Apprenticeships are a fantastic way to develop your skills, gain valuable work experience, and achieve a recognised qualification - all while earning a salary.
Whether you’re starting your career, looking to upskill, or considering a change in direction, apprenticeships offer a practical, accessible route to achieving your goals.
In this blog, we’ll explore the top five benefits of apprenticeships and how a Thrive apprenticeship can help you make a meaningful impact while advancing your career.
What is an apprenticeship?
An apprenticeship is an excellent way to gain hands-on experience while working towards a recognised professional qualification. Combining structured learning with practical, on-the-job training, apprenticeships are designed to help you develop the skills and knowledge needed to progress your career in a specific area.
Who can do an apprenticeship?
Whether you’re looking to gain experience, upskill or change careers, an apprenticeship could be the ideal next step. While it’s often assumed that apprenticeships are just for young people, there’s no upper age limit on who can become an apprentice, making them a fantastic opportunity for individuals of all ages to learn new skills.
To be eligible, you must be 16 or over, living in England, and not in full-time education. While these are the general requirements, some apprenticeships may have additional criteria. For example, Thrive apprenticeships require you to already be in a role where you’re working closely with children and young people.
The top 5 benefits of an apprenticeship:
1. You can earn while you learn
Apprenticeships enable you to attend training, gain hands-on experience, and get paid. This means you can maintain a secure income while you learn, and unlike other learning pathways, for example a university degree, you’ll complete your programme without the burden of a student loan.
2. You get high-quality training and practical experience
Apprenticeships provide the ideal combination of practical work experience and world-class education from experts in the field.
Hands-on experience helps you to develop skills on the job in a real-life work environment. This gives you the opportunity to put theory into practice, work alongside colleagues and gain useful work experience while completing your training.
Off-the-job training gives you the time to deepen your knowledge, learn from experienced professionals, and undertake practical activities like shadowing and mentoring.
3. It’s funded!
Doing an apprenticeship means you can upskill at no cost to you and with little or no cost to your employer.
There are different funding routes available depending on your organisation. The main source of funding is the Apprenticeship Levy Fund.
The levy is essentially a tax on large employers, designed to fund apprenticeship training and increase the number of apprenticeships available.
If your setting pays into the apprenticeship levy, they can use their contributions to fund apprenticeship training for staff. If your setting doesn’t pay into the levy, they pay just 5% of the training costs, with the remaining 95% covered by the government.
Employers with unspent levy funds can also transfer up to 50% of their contributions to another employer. This means you could benefit from another organisation’s levy funds to cover the full cost of an apprenticeship. Download your guide to the apprenticeship levy here.
4. You can specialise in an area you’re passionate about and gain a recognised qualification
Apprenticeships offer the opportunity to gain a qualification that is recognised nationally, while gaining experience and expertise in an area you’re passionate about.
There is a range of apprenticeship levels, from level 2 (equivalent to a GCSE) to level 7 (equivalent to a master’s degree), which means there are different options to meet your career goals and existing experience.
5. Open doors to new career opportunities
Completing an apprenticeship can lead to exciting new career opportunities. As you gain new qualifications, practical skills, and real-world experience, you’ll build a strong foundation for career development.
Employers value the combination of theoretical knowledge and hands-on expertise that apprenticeships provide, putting you in a great position for future roles.
Thrive apprenticeships
If you think an apprenticeship could be a fit for you, and you’re passionate about making a positive impact on the lives of children and young people, a Thrive apprenticeship could be the perfect next step in your career.
Just starting your career pathway with Thrive?
The Thrive Wellbeing Leadership Apprenticeship and Thrive Wellbeing Specialist Teaching Assistant Apprenticeship offer unique opportunities to build your expertise and make a real difference to the children and young people you work with. Both offer dual awards, meaning you'll gain a level 5 qualification (equivalent to a foundation degree) and sought-after Thrive Licensed Practitioner status.
Already a Thrive Licensed Practitioner?
Whether you’re looking to deepen your impact with pupils or lead the strategic implementation of Thrive across a school or organisation, we’ve got two tailored pathways to suit your goals. Choose the Thrive Advanced Practitioner Apprenticeship to enhance your direct work with children in the classroom, or the Thrive Advanced Practitioner Leadership Apprenticeship to drive whole-school or trust-wide adoption of Thrive practices.
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