Once you have decided on the apprenticeship that aligns most closely with your business needs, you’ll need to find a training provider to train your apprentice.
You'll need to choose a training provider that’s right for your business.
Your training provider can help you:
- recruit and interview apprentices
- prepare your apprentice for the workplace
- make sure your apprentice is working in an appropriate environment
- make sure your apprentice is learning the relevant skills for your business.
Making the right choice will help you get the most out of your apprenticeship programme. You should consider:
- how well they communicate with you about the training
- what other employers say about them
- what apprentices say about them.
Finding a training provider
The government has created Find apprenticeship training to help you find a training provider.
It lets you search for:
- apprenticeship training by job role or keyword
- training providers in your area
Many providers are national, and do not need to be located near to you. They can often offer training at your place of work or remotely.
This government service will give you access to important and useful performance data. This will show you how the training provider is performing when it comes to some important measures.
Find apprenticeship training shows you:
- the percentage of apprentices that have passed their apprenticeship with the training provider
- employer and learner satisfaction ratings
- strengths
Training in Medway
The Kent Association of Training Organisations (KATO) represents the major training providers in Kent and Medway. It supports the interests of over 60 member organisations who deliver a variety of training programmes, including apprenticeships, bespoke training and business training.
KATO can introduce you to the best provider for you. Complete their employer request form and a member of the team will be in touch.
What to consider
These questions should help you decide what provider to choose:
Help with recruitment
- Can the training provider help you find the right apprentice for your business - not only by using the National Apprenticeship Service but also by advertising locally and through links with bespoke apprentice recruitment and selection partners?
- Does the training provider offer services which help recruitment and selection such as initial CV sift, apprentice interviews, psychometric testing, or recruitment and selection assessment centres?
Learning and development programme planning and delivery
- Does the provider offer training needs analysis, and do they have proven experience in developing apprenticeship programmes to meet the needs of industry partners?
- Can the provider develop programmes which deliver against apprenticeship standards but also meet needs of the industry, sector, organisation, and the apprentices?
- What blended approaches to learning and development can the provider offer and how will they integrate classroom, remote and on and off-the job training into a coherent and logical development training plan?
- What platforms (for example, learning management systems or virtual learning environments) are available for remote training, assessment and reviews?
Learner support
- How does the initial assessment ensure that the individual learner’s needs are established, recorded and managed (including any additional or special requirements and reasonable adjustments needed)?
- How will they help with any literacy and numeracy learning needs and what resources are available to the provider to assist in this development?
- How will the provider support the apprentice throughout the on-programme training stage?
- Will the training provider help apprentices understand on/off the job training and what will be involved in this?
- Will the learner be regularly reviewed, and will the outputs of these reviews be used to update training, assessment and support plans on a regular basis?
- Will meaningful feedback on apprentice performance be provided, to help you support the apprentice and to let you know how they are progressing?
Supporting you, the employer
- Can the provider help you understand the apprenticeship standard and assessment plan requirements?
- Does the provider have any accreditations such as Matrix accreditation for their Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) and support services?
- Does the provider understand your sector and industry 'drivers' and 'culture' and can they review training and assessment material to make it relevant to your organisation, your learners and programmes?
- Will the provider help line managers understand on and off the job training, and what will be involved in this?
- Can the provider meet your requirements, and support any of your organisational and corporate social strategies and responsibilities, for the promotion of equality and diversity, safeguarding or sustainability?
- Can the provider work with you over time to continue to develop learners - matching the aspirations of your learners with any relevant organisational development programmes that you have in place?
The commercials
- Can the provider give you a clear breakdown of how much the training will cost, and detail what is included?
- Does the provider have a service level agreement or contract available for review?
Training provider and competence assurance
- What assurance can the provider give of a quality of service through Ofsted Inspections or accredited centre affiliations or other accreditations and case study material?
- Is there evidence that the learning and development teams are occupationally competent (competent in the role described in the standard) and competent and credible as trainers?
- Will it be the same trainer or development teams for all parts of on-programme phase? Or are there specialists available to support different aspects of the provision including soft-skills training, literacy and numeracy, and any specialist skills?
- Are there any current clients of the provider that you can discuss quality of service and expectations with?
- Are outcomes for previously delivered or similar programmes available for inspection or discussion?
- Does the training provider have a set of service level requirements which define the quality of service they give?