Where an office career actually starts
An apprenticeship is a real, paid job. The apprentice works for an employer and trains with us at the same time, and comes out with a nationally recognised qualification and the experience to go with it.
The short answer
No entry qualifications. This is the level built for people starting out.
Individual employers set their own selection criteria.
The employer sets the real bar, so treat this as a guide. If somebody is close but not quite there, it is still worth the conversation.
Every organisation has jobs a capable school leaver could do well and nobody has ever been taught to do properly. This is the standard for exactly those jobs.
What the organisation is for, how it is structured, where their job sits in it and who the people they keep emailing actually are. Somebody who understands why the process exists follows it better than somebody who has only been told to.
Covers the role and responsibilities of an administration assistant, organisational structure, sector awareness, policies and procedures, stakeholder relationships, external factors
Accuracy taught as a skill rather than assumed as a trait, alongside what the law actually requires of them around records and data. This is the part that costs organisations money when it is missing, and the part nobody usually teaches a junior.
Covers information handling, accuracy and quality of work, data protection and GDPR, digital safety and security
An email that closes a query instead of starting three. A phone manner that does not need rescuing. Minutes that are actually usable, including knowing what to redact. And the confidence to deal with a person at the desk who is not happy.
Covers written communication, verbal communication, meetings including redacting, professional standards and workplace conduct, professional etiquette and customer service, organisational feedback
Booking systems, resource management, prioritising when three people all want it today, and knowing the difference between a problem to solve and a problem to escalate. Knowing where their authority ends is as useful to you as knowing where it starts.
Covers time management tools and techniques, diary and bookings systems, resource management, problem solving and escalation, working within boundaries
Artificial intelligence is in the core programme at Level 2, not held back for later, alongside the digital systems and social media the job now assumes. A school leaver will often be the person who shows the office something.
Covers introduction to digital systems, using digital tools to process information, social media, artificial intelligence
Coursework and portfolio throughout, a review with the employer, then gateway and a full mock before the independent end-point assessment. Nobody springs anything on anyone.
Work launched in class and completed in the job, building the evidence the assessor will look at.
The employer, the apprentice and the tutor. Half an hour. Progress, targets, and anything getting in the way.
Marked by a tutor who is not theirs, so the feedback is honest and the real thing holds no surprises.
Business Administrator at Level 3.
Not sure what comes after this one? Tell us the role and we'll tell you honestly which of our apprenticeships, higher apprenticeships or university-level courses fits next.
It takes two, an employer and an apprentice. Pick your side.
Recruiting, or formalising the training of someone already in post? Start with a conversation. We'll check the role, sort the funding, and get them enrolled.
Speak to us today 01724 281111
Or advertise a vacancy through us and we'll handle the recruitment.
An apprenticeship is a job, so an employer has to take you on before you can start. Already employed in this kind of role? Your manager can put you forward directly.
No vacancy that suits? Register your interest and we'll tell you when one comes up.
