Customer Service Apprentice (Internal Support)
Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council
Oldbury (B69 3DB)
Closes in 25 days (Friday 12 September 2025 at 11:59pm)
Posted on 18 August 2025
Contents
Summary
Are you friendly, enthusiastic, and passionate about helping people? Sandwell Council is offering a range of exciting Customer Service Apprenticeships within internal departments and services where you’ll gain valuable experience, develop key skills, and work towards a Level 2 Customer Service Practitioner qualification.
- Wage
-
£14,526.20 for your first year, then could increase depending on your age
National Minimum Wage rate for apprentices
- Training course
- Customer service practitioner (level 2)
- Hours
-
Monday - Friday with hours varying between 8am - 5.30pm.
37 hours a week
- Start date
-
Monday 3 November 2025
- Duration
-
1 year
- Positions available
-
7
Work
Most of your apprenticeship is spent working. You’ll learn on the job by getting hands-on experience.
What you'll do at work
Are you passionate about helping others, keen to develop professional skills, and ready to kickstart your career in a supportive and diverse workplace? Sandwell Council is offering a range of Customer Service Apprenticeships across several internal departments.
Opportunities Available In:
- Asset Management & Improvement - Support the delivery of housing repairs and maintenance services by liaising with contractors, scheduling jobs, and providing updates to residents. You’ll develop ICT, admin, and organisational skills while helping ensure council housing services run smoothly.
- Revenue & Benefits Team - Work in the Business Rates team to provide information on exemptions, reliefs, and payment arrangements. A great opportunity to build your customer service and data handling skills while assisting local taxpayers.
- Children & Education Directorate - Provide business and project support across various education services and assist the PA to the Executive Director. You'll be involved in everything from diary management to liaising with schools and partner agencies.
- Skills & Employability Team - Support a high-performing careers team by organising appointments, marketing events, and keeping social media and websites up to date. Gain valuable insight into the careers guidance sector while building your communication and organisational skills.
- Independent Living Centre - Help support vulnerable residents by processing Blue Badge applications, managing admin tasks, and providing excellent customer service in a role that truly makes a difference.
- Think Sandwell Team - Be part of the council’s business support services—handling client files, supporting funding claims, arranging meetings, and promoting local employability programmes.
- Customer Contact Centre - Work in a fast-paced contact centre and complaints team environment where you’ll assist residents, update systems, and deliver high-quality support on a wide range of council services.
These roles provide a fantastic opportunity to gain real-world experience while working towards a recognised qualification. Whether you're supporting housing repairs, providing careers guidance, managing education admin, or helping residents access vital services, these roles will give you the skills, experience, and confidence to launch your future career.
Where you'll work
Freeth Street
Oldbury
B69 3DB
Training
Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.
Training provider
SANDWELL COLLEGE
Training course
Customer service practitioner (level 2)
Understanding apprenticeship levels (opens in new tab)
What you'll learn
Course contents
- Use a range of questioning skills, including listening and responding in a way that builds rapport, determines customer needs and expectations and achieves positive engagement and delivery.
- Depending on your job role and work environment: Use appropriate verbal and non-verbal communication skills, along with summarising language during face-to-face communications; and/or
- Depending on your job role and work environment: Use appropriate communication skills, along with reinforcement techniques (to confirm understanding) during non-facing customer interactions.
- Depending on your job role and work environment: Use an appropriate ‘tone of voice’ in all communications, including written and digital, that reflect the organisation’s brand.
- Provide clear explanations and offer options in order to help customers make choices that are mutually beneficial to both the customer and your organisation.
- Be able to organise yourself, prioritise your own workload/activity and work to meet deadlines.
- Demonstrate patience and calmness.
- Show you understand the customer’s point of view.
- Use appropriate sign-posting or resolution to meet your customers needs and manage expectations.
- Maintain informative communication during service recovery.
Training schedule
At the end, you will gain a Level 2 Customer Service Practitioner Qualification. The apprenticeship training will be delivered in the workplace, as you will receive visits from a college assessor. The apprenticeship will also include a proportion of 20% off-the-job training and a robust programme of Mandatory Apprentice Training provided by Sandwell Council to include: Safeguarding, Prevent, Fire Awareness, Data Protection & Cyber Security and Equality & Diversity.
Requirements
Essential qualifications
GCSE in:
- English (grade 9-4/A-C)
- Maths (grade 9-3/A-D)
Other in:
- English (grade Level 2)
- Maths (grade Level 1)
Share if you have other relevant qualifications and industry experience. The apprenticeship can be adjusted to reflect what you already know.
Skills
- Communication skills
- IT skills
- Attention to detail
- Organisation skills
- Customer care skills
- Problem solving skills
- Presentation skills
- Administrative skills
- Number skills
- Analytical skills
- Logical
- Team working
- Creative
- Initiative
- Non judgemental
- Patience
- Data Protection
- Flexibility
- Empathy/Sympathy
- Confidentiality
- Professionalism
- Respect for others
Other requirements
Proof of qualification certificates will be required during the recruitment process. Please be aware that you will come into contact with sensitive information, for which data security must be maintained. You will need to be flexible and be very confident in talking to people at all levels. You must be prepared to adhere to council policies, including the Data Protection Act. We reserve the right to close vacancies prior to their advertised date if we receive a large number of applications. Therefore, you are strongly advised to complete and return your application as soon as possible.
About this employer
Sandwell is a large, multicultural metropolitan borough situated in the heart of the Black Country, to the west of Birmingham, within the West Midlands conurbation and with a population of over 280,000. The Council is one of the largest employers in the Borough with employees in a variety of occupations, providing a comprehensive range of services. For more information about Sandwell Council’s apprenticeship programme and our recruitment process please visit our YouTube channel. Find out more information on Sandwell’s Values and Behaviours on the council’s webpage. For more information on careers in local government you can view a copy of the Local Government Career Guide.
http://www.sandwell.gov.uk/apprenticeships (opens in new tab)
After this apprenticeship
This apprenticeship is a fixed-term 12-month contract and at the end you will gain a Level 2 Customer Service Practitioner Qualification. However, the skills, knowledge and experience gained in this apprenticeship will allow you to gain future opportunities in the sector.
Ask a question
The contact for this apprenticeship is:
SANDWELL COLLEGE
The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC1000337668.
Apply now
Closes in 25 days (Friday 12 September 2025 at 11:59pm)
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