- Administration Assistant
- PA/Secretary
- Patient Records Administrator
- Data Entry Clerk
- Office Administrator
- Office Manager
Damar's administration apprentices work in a wide range of sectors including local government and government agencies, education, healthcare, financial services, hospitality, property, media, manufacturing and distribution.
If you are wanting to search and apply for apprenticeship vacancies, please see our vacancy page. Employers looking to recruit new staff or upskill existing employees with a Business Admin Apprenticeship can contact us here.
Level 3 Business Administrator Apprenticeship
Apprentices undertaking this apprenticeship gain a highly transferable set of knowledge, skills and behaviours that can be applied in all sectors. In addition to learning how to develop, implement, maintain and improve administrative services in their organisation, they will develop key skills and behaviours to support their own progression towards management responsibilities.
Apprentices must deliver their responsibilities efficiently and with integrity, showing a positive attitude. As part of the apprenticeship they will develop and demonstrate strong communication skills and adopt a proactive approach to developing skills. The apprentice is also expected to show initiative, managing priorities and own time, problem-solving skills, decision-making and the potential for people management responsibilities.
The Damar Difference
Our Business Admin Apprenticeship programme has been developed to provide flexible and effective training solutions for companies and organisations across England. Key features of these apprenticeships, designed to maximise the benefits for businesses, include:
- Regular one-to-one and group activities by coaches and expert tutors to break learning down into manageable chunks
- Opportunities for apprentices from different companies and regions to learn from each other in our unique online forums
- Tried and tested online learning platforms, including OneFile and Damar OpenLearning, which apprentices can access 24/7
- Support from a specialist team to help apprentices successfully pass their end-point assessment
Business Admin Training Delivery Model
This Business Administrator Apprenticeship standard takes about 15 months to complete. Apprentices have a personal Damar coach who helps students and their employer to plan the programme and stay on track, through regular reviews and other types of feedback and progress tracking.
Delivery is a blend of:
- Online content supporting the development of relevant knowledge, behaviours and skills
- Workshops and live content to underpin the e-learning resources
- Review meetings with the Damar coach and manager
Knowledge: Apprentices develop an in-depth knowledge of their organisation and the wider business environment. This part of the course covers:
- Their organisation and the part that their role plays
- Customers (internal and external) and other stakeholders
- Relevant law and regulation
- Business fundamentals
- Their organisation’s policies and processes
- The impact of market forces, political and other external factors
Skills: Apprentices will develop the skills to apply their knowledge and support career progression, including:
- Relevant IT packages
- How to produce accurate documents and records
- Decision making
- Influencing and communication skills
- Effective planning and organisation
- Project management
Behaviours: Apprentices will make a positive contribution to your organisation’s culture, showing:
- Professionalism
- Integrity, reliability, motivation
- Adaptability
- Responsibility
- Proactivity
Over the course of the apprenticeship, students build an electronic portfolio of evidence that showcases their knowledge, skills and behaviours. If apprentices do not already have maths and English at level 2 or above, students will also study these as part of the apprenticeship standard. After a minimum of 12 months, when apprentices have completed their portfolio and are meeting the standard required, they progress to the final assessment, which consists of:
- A 60 minute online knowledge test
- An interview with the examiner about their portfolio
- A presentation on a project they have completed or a process that they have improved
Eligibility
People of all ages and educational backgrounds can become apprentices, but there are some restrictions, the most important of which are:
- The employer and the training provider must ascertain that the apprenticeship will allow the individual to gain substantive new skills. The training therefore needs to be materially different from any prior qualification or previous apprenticeship;
- The apprentice must be employed, usually for 30+ hours a week, and work more than 50% of their time in England;
- The period of teaching and learning must be at least 12 months and, during this time, apprentices are expected to spend at least 20% of their time in “off the job” training.
Costs
Employers that pay the Apprenticeship Levy are able to pay all of the training costs from their Apprenticeship Levy account.
Employers that do not pay the levy, as well as large employers who have spent their levy budget, pay just 5% of the overall cost, with the government paying the balance. For employers with fewer than 50 employees the 5% contribution is waived for apprentices aged 16-18.
For a newly recruited apprentice, the current grants are £3,000 for employers taking on 16 to 18 year olds; £2,000 for 19-24 year olds and £1,500 at 25+.
There is never any cost to the apprentice, although apprentices’ salaries may reflect the investment being made by the employer.
Progression Routes
Apprentices completing the level 3 standard can choose to go onto to our team leader and management apprenticeships, or study a management degree part-time. Others go into more specialist apprenticeships in areas such as HR, marketing and accountancy.
The Benefits of Business Apprenticeships
Using Business Administration Apprenticeships for new or existing staff can bring many benefits to your business. For example, they can:
- Increase staff loyalty and retention
- Bring fresh talent into your company and re-energise your business
- Improve productivity
- Be more competitive
- Increase revenue
Business Admin Apprentice Case Study
Saskia Kirkam is a Business Admin Apprentice at lettings agent, Abode.
"I decided to do the apprenticeship becase working and learning on the job was appealing to me, as well as earning whilst learning the role and completing the course. The best thing has been getting experience on the job. I landed on my feet with an amazing company. I am so happy to be a part of the Abode team and I would have had the opportunity if I hadn't done the apprenticeship. I love the job and what I do."
