ESCA Apprentice

Fixed Term, Full Time

£14,567 per annum increasing to £23,557 in the second year

Location: Chelmsford

Closing Date: 6th March 2026

Are you looking to take first steps in a career in Business Administration and have a keen interest in creating and developing continuing professional development programmes? Would you love to work alongside a supportive, friendly, welcoming and high achieving team? This could be the opportunity you are looking for!

We have TWO Administration Apprentice opportunities available within our Essex Social Care Academy (ESCA) at our Chelmsford office.

We welcome applications from individuals with a Learning Difficulty or Disability, Autism or an additional need.

Benefits:

Healthy work life balance; flexible and hybrid working options
Wide range of learning and development opportunities
IT equipment and home-working equipment supplied
26 days annual leave + bank holidays + choice to buy extra
Generous Local Government Salary related pension scheme
Access to hundreds of discounts and benefits through Essex Rewards
Access to our health and wellbeing support platform with LifeWorks
Disability Confident Leader: we are committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job
Up to 4 days per annum volunteering leave
National Apprenticeship Wage for the first 12 months of your Apprenticeship. After 12 months of service, your salary will increase to the National Living Wage (currently £23,557 per annum as of 01 April 2025)
A Business Administrator Level 3 qualification via Adult Community Learning (ACL)

Whilst undertaking an apprenticeship within Essex County Council (ECC), you can expect to be supported from your first day. You'll be invited to attend a specific onboarding event, have access to exclusive training material via My Learning platform, enrolled in the apprenticeship channel alongside colleagues on similar paths, invited to frequent gatherings, and offered peer-to-peer guidance. Additionally, you will have the chance to showcase your apprenticeship experience to external audiences. Apprenticeships are a valued career pathway to achieving your ambitions within Essex County Council, whilst gaining a qualification.

Our Level 3 apprenticeship is an advanced apprenticeship - it is the equivalent to two A Levels or T Level. These apprenticeships are a fantastic steppingstone into your preferred career. You'll work under the guidance of experienced professionals to develop a solid foundation in you chosen profession, while also contributing to the overall goals and objectives of the Essex County Council.

There is every opportunity to progress to further roles and training within Essex County Council. You will have the chance to put forward your ideas, grow your skillset and collaborate with an innovative team in a collaborative environment.

What our apprentices say:

"I really enjoyed my apprenticeship with ECC, I loved that the majority of the apprenticeship is on the job learning and minimal classroom work. The opportunities for career development have been much wider than I originally thought, and the apprenticeship is such a great way to start your career and get your foot in the door with your local council/ government"

"I love the apprenticeship process as you're getting paid as you learn. I have been able to make good connections with other employees and really good relationships throughout my journey so far. It's a great starting point to anyone who hasn't got a clear idea of what work they would like to pursue. Also, the apprenticeship allowed me to try multiple different types of jobs when opportunities came up, so I was able to see what I liked, and I was good at."

The Role:

ECC is looking for two motivated and enthusiastic individuals to join our team as an Apprentice within the Essex Social Care Academy (ESCA).

Essex County Council is achieving transformational change across Social Care, underpinned by delivery of high quality practice and a culture of collaboration, integrity and compassion. Development of a professional, knowledgeable and skilled workforce is central to achieving practice improvement and driving change; delivered by a joint ESCA service which meets the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) needs of both professional areas.

The ESCA Apprentice role will provide administrative support to the wider ESCA Team working closely with the ESCA Development Assistants across Children and Families, with the opportunity to learn about how the team supports continuing professional development across both workforces. The role will shadow team members to understand different activities and roles of the wider ESCA Team. The role will include some contact with external bodies, partners and professionals working in the Social Care field.

The role will be extremely rewarding if you have an interest in office administration, enjoy helping people and being part of a busy team in a challenging role and as an entry point, for someone considering a career in Administration, Local Government or Social Care. ECC highly values its apprentices and successful candidates will be encouraged to develop and in time progress within the organisation, with over 85% securing permanent roles during their apprenticeship.

This position provides the work-based experience to compliment the learning-based elements of the Apprenticeship Framework and will offer you a supportive environment in which to gain a wealth of experience and transferable skills such as IT systems, organisational skills, effective teamwork and communication.

About You:

You will be:

Educated to RQF level 2 (GCSE) or equivalent by experience
Ability to develop skills and knowledge within role
Evidence of previous experience of working with others in a team setting
Experience of working within an office environment is desirable
Experience of using MS office and other IT systems
Good communication, both verbal and written and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage with others and build rapport

Essential Requirements for the role:

Functional Skills Level 1 in Maths and English (or equivalent), which is a Grade D/E or 2/3 to begin the apprenticeship
Ability to reach a Level 2 Functional Skills in both Maths & English by the End Point Assessment (EPA), if you do not already have this
Have the right to work and study in England
Have been ordinarily resident in the UK or EEA for three years before the apprenticeship start date

What will you be doing?

You will assist with the delivery of routine administrative tasks, dealing with day-to-day work including (but not limited to):

Contribute to the delivery of the ESCA Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme for Children and Families to support the coordination of the ESCA CPD programme
Support the organisation of events, to ensure professional delivery of lectures, workshops and conferences in support of the development of the Social Care workforce
Contribute to project planning and monitoring to deliver information across the service detailing progress and highlighting any issues
Contribute to budgetary management processes to support financial monitoring and controls
Contribute to data tracking and monitoring processes to support the Quality Assurance activity undertaken in the team
Provides general administration support, including ESCA library, file management, meeting room bookings, capturing actions from team meetings and site review meetings
Monitors the team generic email account to identify and distribute urgent and routine correspondence
Specific individual and shared targets and objectives are defined annually within the performance management framework

Essex County Council

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ESCA Apprentice