Following the launch of ISCVE’s new Apprenticeship pages, supporting member TOA Corporation (UK), has shared its own apprenticeship journey — showing how an eager starter can develop into a site-ready engineer. This article distils TOA’s insights and highlights the key considerations employers should keep in mind when setting up an apprenticeship pathway.

In 2022 at TOA Corporation (UK) Ltd, we decided to take the plunge and look at setting up an apprenticeship scheme. The reason behind this thought process was a realisation that the skills our technical team have are unique and if we do not start passing them on to a younger generation of engineers, eventually they would be a lost skill altogether.

We know that our industry is utterly distinctive and that the skills you need to build our rack public address and voice alarm systems would not be covered by regular electrical training, so we set about researching and implementing our first apprenticeship placement to match what we do.

From experience, we know people do not look at apprenticeships in the AV industry or that they are hard to find with a relevant college course, so hopefully we can give you an insight into the process that will help expand this in the wider AV world.

What is an Apprenticeship?

An apprenticeship is the opportunity to learn a trade or skill with at least 20% of your time being allocated to gaining a qualification. As an apprentice you are an employee entitled to the same benefits, holidays etc, as other employees, and as well as gaining a qualification, get to learn from professionals in your chosen industry.

Apprenticeships can take between 1 and 5 years to complete and may not be the same length of time as the educational element of the scheme.

There are various levels of Apprenticeship schemes from GCSE (level 2) right up to Masters Degree.

Setting up a Scheme

The first thing you must do is find a college course that aligns with what training you want to offer and the level of skill you require. For the AV industry this is currently quite challenging as many colleges offer apprenticeships in domestic electrical skills, but not commercial. Also, assuming you want your apprentice to be fairly local, you also need to think about how they are going to get to and from work and to and from college as they migrate between their hybrid learning pattern. Remember, if you are taking on a young person they might not yet have learnt to drive, so this is a consideration

It is important, at this stage, to understand that the college course and the apprenticeship are two separate things that run in conjunction with each other and that the college work and apprenticeship can run in different time frames.

For example, the course we chose was a BTEC Diploma Level 3 in Advanced Manufacturing Engineering but the apprenticeship that goes with this is Level 3 Engineering Fitter.

What is the difference?

The BTEC is delivered in college and is assessed by written exams, practical work and assessments like any college course.

The mandatory units are Maths, Health and Safety, Project and Communications.

The apprenticeship framework is assessed by The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education using KSBs (knowledge, skills, behaviours) and an EPA (End Point Assessment).

This is run in combination with an approximate 50/50 split. However, it is important to note that the structure is not necessarily clear at the start of the process, as all initial contact is via the college.

Funding

Apprenticeships must be affiliated to a college or university education. The funding that is allocated to an apprenticeship pays for this education and the support that goes with it. The employer is responsible for paying the wage and any additional costs that are incurred. This could include things such as obtaining an ECS card for site visits, providing PPE or transport  – the same as for any other employee.

The minimum wage for apprenticeships is set by the government, but you can choose to pay above this and opt for the higher minimum wage for age or the living wage. TOA chose to go above the minimum wage, especially as we are affiliated to the Living Wage Scheme. Building in the costs of travel etc when you decide what you are going to set as a wage, will ensure that your apprentice is not paying to come to you and there is value in becoming an apprentice. This is key to attracting the best candidates.

Your apprentice will be given set college hours, and these may be set as day release and/or evening classes. College hours count towards their working week. So, if your week is 37.5 hours and college takes 10 of them (whether day-release or evening), simply schedule the remaining 27.5 hours at work. For example, our TOA standard week is 37.5 hours and our apprentice was in college for 10 hours of that time so we had to work out how to accommodate the remaining 27.5 into their TOA based days and ensure they could still get proper breaks and can reach their classes on time.

Once you have your apprentice, ensure that they have regular one-to-ones, to ensure they are keeping up and are genuinely understanding and enjoying their work and making progress. It is an investment, so you want to get it right and be encouraging from the start.

Stages

• Find a suitable college course and contact the apprenticeship team.
• Write a job description and complete the apprenticeship vacancy form that goes back to the college.
• This will then be loaded into the national apprenticeship scheme government portal so that applicants can apply.
• Potential applicants then submit their CV via the portal, and you can view, download and short-list for interview
• Employ your apprentice giving someone a great opportunity to join the AV industry.

Key things to take away

• Start early. Most courses begin in September and colleges shut over summer, so aim to have everything signed off before the holiday, otherwise you will not have a point of contact.
• Confirm college dates. In our case the course ran to different term dates than the main college.
• Plan the logistics. Help your apprentice work out timings, how to get to college and what support they need.
• Design a workplace learning plan. In the early days they will not have the skill set so it is important to give them plenty of additional projects to do such as learning basic welding.
• Help with additional skills. Guide them through joining ISCVE to obtain their ECS card, set aside time for driving lessons (hugely useful for engineers), and make sure they feel valued and well looked after.

What happens next?

We are delighted that Luke, our apprentice, has just qualified with distinction – many congratulations to him. He completed his apprenticeship in record time as he was very focussed.  He worked on his EPA presentation and project alongside his practical training with our technical team and his college work. He continues to learn with the TOA team, but we have seen his confidence and competency grow and he is now out on-site fault finding and working with clients on his own. He has the option to do an HNC, but at the moment he is continuing to grow and learn at TOA.

We thought it would be useful to include his thoughts:

What made you follow the apprenticeship route rather than going to university?

I had already decided that University was not for me as I could not decide what subject I wanted to study for 3-4 years. Post GCSEs, I went the BTEC route anyway and did lots of research. Many colleges focus on domestic electrical apprenticeships, which is not what I wanted to do, so the TOA profile appealed because it was commercial and a different industry than anything I had come across before.

Was it easy to apply?

Yes, you apply through the government portal and then your CV gets sent to the prospective employer.  Then like any other job, you get called to interview – which was an experience.

Challenges

The main challenge was travelling to get to college on split days, but I soon learnt to drive and would say that driving is essential if you are an engineer.

As a young person, getting to meet new people and stepping into an adult world was a little daunting at first, but I soon settled and the team at TOA were very approachable and easy to get on with. I never felt unable to approach anyone if I had a question.

Learning new skills was a challenge, but I had lots of support from TOA’s technical team who explained things in a way I could understand. Now I am qualified, I am much more confident especially talking to customers and going out on site by myself.

Highlights

Taking the decision to earn as I learn was a good choice for me. The team at TOA were very supportive and encouraging.  They ensured I learnt the necessary skills, not just building and designing racks, but life skills such as how to deal with customers, working in a team and solving problems that arise in the workplace.

“I feel I have learnt valuable skills and my transition into full time work employee has been a great journey. I am still at the start of my career and still have a lot to learn but being an apprentice has put me on the right track for a long career in commercial audio.” Luke, TOA Corporation

Find out more here:

Apprenticeships