational standards have been based on individual job roles where groups of employers have collaborated to create standards in their own sectors. These groups outlined the knowledge, skills & behaviours (KSB) needed to be competent in a specific job role. All of these KSBs are learned assessed & graded with a new system of End Point Testing. All apprentices are employed & receive a minimum of 20% tuition off the job. There are no age restrictions for apprentices. The Standards take between 1 & 4 years to achieve. They are available at different levels between 1 and 7 depending on the job complexity. The government operates & assures the quality of the training through the Education & Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). Businesses with a salary bill of more than £3 million a year pay an ‘Apprenticeship Levy’ Tax which they can only claim back to spend on apprentices participating in approved programmes. Businesses with a salary bill less than £3 million a year receive a 95% contribution from the ESFA to meet the costs of training delivery. Apprenticeship training providers must be registered with & approved by the ESFA. Digital apprenticeships are available for Data Technicians, Development Operations Engineers, Network Engineers, Software Engineers, Cyber Security Specialists, Digital Support Technicians and Digital Marketers.