Menu
Discover how you can develop people’s skills with an apprenticeship from BPP.
Programmes are tailored to role family and flexible to suit development in a working environment
Learners apply what they’re learning in their role so you will see immediate benefits
Supporting career development can cement a learner’s commitment to their role and to your team
Welcome to the Professional Career Development Programmes (PCDP). A great collection of programmes designed to build professional knowledge and skills to help your employees serve customers well. This page covers the fundamentals that you'll need to know as a People Manager to support an application for a Professional Career Development Programme. In addition to this page, please familiarise yourself with the programme fact sheet relevant to your team, and your role and responsibilities as further detailed in the People Manager Guide.
Identify a programme which aligns with your employee’s development aspirations. Discuss how they will apply the knowledge, skills, and behaviours taught throughout the programme in their existing role
Consider the time your employee will need out of their working day to complete their qualification, and how you will manage resources.
Help your employee by submitting the Application of Learning Agreement as part of the application process, to record the key ways in which their current role lines up with the qualification they wish to complete. More information on the application system for line manager is available here.
Once they have started their learning, review your employee’s performance objectives and ensure that they are aligned to the requirements of their programme.
Keep in frequent contact with your employee and support them through their studies, identifying activities they can complete on the job and ensuring that they are managing their time effectively and meeting all deadlines. Collaborate to set collective goals and celebrate any successes the employee achieves.
Attend quarterly review meetings meetings with your employee and their BPP Skills Development Coach to ensure they remain on target and their progress is being monitored throughout
Please refer to the Line Manager checklist for support with this process.
As part of their programme, your employee will be given time during working hours to develop their skills, knowledge and behaviours. BPP’s learning methodology relies on flexibility, ensuring that your employee’s time can be managed effectively to balance their learning and workload commitments. It is essential that you work with the employee to identify opportunities that can maintain this balance and maximise their capacity.
For more information on your role as a manager, download and read the People Manager Guide.
The programmes follow government apprenticeship standards. This means we can fund them centrally with Apprenticeship Levy funding. If the application is approved, we’ll send you some documents to complete to secure the relevant funding for your employee.
All training costs are funded centrally for all programmes but you may need to cover some incidental expenses depending on the specific programme and your employee’s needs.
It is important to remember that this funding is secured under the basis that the full programme will be completed, leaving the programme is highly discouraged for this reason.
Check the relevant programme fact sheet for more details.
For more information on your role as a manager, download and read the People Manager Guide.
While your employee is on the programme, they will spend an average 6 hours of their weekly contracted hours on learning & development activities related to their role many of which naturally occur. This development time can be flexed around business priorities and can also include any local development activities like stretch role-based work, mentoring or coaching time.
Within this, the majority of the formal training element is delivered by virtual classrooms (webinars) in most programmes. More details are available in the programme factsheets and in the People Manager Guide.
The programme will build professional skills and improve role based productivity, so the more support you give your employee to develop themselves in role using the programme activities, the more value you will see in your team.
When considering an application, please review the learning plan for the relevant programme and the following to ensure they will be eligible:
If you’re confident you can support your employee with these criteria, you can advise them to apply online. If you need more help to make your decision or to explain your decision to your team member, please refer to the People Manager Guide.
For more information on your role as a manager, download and read the People Manager Guide.
Your employee will be asked to complete some initial details to check they are eligible for the programme. If they are eligible, we will accept their application and send a confirmation email to you confirming that you approve the application. You will be asked to complete some details and sign document’s electronically to confirm that they are in a relevant role and you will support them to complete the programme.
There are limited spaces available in some locations and on some programmes. Once the application has been received, we will check availability and respond back to the employee directly. This will normally be within 5 working days.
Once the employee is accepted on to a programme, you will be invited to a webinar with other people managers to find out how to support your team member, where to get help if you need it and to ask any questions you may have.
You have a big part to play. We know from previous experience that successful candidates are the ones who have the full support of their manager. Your commitment and enthusiasm will be critical to their success. The learning your employee can get from this programme will not only benefit them directly, it will help you and your team meet the goals of our organisation.
For more information on your role as a manager, download and read the People Manager Guide.
03300 603 100
Lines open: 8am - 6pm Mon - Fri
© BPP Holdings Limited 2023 - Owned by private equity firm TDR.
BPP House, Aldine Place, 142-144 Uxbridge Road, London W12 8AA, registered in England and Wales under company number 01245304