If you want to hire an apprentice or upskill your staff but aren’t sure how, we can help.
We are one of the country’s major apprenticeship providers, working with over 700 firms each year, including multi-nationals like the BBC and RBSL. Our apprenticeships begin all year, and with a large number of qualified applicants seeking for work right now, we can assist you in finding the ideal candidate for your team.
An apprenticeship is ‘work based learning’ enabling employees to combine working in their chosen industry with studying towards occupational standards set by employers, learning on-the-job alongside experienced colleagues in the workplace.
Apprentices earn while they learn, gaining valuable skills and knowledge in a specific job role, giving businesses the chance to train new staff in the skills they need.
Throughout their training, apprentices are supported by college staff who work closely with individual employers to ensure that the skills apprentices are learning are what is required by the business and that they will achieve their full potential and career aspirations.
Apprenticeships are available to anyone over the age of 16 and can be used to train new staff or upskill current employees.
Apprenticeships provide real, measurable business benefits:
- Better productivity: An impressive 96% of employers who take on an apprentice report benefits to their organisation, and estimate each apprentice increases their company’s productivity by £214 per week.
- Lower costs: Training an apprentice is more cost-effective than hiring experienced and skilled staff, and apprenticeships are fully funded for 16 to 18-year-olds.
- Better training: All training and assessment is arranged and delivered by the college, so you can concentrate on running your business and know your apprentice is being supported throughout the programme.
- Better reputation: Many business owners say taking on apprentices helps them improve their image, both within the industry and in the community.
- Improve your organisation’s skills base: The government says skills shortages remain one of the biggest threats to UK businesses. Apprentices bring new ideas and a range of skills which can plug any gaps and this means they can take on a wider range of tasks and responsibilities
- Motivate staff and reduce staff turnover: 88% of employers who employ apprentices believe that apprenticeships lead to a more motivated and satisfied workforce.
Large business? If your business has a salary bill of more than £3 million per year, you are required to contribute to the government’s new apprenticeship levy at a rate of 0.5% of your pay bill. The government will top this up by 10%.
Small business? If your business has a salary bill of less than £3 million per year, you do not have to pay the apprenticeship levy. If the company has more than 50 employees you will only need to pay 5% towards apprenticeship training for new and existing employees. If the company has less than 50 employees, apprenticeship training for new and existing staff is fully-funded, meaning it won’t cost you anything.
For All Employers The government will also pay employers, no matter what size, £1,000 for each 16-18 year old apprentice they employ*.
Additionally, there is no payment of employers NI for all apprentices aged 16-25, up to salaries of £45,000 per year.
*Additional government incentives are currently available – take a look at the apprenticeship funding page for further details.
Interested in finding out more about the apprenticeship levy and how it applies to your business? Visit the dedicated apprenticeship funding page.
Supporting employers every step of the way
It’s important to know that, as an employer, you won’t be on your own throughout the apprenticeship recruitment process. Our employer services team will be on-hand every step of the way to ensure that taking on a new apprentice, or offering apprenticeship training to up-skill your current staff, is as seamless as possible.
How can we help?
We have been awarded the Beacon Award for employer engagement, in recognition of our work with employers, along with the Training Quality Standard. In our latest Ofsted report, inspectors applauded the way staff worked with employers to develop bespoke training and provide a better skilled workforce across the region.
We offer bespoke, flexible and relevant training for employers, and can tailor courses to meet the needs of your business- whether that means providing bitesize training or delivering sessions in your workplace. Our programmes include a comprehensive apprenticeship programme covering a wide range of industry sectors, workplace learning and commercially-funded projects.
We are the largest provider of training for 16-18-year-old apprentices in the area and are the UK’s leading training provider in plastics and polymer processing. We work with more than 700 employers each year, including a number of multi nationals such as the BBC and RBSL. All team of expert trainers are highly qualified, have relevant occupational experience and are committed to continuing professional development.
We continuously invest in new technology to ensure our training facilities remain in line with industry standards.
Our engineering facilities have recently undergone a £500,000 refurbishment including the installation of brand new equipment, including lathes, CNCs and milling machines with the latest software, programmable logic controllers, rapid prototyping machines and circuit assembly equipment, as well as a specialist computer aided design suite offering the latest CAD drafting facilities and workshops with dedicated CAD/CAM PCs
We have invested £300,000 in our Polymer Training & Innovation Centre (PTIC) in Telford, a unique technical training centre offering practical training across a range of processes for the UK polymer industry and equipped with a wide range of specialist machinery used by companies across the country.
We also have a fully-operational modern motor vehicle workshop, 14-booth welding and fabrication workshop, hair training academies in Wolverhampton, Telford and Worcester, a professional training kitchen, restaurant and bakery, industry-standard creative facilities, and a construction innovation centre equipped with trade workshops and a purpose-built gas assessment centre.
Free recruitment service for employers
Recruiting a new member of staff can be a time-consuming process, but if you take on an apprentice through City of Wolverhampton College you can benefit from our FREE recruitment service for employers – and we’ll do it all for you!
From helping you to decide on the professional and personal qualities you’re looking for and the skills and knowledge the company requires, to advertising your vacancy, screening applicants and shortlisting candidates for interview, our FREE recruitment service will ensure you appoint the right person for the job.
What’s more, with a database of enthusiastic young people looking for apprenticeships in a wide range of industries, you’ll have access to pre-screened, interview-ready candidates and get your new apprentice onboard in just a couple of weeks.
And the support doesn’t end there – when the apprentice starts their training you will continue to be supported by a dedicated account manager and training assessor throughout the duration of the programme, providing feedback on progress and support with further training and any other requirements you may have.
Our free recruitment service will help you find the right apprentice for the job, including:
- Identifying your business needs
- Providing a comprehensive candidate search – vacancies are listed on the National Apprenticeships Service website and social media sites, while our close links with school and careers advice agencies ensure we have a talent pool of enthusiastic young people waiting for an apprenticeship
- Screening and shortlisting candidates for interview, meaning you don’t have a pile of CV’s and application forms to work through
- Interviewing the best candidates and providing feedback
- Arranging apprenticeship start dates and follow-up sessions
Support from our employer services team
From the moment you contact us, our dedicated employer services team will provide advice and support and work with you to:
- Select the right training for your business
- Choose the right apprenticeship and apprentice to meet your business needs
- Explain the apprenticeship scheme and how it works
- Help you access funding and provide advice on the latest grants and incentives available
- Agree a training plan that suits your business needs
- Deliver training and provide ongoing support, visiting your workplace to support both you and your apprentice
- Help you to recruit an apprentice – from advertising your vacancy, screening applications, shortlisting candidates and arranging interviews via our free recruitment service
