
ENGLAND
Apprenticeships programmes The Open University offers in England.
The Open University (OU) has been transforming students' lives and delivering high standards of education for over half a century.
We offer Higher Apprenticeships and Degree Apprenticeships across the UK delivered by blended learning, to allow greater flexibility for employers and apprentices.
Our apprenticeships provision comprises healthcare, policing, social work, digital, systems thinking, management and leadership in England, and digital and IT programmes in Wales.
An apprenticeship is a job with training. Apprentices spend most of their time on their day-to-day role (on-the-job training) but also spend some time completing learning activities (off-the-job protected training time). This is time planned and agreed with the employer.
Apprenticeships develop employees’ professional knowledge, skills and behaviours whilst they’re working in your organisation, enhancing their performance and expertise. Find out how apprenticeships can benefit your organisation.
Apprenticeships are delivered by the employer, in partnership with an approved apprenticeship provider like the OU. They’re available from Level 2 to Level 8.
We offer apprenticeships from Level 4 to Level 7 in England and Level 6 in Wales.
Develop the skills which are relevant for your organisation, improve productivity and staff morale.
Earn while you learn and develop the skills you need to gain access to sectors you want to work in.
The Open University has offered apprenticeships since 2016 and now offers higher and degree programmes in healthcare, policing, social work, digital, systems thinking, management and leadership in England. Digital and IT programmes are offered in Scotland and Wales.
Our extensive geographical reach enables consistent educational programmes to be delivered at scale, across geographically dispersed workforces, from individual learners to whole cohorts.
The Open University is rated ‘Good’ from Ofsted (Level 5 apprenticeships).
Currently we don’t offer apprenticeships in Northern Ireland. If you are an employer and would like to develop your workforce, browse the Open University offer for businesses to find the courses that best satisfy the training needs of your organisation. If you are an individual considering to study with The Open University, visit our courses website, where you will find a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications and modules.
An apprenticeship is a job with a formal programme of training. The time that employers must allocate to this training can vary between programmes. The planned training hours will be detailed in the Training Plan. Note that in England and Wales, this time is called 'off-the-job training' and in Scotland, it is called 'protected time'. This is time for the apprentice to engage in the learning with the OU.
For full guidance visit:
Off-the-job protected training time is defined as learning which is undertaken outside of the normal day-to-day working environment within contracted hours, leading towards the achievement of an apprenticeship.
It must:
Click on the flowchart below to see what counts as off-the-job protected training time.
Examples of what could be included (*) | Examples of what's not included (*) |
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(*) More detailed information can be found in the Apprenticeships: off-the-job training guide.
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