How will off-the-job training take place?
Watch the video below to get a feel for the apprenticeship journey, then scroll down for more information about Off-The-Job Training and take a quick test.
- Please note, for Apprentices who started prior to August 2022, Off The Job Training Targets are a minimum of 20% of contracted working hours (though SHU may set higher targets)
- For Apprentices enrolling on or after September 2022, the target is 6 hours for every working week, to be accumulated during the course of the apprenticeship, or higher targets set by SHU where required.
- The attached video will be updated in due course.
- In addition, for new starters on or after September 2022, references to “Commitment Statements” means “Training Plans”, due to changes in the funding rules with which SHU and employers must comply. You should read the Training Plan User Guide v1.1.
Off-the-job training
The rules for Off The Job Training (OTJT) are there to ensure that every apprentice has enough time to learn and develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSBs) set out in their Apprenticeship Standard. This means the equivalent of approximately one day per working week, on average and over the duration of the apprenticeship should be spent gaining new KSBs. The location can vary and the type of activity is flexible. You can see an overview of how this will take place in the Training Plan User Guide v1.1
Apprenticeship Progress Reviews and OTJT
At the start of every apprenticeship there is a three-way “Commitment Statement” in place or “Training Plan”, as rebadged from September 2022.
The Commitment Statement / Training Plan includes a series of obligations, commitment and expectations between the Apprentice, their employer and the apprentice training provider (Sheffield Hallam University). This includes a summary of how the OTJT is planned. The University’s Work-based Learning Coach organises Apprenticeship Progress Reviews (tripartite, every 12 weeks). Part of the review is to monitor and action plan the achievement of OTJT with the Apprentice and their mentor in the workplace.
All learners must be logging the hours and activities regularly, using the OTJT log in the MAYTAS Hub System. You can ask your Coach for help and visit the MAYTAS Hub Guidance on the AIIR Homepage.
A work-based curriculum helps to support other types of Off-The-Job Training
Reflective modules for personal and professional development are a great vehicle for reviewing knowledge skills and behaviours with the module leader and your peers, then putting actions in place, potentially within assessment activities.
In addition project-based modules require purposeful and impactful project learning in the workplace, which counts as OTJT.
Work-based projects are part of our apprenticeship curriculum and should include the following
- agree a proposal and objectives with the University and your employer, to meet the brief
- carry out the project at work, e.g. investigate a sector challenge, drive organisational change
- submit the project impact evaluation to the University as part of the module assessment
- record the work-place activities as OTJT
See your Onboarding section for more information about
- making the most of your Skills Scan
- developing your Training Plan that integrates with your university assignments
- activity around identifying and starting to plan work-based projects
Take the OTJT test
Which of the following examples of learning related activities could be included within your log of OTJT? Read the examples, consider the possible implications for recording OTJT then click on each box to reveal the answer.
Scenario 1
Following a lecture several learners held an informal meeting over coffee to talk about a group project the tutor had just explained in the lecture. Later in the working week, the apprentice was allowed 2 hours on Thursday afternoon to draw up the assignment structure and then later that evening he engaged in a collaborative on-line session with peers for an hour.
Scenario 2
A construction apprentice is carrying out an assessed project to evaluate the impact of a new process in the workplace – designed to engage subcontractors in a considerate construction scheme. During the week the apprentice conducts the project work in the porter cabin on the construction site to meet his employer’s project deadline. She reviews responses to a consultation survey. These will have an impact on the employer’s process to manage site activities. The overall task of analysis takes her about ten hours.
Scenario 3
A health-care worker (apprentice) takes time out from his duties to observe a medical procedure and the way in which colleagues are able to use skills and behaviours to support health and safety objectives and a successful outcome in terms of patient care. He spends two hours observing and doing no productive work towards his working targets and duties for the week.
Scenario 4
An engineering apprentice has been struggling to evidence skills and behavioural development in relation to stakeholder management. The workplace mentor discusses the situation with the line manager and plant manager. The apprentice is offered the chance to handle a delay to a component manufacturing process, which is affecting the relationship with a key client, whose order is delayed. The apprentice develops an account management plan for the customer and takes the opportunity to meet his developmental targets through clear communication in a difficult situation.
Scenario 5
A quantity surveying apprentice conducts financial analysis of the impact of a contract dispute and the impact of project delay. The apprentice has done this activity several times before as it is part of a specialist element of his job role, so he does not feel that much is being learned during this activity. Then, his manager spontaneously invites the apprentice to join her at a senior management team where the financial impact will be reported and discussed. It is not necessary to attend, but he goes along with his boss. The meeting lasts 2 hours.