Equine Groom (Level 2 Apprenticeship)

You will gain the essential knowledge, skills and behaviours needed of an equine groom to ensure you maintain safe working practices and take responsibility for yourself, others and the horses in your care.

Knowledge and Skills
You will gain a comprehensive understanding of a wide range of knowledge and skills including:

• Safe Working Practices
• Yard and Field Routines and Duties
• Horse Anatomy, Physiology and Welfare
• Horse Handling, Care and Appearance
• Saddlery and Equipment
• Travelling Horses
• Non-Ridden Exercise

Behaviours
You will look at safe working, work ethic, responsibility, team work and communication.

Pathways

There are five specialised routes you can choose from, each of which have specific knowledge and skills associated.

Breeding
This includes study of the principles of equine reproduction, importance of teasing, monitoring of pregnancy, disease awareness and preparation of equines for sale.

Driving
You will understand all parts of a single set of harness, correct usage with two and four wheeled vehicles with independent shafts and exercise techniques in a non-driving environment.

Racing
You will select to follow either the Racing Exercise Groom or the Racing Yard Based Groom pathways and learn areas such as specific exercise regimes, regulatory requirements and fitting specialist racing equipment and tack.

Riding
Specific skills and knowledge will cover areas such as the correct riding position, use of pole work, riding in a group and on the road and public places.

Non-Riding
Knowledge and skills will be gained in areas such as stock rotation, supply storage, yard based records, customer care and the benefits and practice of lunging.

Functional Skills

If you are an apprentice under 19 years of age you will be required to undertake Functional Skills Level 1 and 2 in English and Maths unless exempt.

During your apprenticeship you will compile a portfolio of evidence to demonstrate your knowledge, skills and behaviours.

Once you have completed your portfolio, Functional Skills (if applicable) and a minimum of 12 months of training, you will be able to undertake the End Point Assessment EPA). The EPA consists of:

1. Knowledge Test: An online or paper based MCQ test taken at the workplace or approved centre.
2. Practical Observation: An observation of the apprentice by an independent assessor.
3. Professional Discussion: A structured interview between the apprentice and the independent assessor.

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 equine environment.

There are no formal academic entry requirements. However, you will need to be living and working in England in a suitable equine environment (such as a riding school, horse charity or racing yard), earning at least the National Minimum Wage for Apprentices, within a 90 minute radius of our Huntingdon centre. If your place of work is outside of this area, please contact us as we may still be able to meet your training needs.

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.

Please note: 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 £5,000 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% (£250 in one payment) towards the cost of the apprenticeship using their digital account.

Please note that apprenticeship fees are fully funded (free) for those aged 16-24 years, working in a non-levy paying organisation.

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 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 confidence, practical skills and abilities to excel in your position.  During this time, your desire to learn and increase your knowledge may have developed and you may be debating what to do next…

If you are looking to study to the next level you may look consider undertaking the Level 3 Senior Equine Groom Apprenticeship ;this is something your tutor will discuss with you as you approach the end of your level 2 apprenticeship.

Yes. In order to undertake this apprenticeship, you must be living and working in England in a suitable equine organisation, such as a riding school, horse charity or racing yard.

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 equine related role 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.