MAKE THE INVESTMENT IN TALENT
AND HIRE AN APPRENTICE
WHAT WE CAN DO FOR YOU
OUR APPRENTICESHIP SERVICE
APPRENTICESHIP TRAINING
We offer apprenticeships across tech and digital standards.
APPRENTICESHIP RECRUITMENT
We can help you find and shortlist candidates and work with you on the job description and advertisement of the role.
ORGANISATION SKILLS ANALYSIS
We offer advice on how to develop and train your talent through different programs and funding streams that can support your business.
PURPLE BEARD APPRENTICESHIPS
Are you short on time and what to find out what we offer? See our 3 minutes introduction video where we talk about our apprenticeships, our end-to-end solutions, and how we support employers.
Training and Hiring Apprenticeships
OVERVIEW
APPRENTICESHIPS SIMPLIFIED
Apprenticeships are real jobs carried out while training towards industry-recognised qualifications. Our aim at Purple Beard Apprenticeships, as a Government approved Apprenticeship provider, is to match motivated tech enthusiasts with forward-thinking employers to introduce new talent into the digital industries.
What are apprenticeships?
Apprenticeships help bring valuable skills into your organisation with the government’s support. You can either get a new hire or upskill someone from within the organisation. Apprenticeships take 1 to 5 years to complete depending on their level. Apprenticeships start at a level 2 and go up to a level 6 or 7 (which is from GCSE’s to Degree levels)
What is required from the Employer?
Employers need to be involved throughout the apprentice journey via quarterly review meetings which are done on program between the tutor, an apprentice and employer or line manager. You would also need (employer and Public liability) insurances and we would need to see copies of these before the apprentice starts due to Safeguarding . We will send you an onboarding form to complete
Who is an apprentice?
Anyone can become an apprentice as long as they’re 16 years old, live in England and are not in a full-time education. Apprentices have the same right as a regular employee, meaning they earn a wage and are entitled to holidays. What makes them different from regular employees is that they’re required to spend 20% of their job on a training.
Off-the- Job Training
Purple Beard can deliver Off-the-Job Training through a range of interventions such as masterclasses, online learning, virtual sessions, etc. This has to be built into the apprentices working time as it is a legal requirement for an apprenticeship. We can work with you to ensure how this is designed to suit your needs.
FUNDING APPRENTICESHIPS FOR LEVY AND NON-LEVY
HOW FUNDING WORKS
LEVY EMPLOYERS
Who is a Levy Employer?
Levy Payers are large businesses that pay wages in excess of £3 million per annum.
How funding works for Levy Employers?
As an employer with a wage bill of more than £3 million, the levy will be charged at a rate of 0.5% of an employer’s paybill. You can manage funds using the apprenticeship service and spend it on training and assessing your apprentices. Each employer will receive an allowance of £15,000 to offset against their levy payment. If you don’t have enough funds, you pay 5% of the apprenticeship cost and the government will top up the rest. There is a funding band allocated to each apprenticeship for which contribution is sought.
For apprentices that started before 1 April 2019, you need to contribute 10%. If you exceed the maximum funding band, you’ll need to pay all the additional costs.
NON-LEVY EMPLOYERS
Who is a Non-Levy Employer?
Non-Levy Payers are Small Medium Enterprises that pay wages less than £3 million per annum.
How funding works for Non-Levy Employers?
As an employer that doesn’t pay the apprenticeship levy, you pay just 5% towards the cost of training and assessing an apprentice.
The government will pay the rest up to the maximum funding band. You’ll pay the training provider directly and agree on a payment schedule. If you employ fewer than 50 employees, then the government will pay 100% of the costs of apprenticeship training. If you exceed the maximum funding band, you’ll need to pay all the additional costs.
If your apprentice started before 1 April 2019, you pay 10% towards the cost of training and assessing your apprentice and the government pays the rest.
INCENTIVE PAYMENTS 2021
FUNDING UPDATE FOR 2021
How much can I receive?
Apprentices who joined your organisation before 1 April 2021
For new apprentices who joined your organisation between 1 August 2020 and 31 March 2021 aged:
- 16 to 24, employers will receive £2,000
- 25 and over, employers will receive £1,500
You must apply for these apprentices before 31 May 2021.
Apprentices who joined your organisation from 1 April 2021
Employers will receive £3,000 for new employees of any age who start their apprenticeship from 1 April 2021 to 30 September 2021.
You can apply for incentive payments for these apprentices from 1 June 2021.
Find out more here.
How much salary do I need to pay?
