Animal Care and Welfare Manager (Level 3 Apprenticeship)

Throughout the apprenticeship you will gain the essential knowledge, skills and behaviours needed of an Animal Care and Welfare Manager to ensure you maintain safe working practices and take responsibility for yourself, others, and the animals in your care.

You will undertake the following units of study

1. Monitor and oversee animal care and welfare
2. Stakeholder management
3. Supervise day to day activities
4. Personal development
5. Health & Safety
6. Produce animal care plans
7. Assess animal health and behaviour
8. Deliver animal care

Functional Skills
Apprentices under 19 years of age will be required to undertake Functional Skills Level 2 in English and Maths unless exempt.

Off-The-Job Training Hours
You will undertake a minimum of six hours a week of off-the-job training hours, this is learning that takes place during your normal working hours. These could comprise of working through online course materials, time spent on your portfolio, undertaking relevant webinars etc.

Assessment
You will compile a portfolio of evidence to demonstrate your knowledge, skills and behaviours. Once you have completed your portfolio, Functional Skills and a minimum of 12 months of training, you will be able to undertake the End Point Assessment (EPA). The EPA consists of:

1. Practical Assessment: An observation of the apprentice by an independent assessor
2. Professional Discussion: A structured discussion between the apprentice and the independent assessor to establish an applied level of knowledge, skills and behaviour.

Your performance in the EPA will determine the apprenticeship grade of fail, pass or distinction.

This apprenticeship can be started at any time once you have secured employment in a suitable animal care environment.

You should ideally hold a level 2 animal care qualification and be living and working in England in a suitable animal care environment (such as a boarding kennels, cattery, rescue centre) in a supervisory role (or working towards it), and be earning at least the National Minimum Wage for Apprentices. To complete this apprenticeship within the anticipated timeframe you will need to be working for a minimum of 30 hours per week, if you are working less than 30 hours a week the length of your apprenticeship will be extended depending on your working hours.

Applications for those who do not hold a Level 2 animal care qualification but have significant industry experience will be considered on an individual basis.

International qualifications
Students with foreign qualifications are required to have their certificates translated using a UK ENIC Statement to confirm if they have previously achieved Level 2 English and Level 2 maths for their apprenticeship. If a student has not previously achieved this, they will need to complete Functional Skills English and/or maths as part of their apprenticeship. More information about how to apply, how it works and prices can be found on the UK ENIC’s website here.

Additional Information
As our courses include online learning components, students are required to have access to a PC or laptop with a reliable internet connection.

Apprenticeship course fees are payable by the employer. Fees are dependent upon the size of the organisation you are employed in.

Course fees for Growth and Skills (Apprenticeship) Levy Paying Employers
(organisations with an annual pay bill of more than £3 million)

These employers will pay the full apprenticeship amount of £9,000 using their digital account.

Course fees for Non-Levy Paying Employers
(organisations with an annual pay bill of less than £3 million)

These employers will pay 5% (£450 in one payment) towards the cost of the apprenticeship using their digital account.

Please note that fees may be free for those aged 16-21 years, working in a non-levy paying organisation with less than 50 employees.

These are current figures and may be subject to change. The differences in course fees reflect the level of funding that is available as a result of government policies and priorities. These may be as a result of age, employment status, previous education achievements, or location for example, and are outside the control of CAW Business School (The College of Animal Welfare).

If you have not achieved your qualification by the planned end date detailed in your individual learning plan, your employer will be able to pay monthly direct debit payments to allow you to continue to receive support and access to your course until certification of your award.

On completion of your apprenticeship, you will have gained the knowledge, skills, behaviours and practical experience needed to excel as an Animal Care and Welfare Manager. This puts you in an excellent position professionally, particularly when applying for supervisory and managerial positions within the animal care industry.

You may wish to continue your studies by looking at other related courses such as behaviour or training.

Yes. In order to undertake this apprenticeship, you must be living and working in England in an animal care role.

Off-the-job (OTJ) training hours are mandatory, paid learning hours for apprentices that take place during normal working hours to help them to gain new skills and knowledge outside of their normal daily work duties. This could be working through online course materials, undertaking webinars, time spent on your portfolio etc. Each apprentice has to undertake a minimum of six OTJ hours per week (this may be pro rata for part time employees).

Unfortunately not, apprenticeships must be paid for by the employer. It is also important that your employer is supportive of you undertaking the apprenticeship as they would have to allow you a minimum of six hours a week of off-the-job training.

At the current time, you would need to find your own employment in an animal care organisation to begin this apprenticeship. We are sometimes asked by employers to help them to recruit an apprentice; any apprenticeship vacancies we know about will be advertised on our Apprenticeship Vacancies webpage – you can also sign up to receive new apprenticeship job alerts via this page.