Testimonials

I would recommend doing an apprenticeship to someone else because as someone who wasn’t sure what career path to go down, this was a way to do something new but learn new skills as I earned money also. This gave me an opportunity to see what pathways I could go down and how much this could open new working opportunities for me. An apprenticeship for me was the best decision I could have done as it enabled me to learn more about business administration further and learn new skills and build on ones I had.

I found the teaching and training throughout my course to be very good. I did start before the pandemic but found the teaching sessions I attended to be beneficial and informative to help me complete tasks on those areas set on the City and Guilds Platform. The platform sessions were very helpful, especially as the tutors helped to go through any areas of the task you were unsure about as well as enabling people to talk to others who may be doing a similar apprenticeship and linking the teaching sessions to the workplace.

My tutor, Ellie, supported me through every part of the apprenticeship. We worked towards my strengths and gave me advice on how I could improve on a task I completed further, especially to try and achieve the best grade I could at the end of the apprenticeship. Ellie also supported me outside of the programme, especially during the lockdowns by giving me advice as well as holding call sessions after I had finished work to see how I was doing and if there was any extra support I needed for my programme.

When it was coming up to EPA, Ellie and I wanted to achieve a distinction and we went through my work to make sure all areas were covered and that all the examples I had for my portfolio were my strongest examples and I was able to say that these were my own work and had covered areas of the City and Guilds Checklist. Ellie had provided me with all the information I needed to help me choose my strongest work to be submitted and also helping me perfect the areas which I did not have a strong example for. Ellie also helped me to go through my presentation and my work and to also have someone else go through my presentation with me so that I knew what to expect on the day of the assessment.

I am very happy with my outcome of my End Point Assessment. I received a Distinction which I am very proud of and very happy that all the hard work I put in, especially during the lockdowns, and support from my tutor had paid off in the end. Crown Vocational Training really did help me throughout my apprenticeship and always deliver a high standard teaching and learning and all of the tutors are very informative and did help make sure that all parts of the teaching and learning were of a high standard but in a way that helped to benefit all students.

I began my apprenticeship search while I was still enrolled in my first year of college. I felt as though my college courses, despite consideration prior to picking them, were still not beneficial to me, and I felt as though I would be much better of working and getting a taste of the real world as opposed to working towards a qualification that would most likely get me to places that I had no interest in being in. So, after a lot of thinking, I decided to leave college after my first year and begin my apprenticeship with Crown Vocational Training & Accord Estate Agents.

Throughout my programme, my tutor Broni had been going above and beyond to assist me with my learning. Despite the current circumstances with COVID-19, Broni had taken time from home to conduct multiple zoom meetings and walk me through coursework, any questions I may have had and also preparation leading up to my EPA. I had been forwarded multiple links, information sheets and presentations containing information that I believe was vital to my result, and if I ever had any queries regarding these, Broni was just a text away.

Throughout my course my training and teaching was outstanding. Although I only visited the college a couple of times, the staff were all very accommodating and made everything easily manageable. The presentations and teaching materials were always very informative and easily understandable, however if there were any questions, they would be answered swiftly by the tutor present. Broni has always gone above and beyond in order to assist me and I truly believe that I wouldn’t have been able to achieve this without her help. In my EPA I achieved distinctions across the board and I am over the moon with my results.

I undertook my HR Support Level 3 Apprenticeship with Crown Vocational Training and finished this in June 2020. Crown were really supportive and the skills I have learned on my apprenticeship, specifically the employment law subject have been really beneficial for my role. I have been able to progress in HR with my wider knowledge. Nichola was a really great tutor, she was supportive via workshops, emails, 121 meetings and calls and was really helpful when introducing me to other apprentices on the same course as me. With Nichola’s support I really felt like I was able to achieve and could speak to her about any queries that I had with the work. Thank you Nichola and Crown for all the support!

“Being able to learn more about HR through my apprenticeship has left me better equipped and more confident to deal with a wide range of HR matters. Everyone at Crown Vocational has been great since I joined, and my tutor Nichola has been so supportive and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without her!”

A little bit about me:
My name is Kiara and at the age of 16 I applied for an apprenticeship to Fiserv through Crown Vocational Training. Within two days I received a call from Crown with an interview date, I had a group interview with activities such as building a tower out of newspaper to show team work etc. The next I had a phone call from requirement and they offered me a job working 10am till 6pm working every day except Wednesday and Saturdays.

The reason I choose to do an apprenticeship was because I didn’t feel like full time college was for me; I prefer hands on learning. At college I choose to do a travel and tourism course as I would like to be a holiday rep. Once I realised college wasn’t for me I looked into something that would give me a qualification in what I need to become a holiday rep; this is when I chose to do a customer service NVQ at Crown.

Before starting my job I had an induction day at Crown, where we went to meet our tutors and see the building and have more of an insight of what our next year of studying would look like and this Is when we also received folders with all information regarding our apprenticeship. At the start I had Ellie as my tutor who supported and helped me through the first phase of my apprenticeship. Everyone was so lovely and welcoming both when starting and throughout the apprenticeship.

I started on the 4th march 2019 and put through a two week training course learning all the systems and process we need to follow as well as budding with agents on the floor and one week training on the floor. This was known as academy week; where we are monitored while being on the phone to customers. My first official day on the floor was the 25th of March 2019, at first I was so nervous but all the managers and agents around you are so welcoming and all assist you if need be.

