The Butchery Apprenticeships are designed to equip apprentice butchers with the professional butchery training and skills needed to do their jobs effectively. The long term aim is to restore the mastery of the butchery craft and assure the future of the profession for generations to come.
There are many different kinds of butcher. That’s why the butchery apprenticeships contain sector-specific pathways, making them suitable for butchers working in all parts of the meat industry, including:
The Level 2 Butchery Apprenticeship Standard was the first food apprenticeship in a craft occupation to be given the government’s seal of approval. Developed by an employer group consisting of small, medium and large employers the butchery apprenticeship is focussed on employability – not box ticking. Mandatory qualifications in Knife Skills and Health and Safety must be achieved as part of the apprenticeship. Employers taking on an apprentice can be confident that their apprentice butcher will have the skills, knowledge and behaviours they need as apprentices will need to prove those skills at an independent end-point assessment.
Find out more about the end-point assessment (EPA) Download the Level 2 Butcher Apprenticeship Standard
The Advanced Butcher Apprenticeship enables both career progression for butchers and also importantly succession planning for employers. As well as advanced knife skills and a deep understanding of their sector, be it independent retail, supermarket or meat processor, the advanced butcher needs additional business and people management skills. Developed with input from a wide range of meat businesses, the Advanced Butchery Apprenticeship teaches the particular skills needed by employers in each distinct sector. These could include for example:
Independent Butchers Shop – Staff management and recruiting
Meat Processing Business – Management of a production line
Supermarket Butchers Counter – Monitoring team performance against department sales targets
This higher level apprenticeship also requires the apprentice to achieve three internationally accredited food qualifications and English and Maths at Level 2, prior to proving their competence at end point assessments.
Find out more about the end-point assessment (EPA) Download the Advanced Butcher Apprenticeship StandardFunding for butchery apprenticeships is either via co-investment with government or the Apprentice Levy.
Large employers (with a wage bill over £3 million) fund their apprentices through the levy, which will be collected by HMRC at a rate of 0.5% of a businesses’ monthly wage bill.
Smaller employers (with a wage bill below £3 million) will continue to fund apprenticeships via co-investment with government, though now they need only contribute 5% of their apprentices training costs. For employers with less than 50 employees that 5% is waived if their apprentice is between 16-18 years or between 19-24 and has a local authority education, health and care plan or has been in the care of a local authority.
Apprenticeships fall into one of thirty new Funding Bands.
| Butchery Apprenticeship Funding | Bands | Maximum £ Cap |
|---|---|---|
| Level 2 Butchery | Band 12 | £9,000 |
| Level 3 Advanced Butchery | Band 15 | £12,000 |
