The National Skills Academy for Rail (NSAR), contracted by the Education & Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) has successfully delivered an Apprenticeship Intermediary Service reaching almost 700 intermediary organisations across England, bringing invaluable practical advice on the new way in which smaller employers will access and engage with apprenticeships.
New legislation was introduced in January 2020, opening up the apprenticeship service for all businesses, not just large ones, allowing employers who do not pay the apprenticeship levy to take more control over how they engage with apprenticeships. This ensures they are doing the best for the long-term economic health and profitability of their business and encourages the continuation of high-quality apprenticeships.
“There are over two million smaller employers in England who now have more choice and control over the ways in which they engage with apprenticeships and access apprenticeship funding,” explains Sara O’Brien, Apprentice Intermediary Service Project Lead at NSAR. “NSAR has been delivering a support service since December 2019 taking a ‘one-to-many’ approach in reaching smaller employers to raise the awareness of the changes to apprenticeships. We’ve engaged with over 1,000 individuals from almost 700 intermediaries and worked in partnership with these excellent organisations to ensure they have access to the right tools to help them aid their smaller employers in navigating their way through the changes to apprenticeships. These intermediaries play a vital part in reaching 2.6 million employers in England.”
The Apprenticeship Intermediary Service was delivered by the National Skills Academy for Rail (NSAR) in partnership with the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). The service was set up specifically to help smaller business intermediaries support SMEs across England in better understanding the recent changes to apprenticeships and how this impacts them as smaller employers.
“We’ve attended, facilitated and delivered over 150 events across England in collaboration with intermediaries such as Local Enterprise Partnerships, Chambers of Commerce, Combined Authorities and sector bodies such as CITB, as well as lots of other local business intermediary groups,” explains O’Brien. “Smaller employers are encouraged to get involved and register with the online apprenticeship service helping them to benefit from high quality apprenticeships. We’ve developed resources, tools and information for local and regional business intermediary groups to use with their employer networks as well as delivering workshops, masterclasses and webinars. The engagement from intermediaries has been outstanding and they’ve demonstrated a real commitment to apprenticeships and smaller employers. To galvanise such a network of national partnership working in just four months has been incredible and a real testament to the intermediaries involved and the ESFA.”
Intermediaries and local businesses across England can now access all the tools and knowledge they need to successfully navigate the apprenticeship service via NSAR’s new microsite at apprenticeshipintermediaryservice.co.uk