This Apprenticeship offers a broad introduction to a vocational sector, which will develop your personal skills in order to develop confidence in your ability to work, learn and achieve your full potential at this level. You will develop a range of employability skills and techniques and understand the personal qualities and attitudes essential for success in working life. The Apprenticeship will be relevant to business, retail and administration and should provide you with a stepping stone into employment within these sectors. WHAT WILL I DO The course is made up of both mandatory units and optional units. To achieve the qualification the candidates must complete all three mandatory units, 2 units from the technical group plus one unit from any of the technical or cross sector group options. The mandatory units are: The cross sector and technical options cover a large range of units under the following headings:
Develop yourself to improve and maintain workplace competence in a financial services environment
Additionally the Apprenticeship will include a Technical Certificate that covers the theory element of the programme and also Functional Skills to give you the confidence to perform to the required standard.
Functional Skills are practical skills in English, Mathematics and ICT that enables everyone to work confidently, effectively and independently in life and at work.
A Functional Skill qualification in English @ Level 2 will show that you are competent in writing documents on complex subjects, making presentations, reading and summarising information as well as spelling, punctuation and grammar, in Mathematics @ Level 1 will show you can understand practical problems, select & apply maths in an organised way and use checking procedures, in ICT @ Level 1 or 2 will prove you can use ICT systems, find & select information, develop, present & communicate information.
Functional Skills have been produced as a response to calls from employers for more people to have these skills and they therefore form an integral part of an apprenticeship framework. They are the key to success that will open doors to learning and work.
Delivery of Functional Skills within the framework can happen in two ways:
a) an apprentice attends day release, their functional skills will be delivered at college on that day.
b) an apprentice does not attend college for their main qualification, they will need to attend college for a block week for each Functional Skill required for their framework. Dates of these block weeks will be discussed with the apprentice and their employer at sign up and they will be booked in advance.
Between 13 and 18 months depending on age and ability.
To gain the Apprenticeship in Providing Retail Financial Services you need to be employed in this business sector. The candidate’s knowledge and experience is more important than their qualifications. We do carry out an initial Numeracy and Literacy assessments and the candidates are skill scanned in the workplace to help guide them in choosing appropriate optional units. Most learners are employed full time within the workplace, we ask that they are employed for a minimum of 30 hours per week and a Health and Safety check will be done in the place of employment to ensure that the course will be delivered in a safe environment.
The assessors will visit the workplace to deliver the course approximately once a month. They will make sure that the learner understands what they are undertaking and will set an action plan for work to be completed in time for their next visit. The course is tailored to the learner and the assessors are there to help them achieve by providing instruction and support. All learners undertake Functional Skills in Maths and English unless they have achieved grade C or above in the recent past, in which case they can claim prior achievement.
Successful completion of the course could lead to progression onto the Advanced Apprenticeship and opens up a variety of options within the financial services environment.
Employers may have to pay a contribution for those over the age of 19. For more information please enquire within the Apprenticeship Team.
Apprenticeships are free for all learners. There will be a charge of £120 but will be refunded on the completion of the exam.
For all Apprenticeships the Learner is required to be paid at least the Apprenticeship minimum wage (Currently £2.50 per hour).
As the course is usually delivered alongside a full time job learners must be committed to completion of the course, be able to work to deadlines and must be within a supportive working environment. All Apprentices are provided with a training advisor who will visit them in the workplace approximately every 10 weeks to help them keep a track of their progress, maintain standards of safety and provide them with guidance and support.
You can apply for this course by applying online, by filling out an application form from the College prospectus or by contacting the Information Officer on 01205 313218 for further information. The Information on this Course Information Sheet is correct at time of print, but can be subject to change at anytime.
The Information on this Course Information Sheet is correct at time of print, but can be subject to change at anytime.
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