About college:
Once we settled into work we were invited to our first session at college on the 30th April where we learned all the process and law of working with customers. We discussed legislations such as GDPR, equality act of 2010 and dealing with conflicting customers. Once completing these session we then needed to fill out the online portal with City and Guilds, where we would do work sheets and answer questions on what we have learnt for our EPA (end point assessment) of proof what we have learnt.
Everything I learnt in college will stay with me forever; it has helped me improve my customer services skills by taking phone calls with customers and more of an insight on the processes of working in a contact centre.

I loved having college days as you meet new people in every session and made new friends. Each session is different and you learn with people from different company’s and different job roles. I have made many new friends their and still keep in contact with some. You also meet people from different departments around your work. I also enjoy the excitement of being in a different environment.

The support I received:
Throughout the apprenticeship I had a lot of support for Sarah, who picked up from where Ellie left off. I was struggling with a lot of my work and was behind with my workload; however with the support from the college and Sarah I brought my self-up to date and received distinctions in all areas of my apprenticeship. I wouldn’t have been able to get the results without Sarah beside me guiding and helping me throughout the end phase of my apprenticeship.

Also I received a lot of support from my managers at Fiserv, such as Nicole, Daniel and Rochelle. When having silly little questions and struggling I could always go to them and they would sit and help me and get me through it. A lot of support was throughout one to ones and coaching with my managers. Also the two hours offline a week helped me get any additional work I couldn’t get done during college hours. Also meetings set up with Sarah she would frequently check up on my progress, and organising college days for me to get work done out of the office. Without the resources the college and Fiserv provided such as regular meetings and college days I wouldn’t have my NVQ in customer services to now focus on my next steps.

Overall review:
Studying at Crown was an amazing experience; I have made many friends and enjoyed every moment of it. I worked while earning money and having support getting the grades I need to focus on my next step. I will defiantly miss going to college and the bond I have made with Sarah. I would recommend anyone who loves to hands on learning to apply for an apprenticeship with Crown.

This year I completed a customer service apprenticeship with Crown Vocational Training; my tutor Sarah definitely helped me to achieve my best end results. Sarah helped me to stay focused, up to date with all work as well as keeping me calm and stress free towards my EPA. Sarah took over as my tutor while I was very behind and had little understanding of the course I was doing, with the help from my tutor and some other staff at Crown they improved my understating and offered assistance when completing the college workshop sessions and the online platform.

My work skills also improved throughout the course as I was able to understand customer service more thoroughly and learn from other people’s working experiences, as at Crown we have the chance to meet the other apprentices in college days. My course with Crown has certainly helped me gain more confidence with my role at Fiserv.

Overall, my apprenticeship journey has been challenging at times, I have received so much support and help from all the staff at Crown and I know I wouldn’t have been able to have achieved the results of a distinction without the encouragement they provided. I am looking to do another apprenticeship with Crown Vocational Training and would 100% recommend anyone who is looking for a course.

Dave Goody held Excel group training in January 2020 for the staff of Livemore – it proved beneficial and was well received.

In addressing the needs of a large group with differing skill levels, Dave’s versatile approach was helpful in resolving individual queries. He imparted more complex solutions and information in a straightforward, easy to digest fashion which resulted in a training session which was both productive and informative.

I undertook the Team Leader Apprenticeship to help me develop my skills and knowledge, as this was a new role with new challenges that I had minimal experience of handling. I enrolled on the programme and can't believe just what I have learned and the confidence I have gained. The course and tutors have way exceeded what I had expected. I was thinking I would just have a certificate at the end to show what I had achieved not realising how this was going to make me grow and be more assertive in my work life, home life and social life. I can honestly say I am a much better Team Leader as a result of my course.

Working with Crown Vocational Training has been a great experience, learning on the job in management has opened my eyes to a whole new world of opportunity! I have been supported since walking through the door all the way till the end by my tutor, the whole course was well structured making course submissions easily achievable in an already busy working lifestyle.

I would like to thank Nichola and all the Crown VT staff for making the learning experience less stressful and so worthwhile, gaining the management qualification will be valuable to my job role. I would recommend Crown VT to anyone seeking professional business qualifications and will myself be returning in the future for the higher management courses.

I was looking to gain a recognised teaching qualification and thought that this was a very good level entry qualification to work towards. The onsite sessions were brilliant as our tutor was very knowledgeable and engaging. The course was spread out over a 7-8 week period which gave me plenty of time to complete the work which was always assessed promptly, fairly and areas that needed correcting clearly raised. This is the second course that I have completed with Nichola at Crown and I have always found her to be friendly, professional and encouraging. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Crown Vocational Training for well-structured training by knowledgeable and positive tutors.

I am 6 months into the Business Professional Administration Level 4 course and I am really enjoying it. The topics covered are varied and relevant to real businesses so I feel I am learning a lot of important and useful information. The support I receive from my NVQ assessor is brilliant. She is professional, knowledgeable, friendly and I feel very comfortable to go to her for help when needed. There is a lot of work involved so the course does require dedication and time however I definitely feel it is worth it.

I have now completed my NAEA qualification and I would like to say that Claire Barry has been an outstanding teacher in my opinion. She is always helpful, cheerful and supportive. To have to learn new things sometimes makes things a drag but, with her, it never was. All I wanted to do is complete my apprenticeship and she was always there for me.

Excellent support and the chance to broaden my horizons as a prospective worker

I had a job within 6 days – you get to learn more than just being ‘on the job'.