What are the apprenticeships?
For key information about the Level 7 Archivist and Records Manager apprenticeships, visit the ‘About the apprenticeships‘ webpage.
Who runs the apprenticeships?
Unlike our past traineeship programmes, The National Archives does not run these apprenticeships. Instead, The National Archives has helped to launch the apprenticeship scheme and now any archive across England (that has at least one qualified archivist to provide support) can choose to employ an apprentice. When an archive has a vacancy, you will apply directly to that archive for the opportunity to become their apprentice.
How much will it cost me to be an apprentice?
Level 7 apprentices are full-time employees with all the corresponding benefits, such as salary, pension and annual leave. Like any other job, employers are free to set their own salary for the apprenticeship but we advise that at a minimum employers follow the Archive & Record Association’s salary recommendations, benchmarking their apprenticeship to the paraprofessional level for people working towards a professional qualification.
What’s more, your employer will cover the costs of your off-the-job training so you don’t need to pay for this. The only costs to being an apprentice are the usual day-to-day costs associated with any type of employment, such as covering the costs of commuting to your place of work. As a result, Level 7 Archivist and Records Manager apprenticeships remove the financial barriers to joining the archives sector.
What qualifications do I need?
Each archive recruits and employs its own apprentice so will set its own entry requirements. However, the apprenticeship scheme is an inclusive one that recognises that people don’t need to have followed an academic path to become a great archivist. We recommend that employers don’t require undergraduate degrees and many archives that employed apprentices in 2023 asked for A Levels or equivalents instead.
Can I do the apprenticeship part-time/compressed?
The Level 7 apprenticeships already require 42 months full time to complete (the 36-month learning period and the six-month assessment period) so these apprenticeships are not currently available part time. It is also not currently possible to significantly compress the time it takes to complete the apprenticeship as you’ll be working full time and the three years of experience working in an archive is a vital part of the apprenticeship. If you have experience in some areas, it may be possible to reduce some of the off-the-job learning that you do but, if you have too much experience, you may be ineligible for the apprenticeship as apprenticeships are for new learning.
Where can I find apprenticeship vacancies?
The first Level 7 Archivist and Records Manager apprenticeships started in October 2023. Apprentices can only start each autumn when Westminster Adult Education Service (the national off-the-job training provider) begins their training cycle. The next opportunity to start this apprenticeship will therefore be autumn 2024. Each archive that would like to employ an apprentice will advertise their vacancy through their own recruitment channels, most likely during summer 2024. Please note that The National Archives is not responsible for the advertising or recruiting process but we will highlight any Level 7 Archivist and Record Manager apprenticeships that we are aware of below.
Get in touch
If you would like to express your interest in becoming an apprentice in the future, or if our webpages haven’t answered all of your questions, you can get in touch via armapprenticeship@nationalarchives.gov.uk