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Apply for this apprenticeship here:
https://www.sgscol.ac.uk/study/professional-and-financial/l2-customer-service-apprenticeship
Apprenticeship
information
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Summary
Role Profile
The role of a customer service practitioner
is to deliver high quality products and services to the customers of their
organisation. The core responsibility will be to provide a high quality service
to customers which will be delivered from the workplace, digitally, or through
going out into the customer’s own locality. These may be one-off or
routine contacts and include dealing with orders, payments, offering advice,
guidance and support, meet-and-greet, sales, fixing problems, after care,
service recovery or gaining insight through measuring customer satisfaction.
This role may be the first point of contact and could work in any sector or
organisation type.
The customer interactions may cover a wide range of situations and can include; face-to-face, telephone, post, email, text and social media. The service offered will in line with the organisation’s customer service standards and strategy and within appropriate regulatory requirements.
Duration
18 months
Resources
Resources will be available through Smart
Assessor, the e-portfolio platform used by the college for apprentices.
Programme Delivery
SGS has elected to deliver the
on-programme learning using the Level 2 Diploma for Customer Service
Practitioners. Six mandatory units make up this qualification.
Learners will also be required to select one relevant optional unit for the list below:
- Working in a sales environment
- Working in an administrative environment
- Working in a contact centre environment
- Customer service principles
- Working in a retail environment
- Social media in a work environment
- Fundamentals of marketing
This qualification is delivered on a one-to-one basis in the workplace and there is no requirement to attend college unless English and maths is required.
SGS will work closely with employers to plan and deliver support and training appropriately. This will add value to the employer as it centres on real work competencies demonstrated in a real work environment.
Assessment Overview
The end point assessment is synoptic
and takes place at the end of the apprentice’s learning and development, after a
minimum of 12 month’s on programme learning.
The employer, in conjunction with SGS, will formally sign-off that the apprentice has met the minimum requirements in regards to knowledge, skills and behaviours within the standard and confirm they are ready to move on to the end assessment.
Our recommended End Point Assessment Organisation is City and Guilds
End Point Assessment
For each of the three assessment
methods, all pass criteria (100%) must be achieved to progress and complete the
apprenticeship programme, as outlined below.
For a distinction to be awarded, apprentices must also achieve a distinction in each assessment method.
Apprentice Showcase
The apprentice showcase is compiled
after 12 months of on-programme learning. The Apprentice Showcase enables
apprentices to reflect and present examples of their development over the whole
on-programme period. The apprentice will select appropriate evidence from the on
programme portfolio to demonstrate the minimum requirements of the standard at
the final stage of the programme as an ‘Apprentice Showcase’. This will attest
to professional competence at the level.
Practical Observation
The practical observation will be
pre-planned and scheduled to when the apprentice will be in their normal place
of work and will be carried out by the Independent Assessor. The observation
should enable the apprentice to evidence their skills, knowledge and behaviour
from across the standard to demonstrate genuine and demanding work objectives.
Each situation within the observation will be different, and examples are,
handling a general enquiry, dealing with a customer complaint or a need for
further information or detail, but it is mandatory that the observation covers
as a minimum: presentation, equality, interpersonal skills, communication and
personal organisation. Those areas of the standard which are not able to be
evidenced during the observation will be discussed subsequently as part of the
professional discussion with the Independent Assessor.
Professional Discussion
The professional discussion will
be a structured discussion between the apprentice and the Independent Assessor,
following the observation, to establish the apprentice’s understanding and
application of knowledge, skills and behaviours. The professional discussion
will need to take place in a suitable environment and should last for a maximum
of one hour.
The purpose of the professional discussion is to:
- clarify any questions the Independent Assessor has from their assessment of the learner journey and practical observation;
- confirm and validate judgements about the quality of work;
- explore aspects of the work, including how it was carried out, in more detail;
- discuss how the apprentice would behave in specific scenarios, should they not have occurred within the practical observation;
- ask questions in relation to personal development and reflection;
- provide a basis for the Independent Assessor to make a decision about the grade to be awarded.
Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours for the Customer Service Practitioner Apprenticeship.
A Standard contains a list of the skills, knowledge and behaviours an
apprentice will need to have learned by the end of their apprenticeship. A
portfolio will be completed throughout the apprenticeship to reflect this.
Knowledge
- Business Knowledge and Understanding
- Customer Journey Knowledge
- Knowing your customers and their needs/Customer Insight
- Customer service culture and environment awareness
Skills
- Business focused service delivery
- Providing positive customer experience
- Working with your customers/customer insights
- Customer service performance
- Service improvement
Behaviours/Attitude
- Develop self
- Ownership/Responsibility
- Team working
- Equality
- Presentation
20% Off-The-Job Training
“Off-the-job training is a
statutory requirement for an apprenticeship. It is training which is received by
the apprentice, during the apprentice’s normal working hours, for the purpose of
achieving the knowledge, skills and behaviours of the apprenticeship.”
In addition, there will be relevant activities in the workplace which will be discussed and planned with the assessor which will count towards the total hours required. These could include:
- Job shadowing
- Team building events
- Team meetings
- Systems training
- Workplace induction
Maths & English
This apprenticeship requires learners to achieve maths and English at Level 1, and sit the tests for Level 2 in both subjects. Typically, it is realistic for learners to progress up one level during the apprenticeship. At interview, we will carry out an assessment to determine current literacy and numeracy levels. We will take account of any support needs in determining the suitability of learners for this apprenticeship.
What are my career options?
Customer Service Practitioner
Apprenticeship information last updated: Tuesday 2nd July 2024 @ 8.02am (18 hours ago)
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