Think that an apprentice might work for your business, but you want to know how it works in practice?
It’s natural to worry that the process might be disruptive to your organisation, but we’ve done this thousands of times, and we know how to make it easy for you.
Here’s how it typically works.
Finding your apprentice
Most employers don’t come to us with a candidate lined up.
You tell us what you need - including the skills they must have and the sort of person who will fit in your team
We’ll find you the right candidate.
If you already have someone in mind, we can match them to the right programme and get them trained up.
Steps to your apprentice
You get in touch. You tell us what you need from an apprentice.
Find your candidate. You may already have someone in mind, or you can use our recruitment services to find them.
We visit you. Before anyone starts, our team comes to your workplace to carry out a health and safety assessment.
You make the offer. Once everyone's happy, the candidate is offered the place.
They start. September is our main intake point, but shorter courses start throughout the year.
We run this process hundreds of times a year, so you won't be navigating it alone.
The typical year
November to December. Share your workforce and skills plan with us.
January to February. Your vacancy goes live and we start advertising it.
Early spring. Meet potential apprentices at Make UK Open Day.
March to May. Interviews, assessments and candidate selection.
May to June. You choose your candidate and make a firm offer.
June to August. We help you get ready for their arrival.
September. This is when our main intake begins, with other start dates available depending on the standard.
Testimonials
"Working with Make UK ensures all of our apprentices receive the same quality of training and the same programme, wherever they are based across the UK.
We’ve worked closely with Make UK to tailor training so it fits with our needs and our industry.
Make UK also has very good resources - the equipment, the workshop and facilities are all excellent.
The residential service Make UK offers also lets us work with them across our sites.
Our apprentices feel as if they’ve had a university experience and, as an employer, it’s reassuring that Make UK’s programme covers safeguarding."
Karen Harris, Early Careers Manager, Ibstock Plc
More on our Apprenticeships
Before your apprentice starts, we’ll visit your workplace to carry out a health and safety assessment.
As well as checking that it’s safe for your apprentice, we’ll also get a proper look at your machinery, your processes and your standards.
So when your apprentice is learning at the Technology Hub they’ll be able to connect it to the work they'll be doing for you.
The health and safety visit is a key part of getting your business ready for your apprentice’s arrival, alongside agreeing a mentor and sorting onboarding.
Block release is where your apprentice trains with us in concentrated blocks, usually a few weeks at a time.
In the first year, apprentices typically attend the Tech Hub for around four weeks at a time. Then they’ll be back with you for a while before the next block.
In years two, three and four, attendance blocks become shorter, and your apprentice spends more time in your workplace and less time at the Technology Hub.
As they progress, their training shifts from building the foundations to applying them on your shop floor.
By the final year, you'll have someone who’s mostly working for you and topping up specific skills at the Technology Hub, instead of disappearing for a month at a time.
The full year-by-year schedule is confirmed in advance, which means you can plan around it the same way you would handle annual leave or scheduled maintenance.
We stay involved once your apprentice starts, and we’re here to support you through the process.
Our team regularly visits your workplace through the programme to check progress and make sure the training is on the right track.
And our door is always open.
You’re always welcome to visit the Technology Hub to see how your apprentice is doing. There's no need to wait for an open day.
If something isn't working for you or for your apprentice, talk to us. We'd rather know than have you manage it alone.
If your business isn’t anywhere near our Technology Hub in Aston, it’s not a problem. We have residential options for apprentices who don’t live locally.
During block release weeks, apprentices can stay at an approved nearby hotel so they’re not commuting from across the country every day.
They settle into the hotel for the four-week block then go home when the block ends.
It means that a business in Newcastle, Plymouth or anywhere else can take on a Make UK apprentice in the same way that a Birmingham organisation can.
And living alongside other engineers for weeks at a time builds a focus and camaraderie that makes them even better apprentices.
We can talk you through exactly how this would work for your apprentice when we speak.
Our Technology Hub in Aston is a one-of-a-kind engineering facility with an industry’s-worth of equipment under one roof.
Alongside that, we’re rated 4.8 on Trustpilot and hold a Grade 2 Ofsted rating.
As the national body for UK manufacturing, we hear what employers need their apprentices to do, and we build the programme around that.
Our tutors learned the job themselves in industry, with most having decades of experience before they moved into the classroom.
Apprentices know they don’t have to go anywhere else with their questions - their tutors already know the answer.
Take the next step
Now you know how the process works, learn how we can help you find your perfect candidate.
Find out more about how much it costs and what funding is available to you.