An apprentice is like a normal employee and therefore is entitled to all the benefits that a normal employee is entitled to. However, if you are employing a new apprentice then you can pay them a subsidised wage. We recommend you to pay at least National Minimum Wage in order to attract the right quality of apprentice. Also, be mindful that someone can only be on the apprentice wage for the 1st year of an apprentice.
The current wages for apprentices are:
- Aged 16 to 18 – £4.30 per hour
- Aged 19 or over and in their first year – £4.30 per hour.
- Aged 19 or over and have completed your first year – entitled for the National Minimum Wage for their age.
OUR APPRENTICESHIPS
PURPLE BEARD APPRENTICESHIPS
Role Profile
The broad purpose of the occupation is to provide 1st line cyber security support. This requires individuals to monitor and detect potential security threats and escalate as necessary and to support secure and uninterrupted business operations of an organisation through the implementation of cyber security mechanisms and the application of cyber security procedures and controls. To contribute to the delivery of a security culture across an organisation, understanding vulnerabilities and threats and supporting the development of an organisation’s cyber security maturity. To apply procedures and controls to maintain security and control of an organisation, and process security requests ensuring confidentiality, integrity and availability of information stored digitally
Typical Job Roles
Cyber Security Administrator, Access Control Administrator, Incident Response Technician, Junior Security Operations Centre (SOC) Analyst, Junior Information Security Analyst, Junior Threat and Risk Analyst, Junior Penetration Tester, Junior Security Analyst
Entry Requirements
Individual employers will set the selection criteria, but this might include GCSEs; A levels; other relevant qualifications and experience; or an aptitude test, with a focus on functional maths.
Duration of the Apprenticeship
18 months
On program delivery
Subject Matter Led expert Masterclasses ( face to face or online) Technical knowledge workshops (Face to face or online) Online courses Hand on Projects Coaching and Mentoring Access to tools and labs Development skills workshops Maths and English Functional skills
Role Profile
The broad purpose of the occupation is to source, format and present data securely in a relevant way for analysis using basic methods; to communicate outcomes appropriate to the audience; analyse structured and unstructured data to support business outcomes; blend data from multiple sources as directed and apply legal and ethical principles when manipulating data.
Typical Job Roles
Database Technician, Data support analyst, Junior data analyst, Junior information analyst
Entry Requirements
Individual employers will set the selection criteria, but this might include ve GCSEs; A levels; a Level 3 Apprenticeship; other relevant qualifications and experience; or an aptitude test, with a focus on functional maths.
Duration of the Apprenticeship
24 months
On program delivery Subject Matter Led expert Masterclasses ( face to face or online) Technical knowledge workshops (Face to face or online) Online courses Hand on Projects Coaching and Mentoring Access to tools and labs Development skills workshops Maths and English Functional skills
Role Profile
The broad purpose of this occupation is to enable organisations to get valuable working software out in front of active users both external and internal, frequently and safely, reducing time to market delivering increased value to the end user and the business and improving the quality of digital services. A Devops Engineer will interact with other members of Agile development teams, other areas within the organisation IT department and business as well as 3 rd party suppliers.
DevOps is a philosophy and way of working that brings together two historically disparate parts of the IT organisation, namely those who develop the software and those who are then required to support it in the live environment. The DevOps Engineer encapsulates both disciplines, requiring the individual to understand and appreciate how their code functions when being used in the real world and troubleshoot any issues that may arise, while taking a cloud-infrastructure focused perspective. This means taking responsibility for all aspects of the development and operations process – the design, build, test, implement, release and continual iteration of products.
Typical Job Roles
Devops Engineer, Infrastructure Engineer, Platform Engineer, Reliability Engineer, Build and release engineer, Automation Engineer, Full Stack Developer, Deployment Engineer
Entry Requirements
Individual employers will set the selection criteria, but this might include GCSEs; A levels; a Level 3 apprenticeship; other relevant qualifications and experience; or an aptitude test, with a focus on functional maths and interest in coding skills.
Duration of the Apprenticeship
24 months
On program delivery Subject Matter Led expert Masterclasses ( face to face or online) Technical knowledge workshops (Face to face or online) Online courses Hand on Projects Coaching and Mentoring Access to tools and labs Development skills workshops Maths and English Functional skills
Role Profile
The broad purpose of a Digital Support Technician is to maximise the effective use of digital office technologies, productivity software, digital communications, including collaborative technologies, and digital information systems to achieve objectives.
Pathway 1- A Digital Applications Technician helps their organisation and its internal users to maximise the use of digital technologies and adapt to and exploit changes in technology to meet organisation objectives .
