Group Head of Apprenticeships

Location: Bedford College - Cauldwell Street Campus

Benefits: 35 days annual leave plus Bank holidays, Local Government Pension Scheme, Retail and Leisure Discounts, excellent professional and personal development opportunities, accessing college courses.

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 progress and EPA outcomes and ensuring timely achievement is delivered.
• Working in a flexible proactive manner to meet the changing requirements of Further Education and undertake other associated duties, which may be required by the Principal.
• Ensuring all targets in the business plan are met.

About you:

• Hold a Degree, or equivalent
• Have a teaching qualification at Cert Ed/PGCE or equivalent
• Have evidence of high performance in previous roles/jobs
• Have significant successful recent experience of leading apprenticeship provision
• Have credibility and ability to effectively lead and influence others.
• Possess the ability to work independently and make decisions with minimal support
• Have responsibility for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children and young persons you are responsible for, or come into contact with
• Possess the ability to form and maintain appropriate relationships and personal boundaries with children and young people

For a more detailed breakdown of the job role and the requirements, please see the Job Description attached to this vacancy.

Interviews to be held: 05 March 2025

Successful candidates must also be able to demonstrate alignment to our organisational VISION values:

• Valuing Teamwork - We are one team who by working together can achieve great things, respecting the opinion and valuing the contribution each of us makes.
• Improving Continuously - We challenge ourselves to always do better by trying new things, sharing knowledge, reflecting on practice and learning from others.
• Student Centred - At our heart is always doing what is best for our students. We consider students in all of our decision making to create positive outcomes and memorable experiences for every student.
• Inclusive - We celebrate differences and diversity, recognising that we can learn from each other.
• Open and Caring - We care about the wellbeing of our staff, our students, our community and wider society, creating an environment built on trust where we listen, engage with and support each other.
• Nurturing Education Excellence - We promote educational excellence by delivering programmes that challenge our students to achieve their ambitions.

About The Bedford College Group

The Bedford College Group was formed in 2017 following the merger of Bedford College and Tresham College and is now the largest provider of education in the South East Midlands, with over 15,000 students passing through our doors each year.

Today, the Group is made up of a family of colleges across Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire: Bedford College, Central Bedfordshire College and Tresham College in the towns of Bedford, Dunstable, Leighton Buzzard, Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough; Shuttleworth College, a specialist land-based college; The Bedford Sixth Form, (the only dedicated sixth form in Bedford); The Corby Sixth Form, (opened in September 2023); and the National College for Motorsport alongside Silverstone race circuit. To widen accessibility to education and training, the Group also has community-based Learning Centres in Bedford, Corby and Kettering which offer IT training.

Safeguarding our Students

The Bedford College Group is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. The successful candidate will be subject to thorough vetting process which includes, an enhanced DBS check and satisfactory references.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the Exceptions Order 1975, provides information about which convictions must be declared during job applications and related exceptions and further information about filtering offences can be found in the DBS filtering guide. The Bedford College Group's policy on Employment of Ex-Offenders is attached to this vacancy.

Candidates who are barred from working with children are reminded it is a criminal offence to apply for this post.

Type / Role:

Subject Area(s):

Location(s):