Flexible Apprenticeships in Construction

Apprenticeships have been on a transformational journey since 2012, with reforms such as the introduction of employer led standards leading the way in ensuring apprenticeships are relevant, high quality, and meet the skills needs of employers.

In 2020, the Prime Minister committed to building on this success, and making apprenticeships more flexible, to better meet the needs of employers and apprentices.

The ‘Flexible Apprenticeships in Construction’ manual sets out:

• how the delivery of apprenticeship training can be flexed to meet employer needs; and
• how the length of an apprenticeship can be reduced where an individual has existing relevant knowledge or skills.

Some employers are already making use of apprenticeship flexibilities and are seeing the benefits of this, in workforce satisfaction, productivity, and improved value for money. This includes employers who co-authored the manual alongside Government, and Industry bodies.

CITB want employers to think creatively about how they can tailor apprenticeship training to meet their needs. Be it through a flexible delivery model, such as front loading which can support apprentices new to the sector to hit the ground running, to delivering accelerated apprenticeships for more experienced individuals who are able to build on their existing skills and complete more quickly.

To find out more about front loading, download the manual:

Flexible Apprenticeships in Construction, PDF (1MB)

Or visit www.gov.uk/employing-an-apprentice for more information.