Typical Job Roles
Digital Coach, Digital Transformation Associate; ICT Support Analyst, Digital Champion, Database Administrator, Data Administrator, IT Operations Technician, Digital Applications Specialist and Digital Systems Operator.
Entry Requirements
Individual employers will set the selection criteria including relevant qualifications and experience. The apprentice is likely to be required to demonstrate an aptitude for functional maths and competence in written and spoken English.
Duration of the Apprenticeship
15 months
On program delivery Subject Matter Led expert Masterclasses ( face to face or online) Technical knowledge workshops (Face to face or online) Online courses Hand on Projects Coaching and Mentoring Access to tools and labs Development skills workshops Maths and English Functional skills
Role Profile
The broad purpose of a Digital Support Technician is to maximise the effective use of digital office technologies, productivity software, digital communications, including collaborative technologies, and digital information systems to achieve objectives.
Pathway 2- A Digital Service Technician supports the external customers and clients of their organisation though a wide variety of digital channels, to help them access and receive services, to coach and support them in their use of the digital systems
Typical Job Roles
Service Centre Operator, Digital Service Advisor, Digital Service Support, Digital Service Agent; Applications and On-line Service Executive, Technical Support Professional, Digital Support Professional, and Operations Technical Specialist
Entry Requirements
Individual employers will set the selection criteria including relevant qualifications and experience. The apprentice is likely to be required to demonstrate an aptitude for functional maths and competence in written and spoken English.
Duration of the Apprenticeship
15 months
On program delivery Subject Matter Led expert Masterclasses ( face to face or online) Technical knowledge workshops (Face to face or online) Online courses Hand on Projects Coaching and Mentoring Access to tools and labs Development skills workshops Maths and English Functional skills
Role Profile
The primary role of an IT salesperson is to sell the companies technical products and services. They will need a good knowledge and understanding of the portfolio of technologies that are available. They will work to maintain a good relationship with existing clients to ensure further business and to be able to approach potential customers with the aim of winning new business. They will maintain a through understanding of existing technologies and those that are emerging.
Typical Job Roles
Sales Assistant, Sales Consultant, Sales Engineer, Entry level customer support, Technical Retail Assistant, Technical Tele Sales, Junior Account Manager
Entry Requirements
Individual employers will set the selection criteria, but this might include GCSEs; A levels, level 2 apprenticeship or other relevant qualifications and experience and / or an aptitude test, with a focus on functional maths.
Duration of the Apprenticeship
12 months
On program delivery Subject Matter Led expert Masterclasses ( face to face or online) Technical knowledge workshops (Face to face or online) Online courses Hand on Projects Coaching and Mentoring Access to tools and labs Development skills workshops Maths and English Functional skills
Role Profile
A Junior Content Producer (also referred to as a Creative Content Assistant) is responsible for
developing and creating content that can be used across a variety of media including digital, social media, broadcast or in print.
Typical Job Roles
Creative content assistant, Digital Marketer, Content Creator, Online Marketer
Entry Requirements
Individual employers will set their own entry requirements, but this will typically include English and Maths at GCSE Grade C or above. Apprentices without English or Maths Level 2 must achieve this prior to taking the end point assessment.
Duration of the Apprenticeship
15 months to 18 months
On program delivery Subject Matter Led expert Masterclasses ( face to face or online) Technical knowledge workshops (Face to face or online) Online courses Hand on Projects Coaching and Mentoring Access to tools and labs Development skills workshops Maths and English Functional skills
Role Profile
The primary role of a Software Tester is to ensure that software operates as intended.
Testers typically design and prepare test plans and conduct software testing as appropriate to ensure that software is fit for purpose. They document and report the results of testing activities. They have a good understanding of the software lifecycle and software development practices.
Typical Job Roles
Software Tester, Software Test Analyst
Entry Requirements
Individual employers will set the selection criteria, but this might include ve GCSEs; A levels; a Level 3 Apprenticeship; other relevant qualifications and experience; or an aptitude test, with a focus on functional maths.
Duration of the Apprenticeship
24 months
On program delivery Subject Matter Led expert Masterclasses ( face to face or online) Technical knowledge workshops (Face to face or online) Online courses Hand on Projects Coaching and Mentoring Access to tools and labs Development skills workshops Maths and English Functional skills
Role Profile
A Software Development Technician typically works as part of a software development team, to builds simple software components (whether web, mobile or desktop applications) to be used by other members of the team as part of larger software development projects. They will interpret simple design requirements for discrete components of the project under supervision. The approach will typically include implementing code, which other team members have developed, to produce the required component. . The Software Development Technician will also be engaged in testing that the specific component meets its intended functionality.
