We successfully deliver the Level 3 Business Administrator Apprenticeship standard to hundreds of newly recruited apprentices and existing staff across England every year.
Business Administration Apprenticeships
- Administration Assistant
- PA/Secretary
- Patient Records Administrator
- Data Entry Clerk
- Office Administrator
- Office Manager
Damar’s business administrator apprentices work in a wide range of sectors including local government and government agencies, education, healthcare, financial services, hospitality, property, media, manufacturing and distribution. Based in Manchester, we deliver business administration apprenticeships across all cities and regions in England.
Apprentices undertaking this apprenticeship gain a highly transferable set of knowledge, skills and behaviours that can be applied in all sectors. In addition to learning how to develop, implement, maintain and improve administrative services in their organisation, they will develop key skills and behaviours to support their own progression towards management responsibilities.
Apprentices must deliver their responsibilities efficiently and with integrity, showing a positive attitude. As part of the apprenticeship they will develop and demonstrate strong communication skills and adopt a proactive approach to developing skills. The apprentice is also expected to show initiative, managing priorities and own time, problem-solving skills, decision-making and the potential for people management responsibilities.
Interested in recruiting an apprentice or using apprenticeships to upskill existing staff?
The Damar Difference
At Damar Training, we offer our professional employers a range of unique features to maximise the benefits that the training brings to their organisation:
- Flexible training options and an account managed service
- An established system to effectively identify gaps in knowledge, skills and behaviours, and demonstrate impact
- Experience of delivering Business Administration Apprenticeships in large employers, the public sector, as well as SMEs
- Access to a wide variety of webinars, discussion forums, expert input, videos and other online resources

Business Administration Apprenticeships Delivery Model

This Business Administrator Apprenticeship standard takes about 15 months to complete. Apprentices have a personal Damar coach who helps students and their employer to plan the programme and stay on track, through regular reviews and other types of feedback and progress tracking.
Delivery is a blend of:
- Online content supporting the development of relevant knowledge, behaviours and skills
- Workshops and live content to underpin the e-learning resources
- Review visits with the Damar coach and manager
Over the course of the business admin apprenticeship level 3, students build an electronic portfolio of evidence on OneFile that showcases their knowledge, skills and behaviours. If apprentices do not already have maths and English at level 2 or above, students will also study these as part of the apprenticeship standard. After a minimum of 12 months, when apprentices have completed their portfolio and are meeting the standard required, they progress to the final assessment, which consists of:
- A 60 minute online knowledge test
- An interview with the examiner about their portfolio
- A presentation on a project they have completed or a process that they have improved
Apprentices develop an in-depth knowledge of their organisation and the wider business environment. This part of the course covers:
- Their organisation and the part that their role plays
- Customers (internal and external) and other stakeholders
- Relevant law and regulation
- Business fundamentals
- Their organisation’s policies and processes
- The impact of market forces, political and other external factors
Apprentices will develop the skills to apply their knowledge and support career progression, including:
- Relevant IT packages
- How to produce accurate documents and records
- Decision making
- Influencing and communication skills
- Effective planning and organisation
- Project management
Apprentices will make a positive contribution to your organisation’s culture, showing:
- Professionalism
- Integrity, reliability, motivation
- Adaptability
- Responsibility
- Proactivity
People of all ages and educational backgrounds can undertake Business Administration Apprenticeships, but there are some restrictions, the most important of which are:
- The employer and the training provider must ascertain that the apprenticeship will allow the individual to gain substantive new skills. The training therefore needs to be materially different from any prior qualification or previous apprenticeship;
- The apprentice must be employed, usually for 30+ hours a week, and work more than 50% of their time in England;
- The period of teaching and learning must be at least 12 months and, during this time, apprentices are expected to spend at least six hours per week (on average) on “off the job” training.
Employers that pay the Apprenticeship Levy are able to pay all of the training costs from their Apprenticeship Levy account.
Employers that do not pay the levy, as well as large employers who have spent their levy budget, pay just 5% of the overall cost, with the government paying the balance. For employers with fewer than 50 employees the 5% contribution is waived for apprentices aged 16-18.
There is never any cost to the apprentice, although apprentices’ salaries may reflect the investment being made by the employer.
Business Administration Apprenticeships can lead to a variety of progression opportunities. Apprentices may choose to go onto to our team leader and management apprenticeships, or study a management degree part-time. Others go into more specialist apprenticeships in areas such as HR, marketing and accountancy.


Grahame Benson
Chief Financial Officer, Wondrwall
The Benefits of Business Administration Apprenticeships
Using Business Administration Apprenticeships for new or existing staff can bring many benefits to your business. For example, they can:
- Increase staff loyalty and retention
- Bring fresh talent into your company and re-energise your business
- Improve productivity
- Be more competitive
- Increase revenue
Latest news
Solicitor apprenticeships. The next stage and why Damar and BARBRI are leading the way
By Damar Training Managing Director, Jonathan Bourne Many of the best lawyers I have met do not have a “traditional” lawyer’s background. They went to …
Nurturing future talent
“Having completed my apprenticeship I know it’s not just a qualification, it has given me skills, knowledge and confidence that will benefit me throughout my …
More tips when applying for apprenticeships vacancies
Many employers offer apprenticeship vacancies, from large organisations to small businesses, so when you are applying an apprenticeship opportunity it’s important to consider your career …
Partner employers









