We have just enrolled our first group of 6090 students at Level 2, having previously enrolled this years Level 3 candidates onto it too!
Being one of the first colleges to have enrolled students onto this course, we were extremely excited about updating our old 7189 Diploma courses to the new one, albeit it only needed a few tweaks here and there.
What is even more exciting to us is that unlike the funded Apprenticeship that the colleges have to offer to receive the funding from Government, as an Independent Provider we can offer a Level 2 only Diploma, and then follow it with the Level 3 if required.
What does this mean in practice?
If a company wishes to send their apprentice to college on a government funded course, they must have a contract with the college and agree to support their apprentice for the whole three years of the course which is great, however there are many potential apprentices who may not be willing or able to commit to three years. The student must have or achieve a pass in Maths and English to be able to complete their apprenticeship and this is often a requirement that the colleges insist on prior to enrolment. The company will have a contract with their apprentice which guarantees 80% of their time is spent working with an experienced engineer/mentor who is giving them ‘on the job training’ and the other 20% is spent in college, off ‘the job’. It’s obviously very prescriptive and of course it must be as its tax payer’s/levy payer’s money that is being spent.
There is a workbook to complete by the end of the programme and an End Point Assessment which MUST be passed.
Of course, there will be sanctions applied to any college/training provider or company who are unable to comply with these requirements.
How does this impact us?
We are lucky enough to be able to stay with our mantra ‘if you are keen to learn, we are keen to train you’. We have chosen not to take the funding available to us, preferring freedom from bureaucracy. This means our results are not driven by the funding, we can concentrate on the quality of our training delivery.
There are no entry requirements or for Maths and English unless the student wants it.
While we would like you to assist your apprentice by giving him support and training with an experienced engineer, you aren’t contracted to this.
You don’t have to commit your apprentice to the whole three years of the programme.
There are no sanctions if you or your apprentice fails.
They don’t have to take the End Point Assessment unless they really want to.
Successful candidates would have a Level 2 and/or a Level 3 Diploma in Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heat Pumps.
We can be far more ‘laid back’ about our approach as you would expect of any private provider, while still offering the full package, small class sizes and top-quality teaching and learning, in a fully equipped training centre.
It’s a very true saying ‘you only get what you pay for’.
