Flexi-Job Apprenticeships Explained

Flexi-Job Apprenticeships explained

Matthew Lord, Co-Founder and Director of LMP Group, is a passionate advocate for apprenticeships.

He has been instrumental in gaining official approval from the Department for Education to join the Flexi-Job Apprenticeship Agency Register (FJAAR) in January 2022.

In his own words, Matthew aims to demystify the concept of ‘Flexi-Job Apprenticeships’ and reveals the many benefits available to organisations looking to invest in talent and grow and develop people.

Looking back to the launch of the FJAAR, Matthew explains:

"In 2021 Inspire ATA was operating successfully, despite the hardships brought about by Covid and we saw the launch of the Flexi-job apprenticeships as an opportunity to promote the concept of an employer 'hosting' an apprentice for shorter durations, a model not widely known for taking on an apprentice."

Benefits of Flexi-Job Apprenticeships

Hire based on your needs – hire an apprentice for shorter durations (minimum 3 months) to meet the needs of your organisation.
Free replacement service – if the apprentice doesn’t work out for whatever reason, Inspire ATA will find a replacement.
No impact on budget or headcount – by hiring an apprentice off-payroll, they don’t impact your permanent headcount.

Less paperwork for you – Inspire ATA manages all the admin and related compliance regarding employment contracts and enrolling the apprentice with a training provider.
Peace of mind – Inspire ATA deals with payroll, holiday allowance, SSP, etc. We manage the apprentice and deal with any issues that arise (safeguarding, grievance and disciplinary matters, etc).

At the time, 95% of our client base was schools, with a demand to take on support staff (as apprentices) for short durations to match school terms when needed.

For example, it might be helpful for a school to take on an apprentice for 7 months to cover the last 2 terms of the academic year (January to July) if the additional resource is needed. As an employment agency, Inspire ATA would then place that same apprentice in a different school in September, with paid holiday being taken in August. A flexible model that works for both the employer and the apprentice!

After being accepted onto the new FJAAR, we formally launched the flexi-job apprenticeship concept in February 2022. Inspire ATA is now one of only 30 organisations in the UK on the approved FJAAR.

There is also a huge opportunity for apprenticeship training providers to offer this concept to their clients, particularly those clients that might be more inclined to take on apprentices if there was an option for a shorter duration or to take them on off-payroll (rather than employ directly).

A pro-active training provider can generate a lot of new business for themselves by working with a flexi-job apprenticeship agency such as Inspire ATA.

We want to ensure our apprentices have a good experience with both their host employer and their training provider. We currently rank 2nd in the 'Rate My Apprenticeship' list of Top 100 Employers 2023-24, click here to read some of our reviews. We are particularly proud of this because the scores are based on the learner reviews.

We are experiencing a record number of starts and our agency is growing. In the last 12 months, we doubled in size (from 100 to 200 apprentices), and we expect to continue this growth.

We meet with the Department for Education on a monthly-basis and they have been very supportive. I think the new FJAAR system works well because there is more emphasis on the shorter durations and flexible approach to taking on an apprentice.

Our flexi-job apprenticeships meet the needs of learners and employers. We work with some schools that have taken on an apprentice to meet shorter-term resourcing needs but most clients commit to the full duration.

They really are the best kept secret in the world of apprenticeships. We are committed to raising the profile of flexi-job apprenticeship and explaining the business benefits available.