Group Head of Apprenticeships

**Role**: Group Head of Apprenticeships

**Location**:Bedford College - Cauldwell Street Campus

**Salary/Benefits**: Salary from £46,350 per annum DOE and Qualifications, 35 days annual leave plus Bank holidays, Local Government Pension Scheme, Retail and Leisure Discounts, excellent professional and personal development opportunities, accessing college courses.

**Hours/Weeks**:37hrs per week

**Contract Type**: Permanent - Full Time

**About the role**:
We are currently seeking a Group Head of Apprenticeships to join our Apprenticeships department at The Bedford College group**.**

As a Group Head, you play an important role in the success of our students through:

- Leading, managing and developing and promoting the apprenticeship provision effectively in line with the Group’s strategic plan and employer engagement strategy.
- Developing and delivering an ambitious vision for the apprenticeship provision through inspiring and empowering staff and students to achieve outstanding outcomes.
- Improving continuously the standard of teaching and learning and apprentice outcomes through rigorous performance management and effective professional development.
- Working alongside the Head of Business Development to plan and manage effectively apprenticeship programmes to meet the current and future needs and interests of apprentices, employers, partners and other stakeholders within the local community.
- Leading the planning, development and delivery of apprenticeship programmes across The Bedford College Group, ensuring it is designed to meet the needs of the community, maximising quality and apprentice outcomes, meeting audit requirements and delivering high performance in external performance tables.
- Ensuring that apprentices have stretching and challenging workplace and day release programmes, which are in line with the strategic vision for The Bedford College Group, ensuring that these programmes include value added enhancement opportunities that maximise progression and secure permanent employment.
- Ensuring that there is an outstanding apprentice experience and a strong focus on the apprentice voice, ensuring that apprentices feel that they belong to a community both in the workplace and in college.
- Ensuring that apprentice delivery models are planned to enable a broad set of opportunities throughout the programme that will support apprentices’ learning as well as their personal/social development and employability.
- Ensuring the quality of teaching and learning is of the highest standard within The Bedford College Group apprenticeship provision, working closely with the Heads of curriculum teams.
- Providing leadership in raising standards of teaching and learning and the development of appropriate methodologies for inclusive and personalised learning.
- Maximising the Group’s position in the national college performance tables. Key performance indicators to include overall achievement and timely achievement of EPA, with high EPA grades of merit and distinction.
- Ensuring that tracking of apprentice progress is exceptionally good and monitored relentlessly so that apprentices succeed in all components of their programme, and it is expected that all apprentices will leave their apprenticeship with strong EPA outcomes and will also remain in secured employment with excellent career prospects.
- Externally promoting and increasing the external profile of The Bedford College Group’s apprenticeship provision.This is to include promoting the apprenticeship offer and outstanding apprentice experience through, for example, increased liaison with feeder schools, taster events, master classes, publicity and attending networking events, employer/parent engagement evenings, open events, employer forums etc.
- Ensuring that there is regular, frequent and meaningful engagement with staff at all levels across the various college campuses and that staff wellbeing is prioritised.
- Ensuring the effective performance of direct reports, providing support and guidance, coaching and mentoring and setting targets to ensure high standards and high levels of staff motivation, morale and engagement.
- Creating a learning environment and a culture where learning and achievement is most important and evident.
- Liaising with the Group Director of Business Engagement and Apprenticeships and the Group Director of Human Resources, to ensure that The Bedford College Group’s Apprenticeship team has the current and future staffing capacity and capability to deliver the planned delivery model and that we attract the best delivery staff therefore.
- Leading on the funding and performance management rules for apprenticeships, ensuring the Group is able to deliver substantial assurance outcomes in internal and external audits and processes are fully compliant with the funding rules.
- Participating in monthly forecasting meetings with managers accountable for apprenticeship outcomes, interrogating the data, reviewing apprentice prog