We help organisations build the capability to perform, adapt and lead. Over 20 years we have delivered development solutions to a global client base through three routes: development programmes, funded learning, and an award-winning bureau of more than 1,000 motivational speakers and global experts. That access to the world’s best thought leaders is what shapes everything we deliver.
Funded learning is one of those routes. Programmes can run as a closed cohort inside your organisation, or as open programmes where your people learn alongside participants from other organisations and sectors. Either way they combine pre-planned workshops, monthly one-to-one coaching, e-learning and applied activity in role, so the work someone does for the business is the work they are assessed on.
Participants must be contracted to work 30 hours or more per week, must spend at least half of their working time in England, and must not already hold a qualification at the same level or above in the same subject area.
There are no other entry requirements unless you set your own. What matters most is that the participant has, or can be given, the scope in their role to apply what they learn.
No. Apprenticeships are open to people at any stage of their career. Most of the participants we work with are existing employees moving into, or already in, a management role, using the programme to formalise and extend capability they are already being asked to use.
Following our full Ofsted inspection in October 2024, Raise the Bar Ltd. was awarded a “Good” rating. Inspectors praised our high-quality apprenticeship training, supportive learning environment and close collaboration with employers.
We have also won two Princess Royal Training Awards, in 2018 and 2022. Read the full Ofsted report →
There are no specific entry requirements unless the employer sets their own. What matters most is that the participant has, or can be given, the scope to do the relevant work in their role.
Level 3 is an advanced apprenticeship, broadly equivalent to two A Levels. It sits above Level 2, which is GCSE standard. Level 4 is a higher apprenticeship, broadly equivalent to the first year of a university degree, a Higher National Certificate or a Certificate of Higher Education. Level 5 sits above that, below a full undergraduate degree at Level 6.
The apprenticeship levy is now part of the Growth and Skills Levy, and most of the organisations we work with fund their programmes entirely from the levy they are already paying. The questions below cover how that works, and what happens when funds run short.
A government scheme to fund apprenticeships and, under the Growth and Skills Levy, a wider range of approved training. Employers with a payroll of more than £3 million pay a levy of 0.5% of their total payroll, monthly through PAYE alongside income tax and national insurance.
Contributions appear in a digital account, which you use to arrange and pay for apprenticeship training. Funds can only be spent on apprenticeship training and the Apprenticeship Assessment. They cannot be used for wages, travel or other costs.
Levy-paying employers can also gift up to 50% of their annual funds to another organisation, and we can support you with obtaining or arranging levy gifting if you need it.
Employers with a payroll under £3 million do not pay the levy and can part-fund a programme through co-investment: you pay 5% of the course costs and the government contributes 95%. Participants under 25 are fully funded by the government.
Smaller employers can also be funded entirely by a levy gift from a larger organisation. Just ask us, and we can point you to organisations that will facilitate the levy gifting.
If a levy-paying organisation runs out of funding in their account, they default to co-investment and contribution payments are expected. Co-investment for a levy payer is 25% of training costs, and participants under 25 remain fully funded by the government. We flag this in your account reviews well before it becomes a surprise.
The programme works best when all three roles play their part: the participant, their line manager, and a senior sponsor who can plan demand around the cohort.
Apprentices record off-the-job (OTJ) hours throughout the programme. For most participants this works out at around six hours a week, and it is a funding requirement.
It is less daunting than it sounds, because a great deal of normal working activity counts: workload and assignments, unit knowledge, company procedures and tutorials; e-learning and written reflections on what has been learnt and applied; thought-leadership webinars, podcasts and wider research; shadowing colleagues or working in other departments; mentoring sessions with the line manager; and self-assessment such as appraisals, skills scans, SWOT and 360 feedback.
Progress towards the total is reviewed with the apprentice and their line manager at every review, so it never becomes a last-minute scramble.
Managing the participant’s off-the-job time and time at workshops, providing time for coach meetings, supporting their development plan, offering opportunities for progression in responsibility and role, and keeping us informed of any changes.
The one fixed commitment is the review every eight weeks with the participant and their Development Coach. These are a mandatory requirement of the programme and we arrange them well in advance.
Pre-planned workshops run by industry experts who share not only knowledge but insight into how theory works in practice. The workshops are not death by PowerPoint: they are interactive, with plenty of breakout sessions and breaks. Attendance matters, because much of the knowledge required for the apprenticeship is delivered there.
Alongside them, each apprentice has monthly one-to-one meetings with their Development Coach, plus e-learning and applied activities. The schedule of workshops is shared with you, the apprentices and their managers before the programme starts.
Everyone’s journey is different. Whatever barriers or challenges a participant may face, we are here to support them so they can engage, progress and succeed. Support needs are discussed at onboarding, revisited in progress reviews, and their Development Coach can draw on a wide range of regional and national support services.
Looking for help marketing the programme internally, including manager briefings and getting line managers on board? That is covered on our apprenticeships hub. See the internal marketing FAQs →
Onboarding is the part employers worry about most and, in practice, the part we carry most of. Four steps take a cohort from agreed to enrolled, and you receive weekly progress updates from your account manager throughout.
The Development Coach assigned to each participant contacts all applicants to explain the programme in more detail and what completing it involves, then completes a skills scan. The scan confirms we can gather all the evidence the standard requires from the participant’s current job role.
The line manager takes part, so that any workplace support or opportunities we need are realistic. It also lets managers see what sits inside the programme and how we can move elements around to fit what is naturally happening in your organisation.
As little as possible. Our enrolment team runs the paperwork and the initial assessments with participants directly. We recommend you also allow us to add your apprentices to the apprenticeship service on your behalf, which keeps the information entered against your levy fund consistent with our agreement and the records we hold, and avoids delays or errors in the government systems.
