Recruiting or supporting an apprentice can be a great way of finding new enthusiastic, committed and loyal staff, or upskilling your existing workforce. With funding available for those who are eligible, the benefits speak for themselves. You can find our more about these, what will be expected of you, and the support we offer to employers below.

Broaden the skills within your workforce

Adding to the experience and knowledge of existing employees could help tackle potential skills shortages, providing you with the talent you need.

Increase the range of talent in your business

Offering apprenticeships is a new opportunity to bring fresh, enthusiastic talent into your organisation. Apprentices from diverse backgrounds and experiences will bring new ideas and skills with them.

Boost productivity, morale, and commitment

Evidence suggests that apprenticeships can improve staff satisfaction and loyalty, helping your organisation not only be a better place to work, but function more effectively.

What will be expected of my business?

  • Off the job learning

    • As part of every apprenticeship programme, you must support your apprentice with 20% off the job learning time for the duration of the programme. This is a requirement; the apprentice cannot complete the apprenticeship without this support. You are investing time in talent, which will over time invest back into productivity.

    This will enable them to focus on their studies, development and learning and equates to one day per week for a full-time employee, pro-rata for part time employees. Once formally enrolled on the programme, your chosen registered training provider will discuss this further with you and your apprentice.

  • Recruiting and employing an apprentice

    • There are some considerations for recruiting and employing an apprentice. It is important to note that the guidance outlined here does not cover all aspects, and are initial consideration points only

    You will need to ensure you have a genuine vacancy to attain the learning required to complete the apprentice standard. Follow your normal in-house approval processes for this.

    Once you have agreed your recruitment and advertised through your normal methods, send your advert via e-mail to your training provider.

    Vacancies will be posted on the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) website by your training provider. This is a primary tool used by future apprentices and training providers and links are provided to employers to circulate to their networks.

  • Funding

    • For Levy Paying Employers
    If you’re an employer with a wage bill over £3 million each year, you must pay the apprenticeship levy. These levy funds can be used to fund apprenticeships.

    For Non-levy Paying Employers
    Non-levy paying employers will share the cost of training and assessing their apprentices with government – this is called ‘co-investment’. From April 2019, you will pay 5% towards the cost of apprenticeship training and government will pay the rest (95%), up to the funding band maximum. The government will cover 100% of cost of apprenticeship training if you are a small or medium sized enterprise (SME) for apprentices under the age of 25. Find out more about apprenticeship funding bands on the gov.uk website.

    What can the funds be used for?
    You can only use funds to pay for apprenticeship training and assessment for apprentices that work at least 50% of the time in England, and only up to the funding band maximum for that apprenticeship.

    If the costs of training and assessment go over the funding band maximum, you will need to pay the difference with other funds from your own budget. You can find information on the funding bands per apprenticeship programme on the gov.uk website.

    You can’t use funds in your account to pay for other costs associated with your apprentices (such as wages, statutory licenses to practice, travel and subsidiary costs, work placement programmes or the setting up of an apprenticeship programme). The levy will only fund the training and assessment of the apprenticeship and this is paid through the digital apprenticeship service account.

Available programmes

The apprenticeship programmes listed here have been established specifically within the advanced therapies industry and apprentices are being recruited into these roles by employer companies.

Once these programmes are established, focus will then be placed on further in-takes for these standards as well as other suitable programmes identified.

Find out more

What our employers say

We intend to recruit more valuable and enthusiastic new starters at Level 3 and 5 each year. We wouldn’t have had the same experience without our involvement with ATAC. We have an excellent apprenticeship team at NHSBT, made all the more effective by the association with the ATAC community. We thank everyone involved with ATAC for their support and expansion of programmes each year to meet skills needs.

Mel Harper
Apprenticeship Lead, NHS Blood and Transplant

Autolus were first introduced to the benefits of apprenticeships by ATAC back in 2018, when we recruited our first two apprentices. We’ve found our apprentices to be motivated to learn new skills, and grow and develop with the business. We’re also planning to use apprenticeships to upskill our existing staff, ensuring we continue to develop a motivated, skilled and qualified workforce.

Tracy Millard
HR Director, Autolus

ATAC have been an amazing resource for RoslinCT and have helped to ensure that our apprenticeship journey has gone smoothly. The ATAC team has provided support, opportunities to meet other businesses in similar situations, and ultimately enhance our apprentices’ experience. The events they organise for apprentices and employers are always well worth attending.

Callum Watson
Head of People, RoslinCT

Our ever-growing community of employers and training providers are delivering apprenticeships in the advanced therapy and vaccine manufacturing industry across the UK.

To use this interactive map, simply click on a pin to learn more. When you click on a pin, a pop-up window will appear providing additional information about the employers and training partners who are already part of our apprenticeships community. Make sure to zoom in on the map to discover all the pins.
EMPLOYER TRAINING PROVIDER

FAQs

  • How does my organisation become part of ATAC?

    • You can fund an apprentice through one of our programmes. We do also have several employers within the ATAC community who have not yet recruited their first apprentice. These employers are invited to our events, kept in regular contact, and considered part of our extended network. If you are interested in ATAC, you can get involved by contacting us on apprenticeshipsinfo@ct.catapult.org.uk

  • How does my organisation pay for apprenticeships?

    • There are various methods for funding apprenticeships depending on the size of your company and where you are based in the UK. For England, the methods are via the Apprenticeship Levy (tax) for employers with an annual wage bill of over £3m, and co-investment funding for other employers. There are also a whole series of grants and additional payments for employers that meet certain criteria. In Scotland, the training provider will obtain funding directly through Skills Development Scotland and the employer may need to pay a contribution; the employer contribution amount would depend on the apprentice’s age. Speak to us at ATAC and we will discuss your options with you.

  • How much do apprenticeships cost?

    • ATAC apprenticeships range from £8,000 – £27,000, depending on the level and duration of the programme. This price will either be drawn from your Apprenticeship Levy account (ATAC can explain this to you), or for smaller English companies that do not pay the apprenticeship levy, you’ll be expected to pay – at most, 5% of the total price. In Scotland, the training provider will obtain funding directly through Skills Development Scotland and the employer may need to pay a contribution; the employer contribution amount would depend on the apprentice’s age and would range from zero to £2,500.

  • How much time do I need to commit to the apprentices’ programme?

    • Your organisation will need to nominate an ‘Apprentice Supervisor’. This is usually the apprentice’s line manager or a colleague in the apprentice’s direct chain of management. The supervisor will need to spend a significant amount of time, particularly in the early stages, ensuring that the apprentice is getting accustomed to the workplace and is settling into their working role. Thereafter, the supervisor will be required to attend review meetings, with the apprentice and their training provider, to ensure the apprentice is academically on-track and supported where necessary.

  • My apprentice is not involved specifically in advanced therapies, can we still join ATAC?

    • We appreciate that our offering can benefit apprentices across the life sciences industry, not just those involved in advanced therapies. We are happy to talk through the possibility of your apprentice joining ATAC. Get in touch and we can discuss how your apprentice could benefit from being part of our community.

Want to find out more about recruiting an apprentice?

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