Why Choose an Apprenticeship in Healthcare?
Some of the reasons you may choose to pursue a career in healthcare include an interest in science and scientific knowledge, the ability to empathise and provide care for people. As well as this, you might have an interest in technology and cutting edge medical procedures, or because you want a career that involves working in a practical team with others.
Apprenticeships are a great way to learn a profession while gaining the knowledge needed to support that practice. This is most helpful in professions that combine academic knowledge with vocational skills, such as healthcare. There are hundreds of different roles and healthcare areas, and you can access many of those via apprenticeships.
For many people, apprenticeships are a way to take their first steps in their career as they enable people with little experience to begin working in a role from day one. If you want to work in healthcare, an apprenticeship can help to fund your training costs whilst also supplying a wage.
Apprenticeships are an alternative route to accessing the qualifications needed to pursue a healthcare career, usually obtained at college or university. Everybody learns in different ways, and while some people are suited to studying in a classroom environment, others are not. Apprenticeships allow you to study for these healthcare qualifications whilst also working and trying out the things you have learnt in a real-world environment. You can even gain degree qualifications via apprenticeships!
What are NHS Apprenticeships?
The majority of healthcare apprenticeship in the UK are through the NHS. The NHS is our national health service that ensures everybody has access to free and safe healthcare no matter who they are. Thousands of people across the UK work for NHS in thousands of different roles and sectors. One popular and successful route into the NHS is through an apprenticeship.
NHS apprenticeships combine classroom learning with job training to help apprentices access more than 350 different careers across the organisation. The NHS offer apprenticeships at all four levels (intermediate, advanced, higher and degree) for people of all ages above 16.
The NHS is split into different trusts across the UK, and each act as its own employer. This means that the entry requirements for apprenticeships will vary from place to place. For specific details on an apprenticeship, please visit your local NHS trust website.
Examples of NHS Apprenticeships
- Dental Nursing (Advanced)
- Podiatry Degree Apprenticeship
- Maternity and Paediatric Support (Advanced)
- Health and Social Care (Intermediate/Advanced)
- Nursing Degree Apprenticeship
- Pharmacy services assistant (Intermediate)
- Informatics (Intermediate/Advanced)
- Apprentice Ambulance Practitioner (Advanced)
As with entry requirements, each NHS trust sets the apprenticeship parameters, including salary, training time and duration. However, there are some general rules which apply across all apprenticeships. You must be paid the National Apprenticeship minimum wage for your age group, and many NHS employers will pay much more than this. You must also spend at least 20% of the entire apprenticeship in off the job training. This might equate to one day a week for the entire programme, or a whole week every month.
To discover more on healthcare apprenticeships, check out our latest blog on apprenticeships for medical degrees. Also take a look at available NHS apprenticeships as well as our listed healthcare apprenticeships.