Nothing is authorised without your final approval. Your side of it is the skills scan meeting, signing the funding documents, and approving the cohort.
Yes. Every organisation training employees through an apprenticeship needs its own account. It is the government portal where you find, fund and manage programmes: levy funds, account balance, training providers and employer agreements.
Setting it up means registering, adding your organisation’s PAYE scheme, and accepting the employer agreement. Levy payers add PAYE through a Government Gateway login, so payroll or finance colleagues are usually involved. Without the signed agreement you cannot add apprentices or allocate levy funding.
You then add Raise the Bar as your training provider using our UKPRN, 10025429, and set our permissions to allow. We walk you through each screen, and our client handbook has the step-by-step with screenshots. Find us on the apprenticeship service →
Once your people have enrolled, we send the cohort back to you through the portal for approval. It should be completed within the same calendar month.
Before approving, check the number of apprentices, that the standard assigned to each one matches what was agreed, and that the total cost is in line with the agreement.
Bud is our e-portfolio and apprenticeship management system. Participants complete their enrolment paperwork and initial assessments there, and it then holds their learning tasks, activities, evidence and off-the-job records for the rest of the programme, on any device.
All apprentices complete an initial assessment in maths and English as part of enrolment. This is a funding requirement and identifies their current working levels in both subjects.
For apprentices aged 19 and over, you and the line manager discuss whether they will undertake Functional Skills. The line manager completes a Functional Skills Declaration Form at the skills scan to record whether the organisation opts in or out, and onboarding cannot commence until that form is complete.
Apprentices who already hold GCSEs at grade C/4 or above, or equivalent, provide their certificates as evidence; exemptions override an opt-out. Where a participant opts in, Functional Skills delivery begins in month two and must be completed within six months, and that time is additional to their off-the-job learning.
As client lead you have access to our full reporting suite, plus a regular call with your account manager and the Development Coaches who know your participants best.
Coach review with the apprentice
Tripartite review with the line manager. Mandatory, and arranged well in advance
Client call with your account manager, depending on volumes
Progress for every apprentice, including their off-the-job hours, last review dates, when submissions were last made, and any participants on a break in learning. You can see the position across a cohort or drill into an individual.
Every month or quarter, depending on volumes, your account manager offers a call to discuss progress in more detail. We bring the Development Coaches onto these calls, as they can speak first-hand to the celebrations and the challenges facing individual participants.
We also discuss projects and events coming up in your business over the next eight weeks, so participants can use that real work for the programme rather than duplicating effort.
No. Development is not just progress on the programme or the number of activities completed, and we like to share the journey. An apprentice may have handled difficult conversations, or stepped up to lead meetings they previously shied away from. They may be managing and running projects, or their team members may have had promotions.
We share what we observe, and feed back line manager comments following the reviews.
We do not shy away from reporting underperformance. When we start to feel a participant is at risk we highlight and discuss it on the client call and in subsequent correspondence, with a more detailed conversation about the support needed from us, from you and from their manager.
Assessment runs throughout the programme, not only at the end. Apprentices are assessed as they go, with a final assessment after their practical period, generally around a month in length.
Apprentices complete tasks and activities through Bud, building a portfolio that showcases their best work against the knowledge, skills and behaviours in the standard. The methods used include multiple-choice tests, professional discussions, question and answer, coach observations, product evidence from real work such as reports and risk assessments, presentations of up to 20 minutes, a CPD log, and written assignments.
Witness testimony from a line manager or team members is also valuable, explaining with examples how the apprentice has developed.
It is carried out by an independent Apprenticeship Assessment Organisation and depends on the standard. Typically it is a professional discussion around the portfolio, and often a project with a report and presentation, alongside the assessments completed during the programme.
Depending on the standard, the line manager attends as a technical expert to review the portfolio and answer questions about the apprentice’s practice. Both the Development Coach and our Apprenticeship Assessment team support apprentices with mock tests and mock presentations beforehand.
Nearing the end of the programme, the apprentice meets their line manager and coach to review progress and agree readiness for assessment. All required outcomes must be met, with evidence of completed Functional Skills where they apply.
Performance across the assessment determines the overall grade. On achievement, apprentices receive a certificate from Skills England.
Safeguarding means protecting an adult’s right to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect. We promote the wellbeing of all apprentices in our safeguarding arrangements, and discuss this along with your organisation’s own policies in the reviews with the Development Coach.
We have a Designated Safeguarding Lead who leads our safeguarding team, and access to a wide range of regional and national support services should an apprentice need them.
British Values underpin what it is to be a citizen in a modern and diverse Britain: democracy, the rule of law, respect and tolerance, and individual liberty. They help create environments free from discrimination, intolerance and hate.
PREVENT is part of the UK government’s counter-terrorism strategy, focused on safeguarding people from extremist influences through early support rather than criminalisation. As part of Prevent we promote fundamental British Values throughout the programme in discussion with the Development Coach.
A discussion topic covered in the one-to-one progress reviews between apprentice and coach. Topics vary and are often linked to British Values, or to situations apprentices meet as they take on more as a manager, leader and coach. We provide supplementary resources for each. Some can be difficult to address, but they are handled as a discussion and there is no wrong answer.
You can challenge a decision made by a Development Coach, or pay a compliment or make a complaint, at any point. Our full complaints and appeals policy is available from your account manager, and anything raised goes to our Apprenticeship Managers. Compliments and complaints alike are read and acted on.
Tell us about your levy position, the capability gap you are trying to close and the numbers you have in mind, and we will show you what a cohort would look like.
Speak to our apprenticeships team →Raise the Bar Ltd. UKPRN 10025429.