Business and Administration (BA) Apprenticeships

• Overview
• Description of the Sector
• What Type of Job might a BA Apprentice do?
• Entry Requirements: What Skills/Qualities do Apprentices need?
• Framework
• How long does the Apprenticeship take to complete?
• Certification
• Career Progression
• Need more Info?

Overview

This Apprenticeship is about playing an important support role within a business or organisation. Administrators handle the day-to-day tasks in an office and make sure things run smoothly – 97% of employers say that effective administration is essential to their business, so they do a crucial job. The term ‘administration’ covers roles that involve organising people and resources, including, executive assistants, secretaries, administration assistants, data entry clerks and office juniors. Without them, information would be hard to find, meetings would be missed and businesses would be less productive. As a business and administration apprentice, your exact duties will depend on your employer. It’s likely that you’ll be working with a team or member of staff to handle various tasks. You may be typing up board meeting documents, putting financial information together in spreadsheets, sending the daily post, or faxing and photocopying confidential documents. This sort of work requires a strong sense of responsibility, accuracy and attention to detail. One of the great things about business and administration is that you can work almost anywhere. With your transferable skills, you could be working in a record company or a charity. Administration roles are also an excellent starting point to move into management once you have more experience.

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Description of the Sector:

The key purpose of Administration as defined by CfA is to:

´Provide business support systems, processes and services that enable the organisation to achieve its objectives and continuously improve its performance for the customer.´

Administration is a function that permeates all organisations. At its broadest level, it is the organisation of work. There are approximately 4.7million people working in Administration. It follows that a high quality administrative function is essential to all businesses and organisations, whatever the product, function or sector. This is expected to rise to 5.2 million by 2012.

Every business needs effective Administration, and the need remains whatever else changes in terms of new products and services, new technologies and new organisational structures. It is vital that administrators are given the opportunity to gain recognised qualifications and experience. The BA Apprenticeships Frameworks are therefore based upon a combination of qualification outcomes, which together provide the breadth and depth of skills and knowledge needed to equip a young person for employment in Business & Administration, while fulfilling the national criteria for Apprenticeships.

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What Type of Job might a BA Apprentice do?

For BA Apprentices employed status is not mandatory but it is the preferred route. Where a BA Apprentice is not employed, there must be a clear link with an employer who can provide on-the-job learning. Job roles for apprentices must reflect the level of the BA NVQ they are taking.

Job titles will vary but at Level 2 (BA Apprenticeship) include:

• Administration Assistant
• Clerical Assistant
• Data Entry Clerk
• Filing/Records Clerk
• Junior Secretary
• Office Clerk

At Level 3 (BA Advanced Apprenticeship):

• Administration Clerk
• Administration Officer
• Administration Team leader
• Database Clerk
• Executive Officer
• Office Supervisor
• Personal Assistant (PA)
• Secretary

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Entry Requirements: What Skills/Qualities do Apprentices need?

There are no minimum academic criteria for entry onto the programmes except where employers set their own entry requirements. The ability to be a successful BA apprentice may be indicated by a range of achievements and attributes.

Direct entry onto the BA Advanced Apprenticeship is possible; however the CfA expects that most entrants will progress from the Level 2 BA Apprenticeship.

Successful applicants may be expected to have achieved some of the following:

• A proven commitment to working in the sector, through work experience or work placement
• Achievement of academic and other qualifications e.g. GCSEs, A Levels, NVQs, Duke of Edinburgh award etc.
• Young Apprenticeship in Business Administration
• E2E
• Positions of responsibility held at school or college
• Voluntary work and part-time employment

They may also be expected to have some of the following attributes:

• Motivation to succeed within the industry/sector
• Willingness to learn and apply that learning in the workplace
• Ability to demonstrate that they have the potential to complete the qualifications which are part of the Apprenticeship
• Willingness to communicate effectively with a range of people
• Being numerate and literate
• Willingness to undergo a police check, for example when working with children and vulnerable adults; Police checks are mandatory for all those working with young people under the age of 18 e.g. in the Early years Care and Education sector).

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The Framework:

The framework for each Apprenticeship/Advanced Apprenticeship covers three areas; a Competence Based Element (e.g. NVQs), a Knowledge Based Element (e.g. technical certificates) and Key Skills.

Each NVQ consists of 2 mandatory units and a range of optional units meaning that the qualification can be tailored to specific jobs roles and employer requirements to address skill gaps. These NVQs will be delivered by us at a time and place to suit you. Examples of units include:

• Carry out your responsibilities at work
• Work within your business environment
• Manage diary systems
• Presentation software
• Produce documents
• Website software etc.

Contact us for a more detailed overview of the units available.

The Knowledge Based Element will be delivered and independently assessed through an additional award known as a technical certificate. The technical certificate ensures the apprentice can clearly demonstrate the underpinning and theoretical knowledge required by the sector and therefore helps to up-skill the apprentice and raise standards. The apprentice must complete one of the technical certificates listed in order to complete the framework.

The Key Skills levels state the minimum level required. If a learner has the ability they should be encouraged to achieve a higher level.

BA Apprenticeship Framework (Level 2):

BA Advanced Apprenticeship Framework (Level 3):

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How long does the Apprenticeship take to complete?

Whilst there should be no time serving, the length of time taken will depend on the ability of the individual apprenticeship and employer requirements. The minimum duration acceptable for completion of the BA Apprenticeship should be at least 6 months, and 12 months for the BA Advanced Apprenticeship, unless individual circumstances (such as significant prior learning) make the relevant minimum length of stay inappropriate.

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Certification

Successful Apprentices will receive an Apprenticeship Completion Certificate from GoSkills. This is separate from, and in addition to, those certificates awarded for the achievement of the individual components of the framework e.g. NVQs and Key Skills.

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Career Progression

The acquisition of skills, knowledge and qualifications enable apprentices to progress up the ‘career ladder’. For those who wish to continue their development of skills and qualifications beyond Level 3, opportunities exist to progress to:

• Foundation Degree
• Level 4 NVQ
• Professional Qualifications

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Contact Us

General information about the Apprenticeship scheme can be found at www.apprenticeships.org.uk. If you’d like to apply for an Apprenticeship or find out more information about the training and qualifications ABA Training Ltd can provide you, contact us on 01787 377988 or email us at info@aba-training.com.