Apprenticeships in TV and Film

An apprenticeship offers you the chance to learn and earn. They offer at least 12 months of training and apprentices spend 80% of their time doing the role in on-the-job training with an employer, and 20% of their time in formal learning with a training provider, college or university.

Please note that UK Screen Alliance does not offer apprenticeships, so please do not apply to us. You will need to contact employers in our sector to see if they are currently offering apprenticeships.

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Apprenticeships are available at a variety of levels from GCSE equivalent to master degree. There is no upper age limit for who can be an apprentice and you can be an existing employee who is being up-skilled. Even if already have a degree, you can do an apprenticeship as long as it represents new learning.

If companies have a payroll larger than £3 million per year, they must pay the apprenticeship levy. They can draw on these levy payments to fund apprenticeship training. Non-levy paying employers can receive up to 95% of the training costs from the government or can be funded by a levy transfer from a levy paying employer. The UK Screen ALT scheme is designed to facilitate levy transfers.

All apprenticeships courses in England have to be approved by the Institute of Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE). The course outline is called a “standard” and groups of employer called “Trailblazers” work together to develop new standards. In the last 12 months there has been a large increase in the number of standards available or in development for TV and Film

List of apprenticeship standards directly relevant to film & TV

ApprenticeshipLevelDurationStatus
VISUAL EFFECTS
Junior 2D Artist418 monthsAvailable
Assistant Technical Director418 monthsAvailable
Junior VFX Artist (Generalist)418 months Coming January 2023
VFX Technical Director624 months Approved- awaiting providers
VFX Supervisor718 months Approved- awaiting providers
ANIMATION
Junior Animator418 monthsAvailable
Storyboard Artist718 monthsApproved- awaiting providers
POST PRODUCTION
Post Production Technical Operator412 monthsAvailable
Post Production Engineer524 months Coming January 2023
Assistant (audio) recording technician424 months Coming January 2023
PRODUCTION
Junior Content Producer312 monthsAvailable
Broadcast Production Assistant312 monthsAvailable
Media Production Coordinator418 monthsAvailable
Creative Industries Production Manager718 monthsAvailable
Junior Advertising Creative318 monthsAvailable
ENGINEERING
Broadcast and Media Systems Technical Operator322 monthsAvailable
Broadcast and Media Systems Technician524 monthsAvailable
Broadcast and Media Systems Engineer (Degree)636 monthsAvailable
Outside Broadcasting Engineer (Masters Degree)712 monthsAvailable
Camera Prep Technician324 monthsAvailable
PRODUCTION CRAFTS
Assistant Puppet Maker318 monthsAvailable
Costume Performance Technician315 monthsApproved- awaiting providers
Props Technician318 monthsAvailable
Scenic Construction Technician330 monthsIn development
Scenic Artist3In development
Hair, wigs, make-up and prosthetics technician3In development
Scenic Automation3In development

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