2023 - November and December - page 14
Image details
| Issue number | 395 |
|---|---|
| ISSN | 2632-7171 |
| Publication date | 1st November 2023 |
| Transcription |
magazine Professional Development News Professional Development News Sector launches the Archivist and Records Manager apprenticeship In October, The UK National Archives launched the Level 7 Archivist and Records Manager apprenticeship with a hybrid event at their base in Kew, London. After over five years of development work, a total of 22 apprentices have now started at 17 English archives. Our thanks to the following employers for embracing this fantastic opportunity: Durham University; Knowsley Council; Lincolnshire County Council; Nottinghamshire Archives; The Railway Museum (Science Museum Group); St Helen’s Archive Service; Barts NHS Archive Trust; London Metropolitan Archives; The Mercers Company; National Army Museum; National Theatre; St John’s College, University of Oxford; University of Greenwich; Dorset History Centre; Portsmouth Council; Plymouth Council and the National Collections Centre (Science Museum Group). The launch included a panel of key partners, including employers with experience of apprenticeships in the cultural sector. They explained the apprenticeship structure and process and discussed the opportunities and challenges of diversifying the sector’s workforce. While the ARA-accredited postgraduate route will continue to be the right choice for many, the Level 7 apprenticeship (equivalent to a postgraduate degree) will provide an alternative technical training route to becoming a qualified archivist and records manager. Since apprentices earn while they learn, and get all the benefits of a full-time employee, the apprenticeships reduce the financial barriers to a career in recordkeeping. What’s more, the combination of off-the-job and on-the- job learning means that apprentices will have several years of real experience, as and when they complete their apprenticeship, making them highly employable. The learning period of the apprenticeships lasts for three years before the apprentices spend six months preparing for their end-point assessments, run by CILIP Pathways. During the first three years, apprentices spend 80% of their time (or the equivalent of four days a week) doing 14 on-the-job training, getting involved in real projects set by their employer, boosting the organisation’s capacity. For the remaining day a week, the apprentices do off-the-job training with Westminster Adult Education Service. This training will mostly be online but will include bi-monthly in-person sessions in the apprentice’s region. Any organisation in England can join the scheme, as long as it has qualified archive staff with the capacity to support an apprentice. While employers can independently use the apprenticeships as a tool to recruit the best talent, The UK National Archives and the ARA will continue to promote and support. The UK National Archives has commissioned Creative & Cultural Skills (the sector skills council) to provide training that will help archives prepare to employ an apprentice. If you’d like to discuss the apprenticeships further, you can contact armapprenticeship@nationalarchives.gov.uk. The sector has supported the idea of apprenticeships for a long time. Around five years ago, The UK National Archives brought together an apprenticeship trailblazer group made up of knowledgeable representatives from across the sector, including the ARA. This group developed the apprenticeship standard, which lists all of the knowledge, skills and behaviours – or “KSB’s” – that an apprentice needs to demonstrate before completing their apprenticeship. In 2021, the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education approved this standard. The ARA has made sure that the apprenticeship standard and assessment process maps to the sector’s competency framework. ARA will also partner with CILIP Pathways to best identify suitable assessors for the end-point assessments. Assessors will be drawn from ARA’s membership and assessment training will be provided. We are several years away from the first apprenticeship assessments, but any ARA members interested in becoming an apprenticeship assessor should contact chris.sheridan@archives.org.uk. We look forward to learning more about the apprentices and the progress they make! |