Got an issue with your apprenticeship? Need some individual support or advice? 

These places can help.

General advice

• You can contact the National Helpline for Apprentices by phone (0800 015 0400) or by email
• Check out the official view on what makes a great apprenticeship
• Join the AoA Connect vast growing apprentice community and ask other apprentices for their advice and support.  If you would prefer to post in the community anonymously, please email members@associationofapprentices.org.uk and we will post it on your behalf.  Just look out for the responses.
• The Department for Education (DfE) website lists the Association of Apprentices membership as a form of effective apprentice networking. Access the DfE’s Apprentice Support Centre for comprehensive guidance and advice by clicking here.
• Support Connect exists to connect learners with additional learning needs to the support and advice they need in order to progress and succeed. We also work with training and education providers and employers to make sure that they are able to deliver specialist support and adjustments themselves. Visit their website for more information.
• The Disabled Apprentices Network (DAN) examines the barriers that some disabled people might face, what makes apprenticeships successful and what employers, training providers, and educators can do to provide the necessary support.
  
• Youth Employment UK is a not for profit, community interest company and the expert voice on youth employment. Young people can find information, advice and tips in the apprenticeship hub. This includes 2 short online courses that are free to complete: one for current apprentices to help them manage their learning, work and goals, and one for those curious about apprenticeships to help them explore what apprenticeships are and if they are the right choice for them.

Mental Health Support

• Mind Information including taking care of your mental wellbeing and finding support for benefits or housing
• Rethink Mental Illness Online hub of practical support and information for people living with or supporting people with mental illness
• Student Minds Guidance on looking after your mental health, including ways you can support friends and family, guidance for those experiencing xenophobia and racism, and for those with ongoing mental health difficulties
• Gambling has become more accessible than ever, creating potential risks for apprentices. Whether you are looking for support for yourself, a friend or a family member, GamCare can help through various methods including WhatsApp, Live Chat, Telephone call, Facebook Messenger, Forums, Group Chats and providing information on local support. Find out how to contact Gamcare here.
• Able Futures can help you manage your mental health at work so you can
  enjoy more good days. 
• The Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity is the only charity that provides emotional, physical and financial wellbeing support to the construction community and their families. A crucial element of our strategy is to provide a wide range of free and widely available pro-active resources to support the industry.             

Work issues

• Try to talk to your line manager in the first instance or your HR manager

Training provider issues

• Try to resolve these directly with your provider – you can go via their complaints procedure if necessary
• Your line manager at work may be able to help (your training provider is paid by your employer)
• The National Helpdesk might be able to help

Being made redundant during your apprenticeship?

If you’ve been made redundant or think you might be made redundant in the future during your apprenticeship, access support here on the government website.

Safeguarding – The process, practice and culture embedded within an organisation to create a safe environment where children, young people and adults are free from all forms of harm, abuse or neglect.  

Everyone regardless of their age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation, has a right to equal has the right to live in safety, free from harm, abuse or neglect.  

Harm – physical injury, especially that which is deliberately inflicted.

Abuse  – treat with cruelty or violence, especially regularly or repeatedly, this can be physically, verbally, emotionally or sexually.  

Neglect – fail to care for properly.

Prevent – The Government’s Prevent Strategy aims to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism and extremism.  

• Extremism is a vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance to faiths and beliefs.
• Radicalisation is the process by which people come to support terrorism and extremism and, in sme cases, they then participate in terrorist groups.

If you feel that yours or someone else’s rights, safety or welfare is threatened, then please report it to us via our email address members@associationofapprentices.org.uk or by clicking on the See It, Report It button at the top of this page.  

We will always take concerns seriously. 

If you or someone else is in immediate danger, please call 999 straight away.

Under 18? Another way to Report Abuse 24/7  

To report abuse and for advice on e-safety, click the button below.

The Click CEOP button

The Click CEOP button is an asset of the National Crime Agency CEOP command. The CEOP command works to protect children (a child is defined as a person who is aged under 18, this includes an unborn child) from sexual abuse and exploitation both online and offline.

The button has been developed for children and young people and is offered as a convenient and potentially less intimidating method of reporting these sensitive types of crime, alternative to face-to-face and telephone reporting to local police forces. It provides children and young people with access to an online mechanism for reporting known or suspected child sexual exploitation or child sexual abuse directly to CEOP.

Reporting to CEOP

CEOP takes all reports seriously and children of all ages can report through the Click CEOP button. The reporting form is designed to be as accessible as possible by children, but it is highly recommended that children and young people seek the support of an adult they trust to help them make a report.

All reports to CEOP are treated sensitively and are read and risk assessed by a CEOP Child Protection Adviser. It is not possible to report to CEOP anonymously as CEOP have a duty to ensure the child or young person is safe. Reports made outside of office hours are viewed by the NCA Control Centre. Urgent concerns about a child’s safety are referred by the Control Centre to local police. CEOP advise any urgent reports where a child is in immediate danger should be reported to the local police force where the child is located.