I’m finally half way through my L&D apprenticeship. This is what I’ve learnt so far.
Seemingly years ago, back in September 2023, I enrolled on the Level 5 Learning and Development Consultant/Business Partner apprenticeship, which is accredited by the CIPD. Usually, this is a 2-year programme, which would suggest I should be nearly done by now! Instead, thanks to a break in learning for my maternity leave, I’ve just hit the 50% complete milestone.
Over the past nearly 2 years, this is what I have learnt.
1. You might not find an apprenticeship easy, just because you have a higher level qualification through a traditional learning route.
Prior to starting my apprenticeship (Level 5), I had already successfully completed an undergraduate degree (Level 6) and a PGCE (Level 7). I did my PGCE at Oxford, so am not a stranger to academic challenge. Given my previous academic experience, I was fully expecting to find the apprenticeship easy.
While I have found most of the essay and research based tasks pretty straightforward, the apprenticeship focus is much more on practical and applied learning than theoretical academic work. I’ve found this much more challenging as it’s a completely new way of learning for me!
2. Apprenticeships are flexible!
As I mentioned in the opening paragraph of this post, I have taken much longer to complete this apprenticeship than most people will do, because I took 9 months off work for maternity leave! In traditional qualifications, taking this amount of time away from studying would be a complex process that could end in you needing to re-take parts of your course or having to drop out all together. Apprenticeships have the option to take a ‘break in learning’, which usually can last for up to 12 months. These breaks in learning can be used for maternity leave, as in my case, or for other reasons like long term illness, caring responsibilities or career breaks. The process for taking a break in learning is generally super simple and means you don’t have to worry about life getting in the way of your study.
I’ve also moved employer without having any impact on my apprenticeship. In my case this was moving from one government department to another, so not a completely new organisation. If you were moving from one private company to another, or from government to private sector, this may be a little more tricky. However, it is possible!
This kind of flexibility is one of my favourite aspects of the apprenticeship system, and it is where I think apprenticeships really stand out from other qualification methods.
3. Not everything you learn will be relevant right now.
I currently work in L&D within the civil service, which differs from L&D in private business as we have different ways of managing budgets, different aims and different approaches to strategy.
Much of what I have learnt on the apprenticeship is quite understandably aimed at private business, as this makes up the majority of employers! As a result, I have run into a few tasks that are quite difficult to complete – a task to do with recruitment for example, was particularly difficult as we would recruit in a very specific way using the civil service system, which didn’t meet the criteria of the apprenticeship task. In these situations it’s been really helpful to have a good skills coach, who has been able to help me apply what is relevant, and understand the different approaches and how they could be used elsewhere.
In the moment this might seem like a waste of time, but by engaging in learning that isn’t relevant right now I am setting myself up for future success. I might not spend my entire career in the civil service, so by understanding the role of L&D in the private sector, I am going to be more successful if I ever do make that public – private transition.
4. It’s easier with a community.
With a more niche subject like L&D, it is not unusual to be the only apprentice in your team or even in your wider organisation on your particular course. This can feel a little isolating, especially when you are struggling.
I have found that the workshops and webinars are great for getting to know your cohort and having a chat about some of the things you might be finding hard, but these are only every few weeks. The first cohort I was part of had a WhatsApp group chat, which was helpful but did fizzle out eventually.
On my quest for community, I set up an ‘HR Apprentice Peer Support’ Network in my organisation. We meet once per month to talk about our apprenticeship and to help each other out. We also have a teams channel and know how to contact each other if we need additional peer support. I’m still the only L&D apprentice but connecting with the HR support and People Professional apprentices has been amazing for making me feel more supported!
While it hasn’t always been easy and I’ve taken a bit of a longer route, the L&D apprenticeship has been a really positive experience for me so far and I excited to get on and finish the second half!