Programme Overview

This apprenticeship develops skilled quality practitioners who can deploy, monitor and improve quality systems within their organisation and supply-chain. Apprentices will contribute to quality planning, assurance, control and continuous improvement—ensuring that products or services meet customer, regulatory and contractual requirements.
Ideal for those working in operational or quality roles who want to step into a practitioner role with real responsibility for quality outcomes.

Who This Programme Is For

• Individuals working in quality, operational, manufacturing or service delivery teams who take responsibility for quality-related activity
• Professionals who audit, inspect or evaluate processes or outputs and work to improve performance
• Organisations seeking to upskill a quality practitioner who can add measurable value in process control, improvement and assurance
• Employees aiming to build a career in quality management, assurance, compliance or continuous improvement

What Apprentices Will Learn

Key learning areas include:

Quality Planning, Assurance & Control

• Understanding how quality systems, policies and management frameworks support organisational goals
• Planning and deploying quality for products, services or processes
• Monitoring, measuring and acting on quality performance data
• Auditing and verifying that outputs meet contractual or regulatory requirements

Continuous Improvement & Problem Solving

• Conducting investigations into non-conformances, root-cause analysis and corrective/preventive actions
• Applying improvement tools and techniques (e.g., Lean, Six-Sigma, statistical process control)
• Implementing change to reduce waste, improve service, increase right-first-time performance

Stakeholder, Supplier & System Engagement

• Engaging with internal and external stakeholders (e.g., customers, suppliers, compliance bodies) on quality issues
• Translating customer/stakeholder requirements into measurable objectives
• Managing supplier quality performance and integrating it into organisational quality outcomes

Professionalism, Ethics & Regulation

• Understanding the regulatory, legal and ethical context of quality in their sector (e.g., aerospace, defence, manufacturing, services)
• Upholding integrity, professional behaviours and continuous professional development
• Promoting a quality culture within the organisation

Key Skills Developed

• Data-driven decision-making for quality performance
• Validating and verifying processes, products or services to meet specification
• Analytical skills: measuring, interpreting, presenting quality metrics
• Improvement-tool deployment: identifying gaps, planning and executing initiatives
• Strong communication and influencing across teams and supply-chains
• Professional integrity, accountability and development mindset

End-Point Assessment (EPA)

Gateway Requirements:

• The employer and training provider jointly confirm the apprentice is consistently working at or above apprenticeship standard level
• Achievement of Level 2 English & Maths (if not already achieved)
• Submission of a portfolio of evidence

EPA Components:

1. Work-based Project with Presentation & Q&A— the apprentice delivers a quality improvement or assurance project within their organisation, presents it, then answers questions from an independent assessor
2. Professional Discussion Underpinned by Portfolio of Evidence— a structured discussion exploring the apprentice’s application of the knowledge, skills and behaviours mapped in the standard

Grading:

Fail / Pass / Distinction