What we’ll cover

Here are the topics we’ll cover during the apprenticeship:

• Time Management
• Business Writing Skills
• Stress and Resilience
• Project Management and Excel
• Google Ads Fundamentals
• Negotiation Skills
• Presentation Skills Training – 1 day F2F Negotiation Skills

IPA Foundation Certificate: This course is divided into seven modules designed to take learners on a journey through the entire brand communications process.

• Module 1: The Power of Creativity
  • This opening module celebrates the role of creativity in both communications and the wider business community. Exploring the history and evolution of creativity, and its exciting future.
• Module 2: The Communications Landscape
  • This module highlights the transformation of the communications landscape and how agency models have changed as a result of the increasing fragmentation in the industry. This includes the arrival and influence of newcomers such as Facebook and Twitter and the significance of the communications industry to both culture and the economy.
• Module 3: The Client and Agency Roles
  • This module has three parts: the first is client focused, including the dynamic role of the marketing director and considering clients’ work and priorities. The second part centres on agency response and interaction, while the third part outlines some of the necessary paperwork and processes.
• Module 4: Theories, Tools, & Techniques
  • The focus of this module is the key theories, techniques and tools at the disposal of today’s marketers and agencies. This includes behavioural economics and the role of memory, the planning cycle and the role of data, and how these theories help brands grow.
• Module 5: Comms Review
  • This module demonstrates media’s invaluable role as a source of inspiration and enhancer of the creative process. It is approached from a media neutral standpoint and includes relevant theories to illustrate the relevance of different types of media.
• Module 6: The Creative Development Process
  • This module focuses on the creative development process. From fostering creativity in your everyday environment through to the creative communications development process: from receipt of the client brief, to creation of the internal briefs, and to the art of creative feedback.
• Module 7: Evaluating Effectiveness
  • This module outlines the importance of effectiveness to our industry. It illustrates the ways in which the IPA has been at the vanguard of this drive with the globally renowned IPA Effectiveness Awards and the development of theories such as those from Les Binet and Peter Field.

What’s needed to get started

• An interest in the advertising process with a passion for working in the industry
• English and Maths GCSEs at Grade C (4) or above, preferably a total of five GCSEs 
• Typically, learners have worked in media for less than 2 years 
• Learners meet full eligibility checks 

How does the apprenticeship work?

An apprenticeship is a combination of a full-time job with training for a current or new employee in your business.

Their working time will be split 80/20: 80% of their working time will be spent with you, carrying out their day-to-day responsibilities, while 20% of their time will be ‘off-the-job’ and spent working towards their apprenticeship qualification.

What counts as off-the-job training and how is the 20% measured?

Off-the-job training can include:

• Work spent on their apprenticeship qualification
• Face to face/virtual classroom training
• Any employer training
• Mentoring
• Work spent on their reflective journal
• Shadowing other teams
• Attending industry events

Your apprentice, their Learning & Development Coach, and their line manager will have an off-the-job tracker they can use to record and track this.

How is the training delivered?

The apprentice studies towards their qualification online, and is supported by face-to-face visits from their Learning and Development Coach.

We deliver training in blocks to try and limit disruption, so you won’t have someone leaving the office one day a week.

How are apprenticeships funded?

Apprenticeships are now funded by the Apprenticeship Levy. Businesses with an annual payroll of over £3 million pay 0.5% of their annual payroll into a digital account. The funds can then only be used on approved apprenticeship training.

What’s the benefit of hiring apprentices?

Apprentices bring great value to a business. Rather than searching for existing talent that fits your business, they give you the chance to actively shape the next generation so they can bring the skills your business needs.

The numbers back us up: 76% of employers have said that productivity has improved, and 75% reported that apprenticeships improved the quality of their product or service.*

*Source: gov.uk