Typical Job Roles
Software Development Technician, Junior Developer, Junior Web Developer, Junior Application Developer, Junior Mobile App Developer, Junior Games Developer, Junior Software Developer, Junior Application Support Analyst, Junior Programmer, Assistant Programmer and Automated Test Developer.
Entry Requirements
Individual employers will set the selection criteria, but this might include ve GCSEs; A levels; a Level 3
Apprenticeship; other relevant qualifications and experience; or an aptitude test, with a focus on functional IT skills.
Duration of the Apprenticeship
18 months
On program delivery Subject Matter Led expert Masterclasses ( face to face or online) Technical knowledge workshops (Face to face or online) Online courses Hand on Projects Coaching and Mentoring Access to tools and labs Development skills workshops Maths and English Functional skills
Role Profile
This occupation is found in industries and organisations that interact and communicate with their customers and end user online, for example the videogame industry and software providers. It is a key role for such employers, from small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to large organisations.
The broad purpose of the occupation is to facilitate and instigate direct communication online between the end user or customer and the organisation.
Typical Job Roles
Community Manager, Consumer experience Manager
Entry Requirements
Individual employers will set the selection criteria, but this might include ve GCSEs; A levels; a Level 3 Apprenticeship; other relevant qualifications and experience; or an aptitude test, with a focus on functional maths.
Duration of the Apprenticeship
24 months
On program delivery Subject Matter Led expert Masterclasses ( face to face or online) Technical knowledge workshops (Face to face or online) Online courses Hand on Projects Coaching and Mentoring Access to tools and labs Development skills workshops Maths and English Functional skills
HIRING AN APPRENTICE
BEFORE YOU HIRE AN APPRENTICE
Consider your needs
Although Apprenticeships are a great way to introduce talent into your organisation, it might happen that other Government programmes such as the Kickstarter scheme or Traineeship would work better for you. If you’re not sure what’s the difference and which one would suit your organisation the most, contact us and we’ll be happy to discuss it with you.
Choose the right training provider
Purple Beard Training is an ideal apprenticeship training provider for IT solutions companies, FinTech companies, organisations that want to scale, public sector like local authorities, NHS, HRMC, police, schools, housing associations, charities, etc. This is because we try to understand first what technologies you as an employer are implementing and tailor our training to suit those requirements.
Think about level and duration of the training
There are four levels of apprenticeship in England: intermediate, advanced, higher and degree. All of them involve a work-based learning programme and lead to nationally recognised qualifications. Apprenticeships take 1 to 5 years to complete depending on their level: intermediate apprenticeships typically last between one year and 18 months; advanced apprenticeships are usually studied over two years; higher and degree apprenticeships take three-to-six years to complete
TRAINING DELIVERY
HOW WE TRAIN TALENT
MULTIMODAL
LEARNING APPROACH
We know that everyone learns differently and that’s why we’re applying multimodal approach in order to enhance everyone’s learning to maximum.
SOFT SKILLS
DEVELOPMENT
We support Apprentices with soft skills and personal development, teaching them critical Thinking, Research skills, Self Awareness, Emotional Intelligence and Growth Mindset.
ROLE BASED
LEARNING
We train the skills your organisation needs, making sure your Apprentice develops skills required for their role and can be applied in their daily tasks.
USING
BEST TECHNOLOGY
We have partnered with OneFile eportfolio and learning software that allows us to real-time track your apprentice progress and efficiently manage their training.
RECRUITMENT PROCESS
HIRING APPRENTICESHIPS
- 1. Get in touch explaining your case. We’ll get back to you within 2 working days with initial engagement form
- 2. New Recruit – if you want to hire a new recruit, we’ll discuss the job and advertising aspects
- 3. We pre-assess the candidates before putting them forward for a final interview with an employer
- 4. Selection by employer
- 5. Enrollment process carried out with apprentices
- 6. Training starts – on program reviews every 8 weeks between manager apprentice and coach
HOW WE SUPPORT YOU AND YOUR APPRENTICE
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POINTS OF INTERACTION
020 8045 4405
admin@purplebeard.co.uk
Online chat
Teachers
WE CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR FROM YOU!
Speak to our team today
If you’d like to talk about Tech Bootcamps and Apprenticeships, a potential partnership, working with Purple Beard or you have any other questions, please contact us and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
