Pre-employment training

How can adult social care employers support people into work?

Getting involved in or delivering a pre-employment training programme is a great way to help people get ‘work ready’ and support more people into work.

They can help you build a pool of high quality, future recruits for your organisation.

There are different programmes you can get involved in, and we have guidance and tools to help. Download our overview poster for a summary.

Offer a traineeship
Set up an apprenticeship programme
Join a sector based work academy

Offering work experience

A big part of these programmes is giving candidates the opportunities to do meaningful work experience.

Download our Offering meaningful work experience guide

Work experience gives people the opportunity to make informed decisions about whether or not a career in social care is right for them. This can help you get the right people for your roles and reduce the number of 'wrong choices'.

Borough Care work with local colleges and Jobcentre Plus to offer work experience to people interested in working in social care. Read their case study here.
Expect Ltd worked with their local college to run a work experience programme in exchange for training for their staff. They drew up an agreement that the college would deliver an Access to Higher Education Diploma for staff, in return for Expect supporting level 2 and 3 health and social care students to do work experience. Read their case study here.

Offer a traineeship

A traineeship is an education and training programme that provides young people with the skills and work experience they need to find employment in adult social care, or to progress onto an apprenticeship.

They're designed for people aged 16 - 24 who don't have the appropriate skills or experience to start work or apply for an apprenticeship.

They include work preparation training, such as CV writing, English and maths support, and work experience. Employers will usually work with a learning provider to tailor a traineeship programme for their workplace.

Download our Traineeships guide for adult social care employers.

If you're a learning provider, download our Traineeships guide for learning providers.

Set up an apprenticeship programme

An apprenticeship is a work-based training programme for anyone over the age of 16.

They're designed for people who are new to adult social care, or to support current workers to develop their skills.

An apprentice will work in your organisation, whilst completing an adult social care qualification and skills training (if needed). They must spend at least 20% of their time doing off the job training.

Employers will choose which apprenticeship they want to offer, and work with a learning provider to deliver it - this means you can tailor the apprenticeship to the needs of your business.

Visit our apprenticeship web pages to find out how to deliver an apprenticeship programme and funding available.

Get involved in a sector routeway

The sector routeway is delivered in partnership with local employers, learning providers and employment specialists. They’re usually set up by a local employment service such as the Jobcentre Plus.

They include a 12 week learning programme and a work placement. When someone's completed the sector routeway, they'll achieve a Level 1 Award in Preparing to Work in Adult Social Care. Download a breakdown of the award here.

As an adult social care employer, you could offer work experience as part of a sector routeway, or contribute to the learning by delivering topic-specific talks or sessions.

Download our online toolkit to help you set up and deliver a sector routeway.