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Apprenticeships

The Health Education England Talent for Care Team has a mandate to develop and implement apprenticeships. In doing this we provide alternative routes into professions for individuals and help health and care organisations to meet their staffing needs.

Since 2014, HEE has commissioned Skills for Health to develop Healthcare Apprenticeship Standards Online (HASO), a tool to help health sector managers and employers in England develop and implement apprenticeships.

We have engaged more than 700 different employing organisations in the ‘Trailblazer development programme’ to develop the new occupational standards for apprenticeships. Through this we have directly supported over 90 Trailblazers* in Health and Science, as well as apprenticeships in other routes e.g., education, leadership, business, and wider. This has enabled the NHS to make more use of the apprenticeship model.

There are now apprenticeship opportunities for virtually all occupations to choose from – both clinical and non-clinical roles via an apprenticeship route - creating new entry points and employment offers in the NHS/wider health and care sector.

The NHS also has 260 apprenticeship levy paying organisations. Since April 2017, employers with a pay bill of more than £3 million pay an apprenticeship levy and are then assigned funds through a service account to spend on apprenticeship training. The Apprenticeship Levy gives NHS organisations approximately £200m to spend on the apprentices’ training each year.

The work HEE does with regard to apprenticeships is also contributing to the national drive to recruit a further 50,000 registered nurses. In August 2020, Health Education England announced a new funding package worth up to £172 million for employers to support recruitment and training of Registered Nurse Degree Apprentices. Registered Nurse Degree Apprentices typically start as Nursing Associates before embarking on the Registered Nurse Degree Apprenticeship where they can earn an income on the path to becoming a Registered Nurse. It is anticipated that the new funding package will increase the uptake of registered nurse degree apprentices by 2000 a year, with at least 1400 additional Nursing and Midwifery Council Registered Nurses by 2025.

If you are an existing member of health and care staff or not and interested in pursuing an apprenticeship, please visit the recruitment pages of your local hospital, GP surgery or care home. Or speak to a member of our team.

For NHS employer organisations looking to see how they can offer apprenticeship opportunities, visit Healthcare Apprenticeship Standards Online (HASO) .

*Ref: Employer groups who develop apprenticeship standards with The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education are called ‘Trailblazers’. https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/developing-new-apprenticeships/trailblazer-group/

Achieving functional skills qualifications in English and maths is a key aspiration of all apprenticeships. For many apprenticeships, anyone without the appropriate English and maths qualifications will need to complete these by the time they reach the End Point Assessment gateway. The Skills for Life agenda aims to support learners to reach their potential by empowering employers to provide their learners with functional skills.

HEE has a dedicated national apprenticeship team that works with employers to support the development and delivery of apprenticeships in both health and social care. The team also works with relevant stakeholders and parties on policy and apprenticeships outside the NHS. HEE also has regional colleagues who work and liaise with local employers and Integrated Care Systems.

Health Education England, working across the North East, Yorkshire & Humber hold a ESFA Main Provider apprenticeship contract. We utilise approved subcontractors to supplement our apprenticeship delivery. Further details on these arrangements can be found in the following documents.

Supply Chain Fees and Charges Policy 2022 - 2023

Fees and Charges 2022 - 2023 Academic Year

*Both documents can also be found in the "Related Documents" section of this page.

Skills for Health team