EXPLAINING APPRENTICESHIP CONFUSION

The Care as a Career event illustrated a degree of confusion about "Apprenticeships"; read more to see an explanation

When Kate Hobbs and Stacey Harper's presentation on apprenticeships at the Care Academy, Bath College was followed by a presentation from Lindsey Thomas about the Apprenticeship scheme offered by Skills For Care, it was obvious that they were very different beasts, leading to some confusion in the audience about the different levels and associated competences. 

Lindsey Thomas sent us this this explanation for clarity: 

"I thought it might be useful to just pick up a little more on the BTEC qualifications, particularly before the next meeting at Bath College in July. 

My understanding is that the BTEC is a full-time vocational course, aimed at 16-19 year old students and the level 3 is described as a “school leaving” qualification equivalent to 3 A levels.  According to the UCAS website, they are: designed for young people interested in a particular sector or industry but who are not yet sure what job they’d like to do. 

They are therefore, I would imagine, much more generalist in nature than the QCF suite of Health and Social Care qualifications, which are designed, with the exception of the Level 1,  to support people already working in the sector."