Off the Job Training

During your apprenticeship, you will spend 80% of your time training ‘on the job’ – learning from your manager, your colleagues and the other people around you. 

 

The remaining 20% is called ‘off-the-job’ training.  This is training you do as part of your apprenticeship but which does not involve your day-to-day work duties, and it is vital for the completion of your apprenticeship. Off-the-job training can include training that is delivered at your normal place of work (but not as part of your normal working duties) or training done off-site.

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Off-the-job training must be directly relevant to the apprenticeship and can include:​​

The teaching of theory (lectures, role playing, simulation exercises, online learning, manufacturer training etc)

Practical training, shadowing, mentoring, industry visits, and participation in competitions

Learning support and time spent writing assessments/assignments.

Off-the-job training does not include:​

Training to acquire knowledge, skills and behaviours that are not required in the Standard or Framework

Progress reviews or on-programme assessment required for an apprenticeship Framework or Standard

Training which takes place outside the apprentice’s normal working hours

Functional Skills

How we work out 20%

 

"To be eligible for government funding at least 20% of the apprentice’s normal working hours, over the planned duration of the training period within the apprenticeship (for standards this is called the practical period, which ends at the gateway for end-point assessment), must be spent on off-the-job training."

 

We calculate how many working days there are between your start and end dates and take off days of annual leave and days of bank holiday.  This tells us how many working days you will have during your apprenticeship.

We then multiply this by your average hours at work per day, which tells us how many hours you will work over the course of your apprenticeship.  We find 20% or one fifth of this to tell us how many hours of off-the job training you need to meet the requirements of the apprenticeship standard.

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