Our Foundation Apprenticeship is the start of a programme (lasting a maximum of 2 years) that will build your skills and set you on the path to becoming a fully-fledged professional. You’ll gain professional qualifications equivalent to two A Levels, and you’ll even be a full-time employee from day one, which means you don’t have to apply for a job with us at the end: you’ll already have one.
So how does it all begin? Well, you’ll start as you mean to go on - with the full support of your Talent Coach. They’ll meet you and talk through the ins and outs of the programme. Throughout your first month, they’ll check in with you frequently to make sure you’re settling in well, and those one-to-one chats will continue throughout your programme.
It’s worth noting here that if you don’t have GCSE Maths and English (or an equivalent) then we’ll start giving you support in Maths and English at this point. Don’t be intimidated though: even if this has never been a strength for you before, we’ll bring understanding and patience to help you gain communication skills and learn to work with numbers, geometry and statistics.
As you go, you’ll be assessed on what you’re learning through multiple choice tests. Again, we’ll support you in each of these, so don’t worry. Even if you don’t pass an exam on your first go, we’ll always be behind you to help you try again.
At the same time, you’ll also be working in your Barclays role, and through that practical work, you’ll also be learning new things every day. As you work, you’ll have various skills, behaviours and knowledge topics to work through, with plenty of guidance from your manager and your team.
You’ll learn alongside the people you’ll be working with day-to-day – getting the same professional training as they do. You’ll even benefit from one-to-one training and tuition, and have dedicated mentors (both inside and outside of Barclays) to turn to for advice and guidance.
We’ll support you with both your work and your studies, with time set aside at work for you to complete your assignments. Our training is going digital (just like our customers), so we’ve developed a new e-learning platform you can access on the go, for help in your studies. We’ll also sign you up for the Digital Driving Licence - an innovative virtual way to learn new skills to then inspire our customers and colleagues.
Towards the end of your Foundation Apprenticeship we’ll put together a portfolio of evidence that you’re ready to move forward. That will include observations about your progress from your manager and your Talent Coach; statements from you about what you’ve learned; customer comments; a copy of the Personal Development Plan you’ve set with your manager, and chats with both you and your team about your knowledge.