Overview

Amazon is launching a £2.5 million Apprenticeship Fund, with £1 million to be invested over two years focusing on supporting apprenticeships in the creative industries. The funding is intended to help businesses find and train the next generation of talent.

Any non-levy paying publishing SME can access the funding. The only apprenticeship standard that specifically caters to the publishing industry is the Level 3 Publishing Assistant Apprenticeship offered by commercial provider LDN Apprenticeships. Amazon will provide the maximum allowed funding of £6,000. LDN will support publishers with training and furnishing apprentices with a broad understanding of the industry. Although it is not mandatory, Amazon strongly encourages employees to pay the living wage/London living wage.

Publishers looking to take on Publishing Assistant Apprentices should contact LDN directly. The apprenticeship lasts 15 months, with 20% of contracted hours to be spent on off-the-job learning activities. These learning activities are by no means confined to ‘classroom’ learning – for example, work shadowing or work-related research on new topic can constitute a learning experience. A variety of paper and digital formats are covered, as are different sales models, marketing, editorial and artwork. Cohort learning allows apprentices to build a network and benefit from the combined experiences of their peers.

LDN’s Publishing Assistant Apprenticeship is currently all online, allowing more publishers to capitalise on the opportunity presented by Amazon’s funding – Amazon is keen to support creative SMEs based outside of London. Furthermore, LDN Apprenticeships place an emphasis on supporting diversity amongst their apprentices, be it neurodiversity, ethnic diversity, or supporting apprentices from a range of socio-economic backgrounds. This is supported by a no CV recruitment process.

Amazon is also open to funding other Apprenticeship standards that would be useful to magazine publishers. If publishers wish to use another standard, they should contact the Amazon Apprenticeship Fund directly at apprenticeshipfund@amazon.com. Other standards that publishers may wish to consider include a Junior Content Producer (Level 3) or Junior Journalist (Level 3). These may be more appropriate for relatively larger publishers which do not require staff to hold knowledge across multiple elements of their business.

Process

Any employer who wishes to access funding will have to sign a short legal contract with Amazon, which regulates the transfer of the funds and the conditions of the apprenticeship. Publishers will also have to sign a Contract of Services with the training provider, and then register and set up an Apprenticeship Digital Services Account (DAS). For help with this step, call the Apprenticeship Service Hotline on 08000 150 600.

Once this is completed, the DAS account ID should be sent to apprenticeshipfund@amazon.com – Amazon will then send a connection request. After accepting the request, select ‘Add an Apprentice’ and when asked, ‘How are you going to fund this apprenticeship?’, select ‘From a Transfer Link’. The workflow can then be filled out, including entering the training providers PRN code.

The ‘Cohort’ should be sent to the training provider, who will check the details and accept the information – the funding will now be successfully set up. The last step is to complete a ‘Commitment Statement’ form which will be provided by the training provider, to keep for internal record. Following this, the apprenticeship can begin.

If you have any further questions, please [contact Amy Owens_](mailto:amy.owens@ppa.co.uk), Senior Public Affairs Executive._