Level 2: Administration Assistant
At a glance:
Start your working life in administration. Gain the organisational skills, knowledge and professional behaviours needed to work as an Administration Assistant across business, education, healthcare and the public sector.
Duration: 12 Months
EPA: 3 Months
Roles Include: Administration Assistant, Administrator, Business Support Assistant, Office Assistant, Receptionist, Data Entry Clerk, Records Assistant, School Office Assistant and Clerical Assistant, in businesses, schools, charities, the NHS and local government.
Professional Advice
Tailored Programmes
Highly Qualified Tutors
Expert Coaching
Level 2: Administration Assistant
Your first step into a career
A high proportion of CoreEd’s Level 2 learners achieve a Distinction at their first end-point assessment. This apprenticeship is designed for people at the start of their working lives and gives you a solid grounding in administration, information handling and professional practice while you earn. You do not need previous office experience, and you do not need GCSE English and maths to begin. It is the natural route into our Level 3 Business Administrator apprenticeship if you want to go on to a wider administrative or management career.
What you’ll learn
As an Administration Assistant, you will work under the supervision of a manager or experienced colleague, following set procedures and developing the knowledge, technical skills and professional behaviours needed to support an organisation and the people who work in it.
Your training will cover:
- Your organisation, its purpose, its customers and how your own role contributes to it
- Regulations, policies, procedures and data protection requirements relevant to administrative work
- Communicating professionally with internal and external stakeholders across written, verbal and digital channels
- Receiving, recording, processing, storing, retrieving, retaining and deleting information and data securely
- Using organisational software, cloud services and collaborative tools
- Producing and formatting documents, spreadsheets and presentations to a professional standard
- Supporting meetings and events, including scheduling, note taking and follow-up actions
- Planning and reviewing your own workload against deadlines and priorities
- Identifying issues, rectifying those within your remit and escalating those that are not
- Working effectively within a team and supporting colleagues
- Reflecting on your own practice, acting on feedback and maintaining your wellbeing at work
On completion, you will be able to provide reliable administrative support in any sector and be ready to progress onto the Level 3 Business Administrator apprenticeship.
Entry requirements
CoreEd’s entry criteria for this course are deliberately accessible, because the apprenticeship is designed for people beginning their careers. These include:
- Current employment in an administrative role, or a confirmed offer of one, with your employer providing time within your working week for training (30 hours or more)
- Aged under 25 at the start of your training. Government funding for this apprenticeship is available for apprentices aged under 25 at the start.
- Residency in the UK, EEA or EU for the last 3 years, with the ability to remain in the UK for the duration of the apprenticeship
- An initial assessment with CoreEd before you start, so that your English and maths support is set at the right level
You do not need GCSE English and maths to join this apprenticeship, and we will enrol you without them. If you are aged 19 or over at the start, English and maths qualifications are not required in order to complete your apprenticeship, but we strongly recommend them, particularly if you plan to progress to Level 3. If you are aged 16 to 18, you must work towards and achieve English and maths at Level 1 before Gateway. CoreEd provides fully funded Functional Skills support in either case, timetabled from your first month so that it does not become an obstacle later in the programme.
The Level 2 Administration Assistant apprenticeship takes a minimum of 12 months of learning, followed by up to 4 months of End-Point Assessment. Taught sessions run for 3 hours once every four weeks, with an optional drop-in session available between each one.
You will be assigned a dedicated skills tutor and will receive access to Aptem, our e-portfolio system, where you can access digital learning resources and upload evidence of your progress.
You will have regular contact with your tutor through taught virtual learning sessions and progress reviews throughout the apprenticeship. CoreEd facilitates contact remotely via Microsoft Teams, including remote workplace observations to validate your understanding and practice, and you can message your tutor directly between sessions.
The EPA is the final stage of the apprenticeship and is carried out by an independent assessor. The EPA window is up to 4 months, and you must remain in employment throughout this period.
Before you enter the EPA, you will go through the Gateway, a formal readiness meeting between you, your employer and your skills tutor to confirm you are prepared. CoreEd supports you towards Gateway from day one through portfolio building, evidence gathering and mock assessments.
The EPA consists of two parts: an interview based on your portfolio of evidence, and a presentation with questions. The interview lasts 60 minutes and covers a minimum of six questions. The presentation with questions lasts 40 minutes, usually 20 minutes presenting and 20 minutes of questions. Your portfolio is submitted at Gateway and underpins the interview. You will be graded Fail, Pass, Merit or Distinction overall.
Qualification
On completion, you will achieve the Level 2 Administration Assistant apprenticeship.
In the longer term, you can progress onto the Level 3 Business Administrator apprenticeship, which the government has designated a career starter apprenticeship, or onto related Level 3 routes such as HR Support. Many administrators also move into team leading and supervisory roles through promotion and experience.
Blended learning
The course content will be delivered through a blended approach, which includes:
Taught Learning Sessions
As a learner, you will attend webinars and Microsoft Teams calls.
Digital Learning
Aptem is your online portfolio, where digital learning resources can be accessed and skills journals uploaded.
Additional Offline Learning
Alongside digital learning, some materials may need to be printed, completed offline, and then uploaded to Aptem as evidence.
Career Guidance
Our dedicated in-house careers lead provides personalised guidance throughout your journey.
For learners aged 16-18
It is mandatory to either already hold, or be able to work towards and achieve, the required English and Maths qualifications as part of the apprenticeship. These must be completed prior to gateway in order to complete the qualification.
For learners aged 19
and over
It is recommended that applicants hold GCSE English and Maths at Grade C/4 or above (or an equivalent qualification). If evidence of prior achievement is not available at enrolment, learners may choose to complete these subjects separately through CoreEd, with full funding and support provided.
While English and Maths are optional for adult learners to enrol onto this apprenticeship, completing them is strongly advised – particularly for those intending to progress to a higher-level qualification in the future.
Learners cannot sit their end-point assessment until they have achieved the required Functional Skills level.
