We all know employers are in charge of the new apprenticeships.  

They set the standards, fund the training, employ the apprentice, and decide when they’re ready to take the EPA. Employers also play a major role in training apprentices day to day – they're the ones on the ground mentoring, coaching and guiding apprentices through their programme.  

Employers are key

The employer is the major stakeholder in the apprenticeship, but they have to work alongside a training provider to deliver training and an end-point assessment organisation to complete the final assessment. Training providers bring valuable knowledge and experience to training delivery – so although apprenticeships are now employer-led, businesses still have to collaborate with other organisations.  

Many employers are relinquishing a lot of their new-found power to the apprentices themselves. More and more businesses are putting their employees in the driving seat and encouraging them to take charge of their own professional development. Instead of presuming their apprentice’s knowledge and telling them what training they have to do to progress, companies are shifting towards an employee-led approach.  

Learner led learning

The apprentices themselves are often the best person to evaluate their skills and plan what they need to do to perform. People like learning on their own terms by accessing a whole range of learning content online whenever they want. When given the responsibility, employees are empowered to set their own targets, push themselves and reach their potential.  

For this style of learning to work, it needs to be easy for apprentices to access training tools online and seek support when they need it. In-house mentors need to encourage self-led learning but also support collaborative learning. Whether done online or face-to-face, collaboration helps employees share their insights, experiences and feedback with each other, so knowledge is spread across the business.  

This focus on self-led learning is more prevalent than ever in the new apprenticeship standards. Apprentices now complete learning reflections and self-evaluations to help them identify their own gaps in learning. Apprentices then work with tutors to plan activities around these gaps – they play an active role in their own learning.  

To hire and keep hold of the best people, employers need to encourage staff to drive their own learning – whether they’re delivering apprenticeships or any other form of training. This approach may not come naturally to everyone – so at OneFile, we’ve developed loads of features to help empower individuals to drive their own learning.  

With OneFile, apprentices can learn how they want, when they want, track their progression and share their learning with peers, tutors and employers. The entire learning journey is interactive, transparent and – and it’s this visual stimulus that keeps learners engaged.  

OneFile is already used by 700,000 users around the world. To find out why it’s so popular, download our free brochure.