Apprenticeships

We are proud to have received national recognition and were awarded the ATA Employer Champion Award in 2025. The award recognises us as a leading advocate for apprenticeships and training. Demonstrating our strong leadership, ongoing commitment and impactful contributions to advancing and promoting apprenticeships.

Apprenticeships have evolved significantly in recent years. They now represent a genuine job opportunity combined with a structured skills development programme. While traditionally seen as a route for school leavers or for those starting out in their careers, this is no longer the case. Apprenticeships offer a fantastic way to launch a new career or progress within your current one.

As an apprentice, you will gain the technical knowledge, hands-on experience, and broader skills needed for both your current role and future career. This is achieved through a blend of workplace learning – such as shadowing and collaborating with experienced colleagues – formal off-the-job training, and opportunities to apply new skills in a real working environment.

• Earn while you learn - Gain a recognised qualification while working in a real job.
• Receive a recognised qualification - Apprenticeships include professional qualifications alongside your apprenticeship.
• Ongoing and personalised support - Work based mentors, managers, assessors, and fellow apprentices all offer a support mechanism to achieve your apprenticeship.
• Gain real work experience - Apprenticeships are built around real jobs – meaning you will be working from day one. You will gain hands-on experience, applying what you learn and building the confidence and skills in a live work environment.
• Develop your skills - Apprenticeship qualifications offer three areas of learning – skills, knowledge, and behaviours.
• Improve employability - Achieving an apprenticeship shows employers that you have successfully demonstrated the knowledge, skills, and behaviours required for the role.
• Have a structured training programme - All apprenticeship programmes follow a structured programme over a given amount of time. Some are day release, some are block release and some are flexible learning. All apprentices must be allowed 20% of the working time for "off job" learning.
• Excellent progression opportunities - Apprenticeship qualifications show you have the ability to learn and develop and combine work and learning at the same time.

Levels of apprenticeship

We have on-going opportunities in both schools and across Council Services and the list below is an example of some of the apprenticeships we have recruited to over the last few years:

• Business Administration
• Customer Service
• Adult Care
• ICT (various roles)
• Payroll
• Teaching Assistant
• Early Years Assistant
• Policy Officer
• Workplace Pensions (Administrator or consultant)
• Regulatory Compliance
• Transport Planner
• Digital Marketer
• Library Assistant

The Council offer an extremely competitive salary, please see the table below.

Apprentice pay scales 2024-2025

Existing (From April 2024)

New (From April 2025)

NB: Level 6 Apprenticeships are paid at Level 4 rate in the 1st Year and Level 5 rate in the 2nd year, only the 3rd & 4th years of the course are paid at Level 6 Rate.

ROP for Apprenticeship pay increases on the 1st of April in line with the National Living Wage.