Health and Social Care Apprentice
L'ARCHE
Ipswich (IP4 4BD)
Closes on Thursday 15 January 2026
Posted on 20 November 2025
Contents
Summary
Kick start your career in a nurturing environment! You will support our members with learning disabilities to live full lives while working towards your qualification. Programme is the perfect preparation for a career in care: you’ll share life with people with learning disabilities, while learning best practice in the Health and Social Care fiel
- Wage
-
£15,704 for your first year, then could increase depending on your age
National Minimum Wage rate for apprentices
- Training course
- Lead adult care worker (level 3)
- Hours
-
Wednesday to Sunday, shifts 08:00 - 16:00 / 14:00 - 22:00
40 hours a week
- Start date
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Monday 26 January 2026
- Duration
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1 year 6 months
- Positions available
-
2
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
As an Apprentice in a L’Arche Community, you will be supporting adults with learning disabilities along side qualified Support Workers, in a supported living setting. Your training will be monitored by a local training provider, but the vast majority of learning will take place on site.
Apprentices at L’Arche will engage with community members with holistic support. This means undergoing specialist training, as well as developing mutual relationships with people with learning disabilities.
The day-to-day duties of an Apprentice differs depending on the needs of the person they are supporting.
This can include:
- Providing physical support which may include helping with household tasks and personal care
- Providing emotional support for an individual and their families.
- Supporting and helping with health care needs, including routine checks or administrating medication
- Encouraging and supporting the development of personal skills through hobbies and interests
- Teaching life skills, such as shopping, using public transport and paying for bills
- Working with other healthcare professionals to ensure that all care needs meet the highest possible standards
Being part of the L’Arche family involves some hard work and resilience, as well as lots of joy, fun and laughter. But why take our word for it? Watch some of our assistants talk about their role and why they love working for L'Arche.
https://www.larche.org.uk/apprenticeships
Where you'll work
L'arche Ipswich, 320 Woodbridge Road
Ipswich
IP4 4BD
Training
Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.
Training provider
WEST SUFFOLK COLLEGE
Training course
Lead adult care worker (level 3)
Understanding apprenticeship levels (opens in new tab)
What you'll learn
Course contents
- Support individuals they are working with according to their personal care/support plan
- Take the initiative when working outside normal duties and responsibilities
- Recognise and access help when not confident or skilled in any aspect of the role that they are undertaking
- Implement/facilitate the specialist assessment of social, physical, emotional and spiritual needs of individuals with cognitive, sensory and physical impairments
- Contribute to the development and ongoing review of care/support plans for the individuals they support
- Provide individuals with information to enable them to exercise choice on how they are supported
- Encourage individuals to actively participate in the way their care and support is delivered
- Ensure that individuals know what they are agreeing to regarding the way in which they are supported
- Lead and support colleagues to understand how to establish informed consent when providing care and support
- Guide, mentor and contribute to the development of colleagues in the execution of their duties and responsibilities
- Demonstrate dignity in their working role with individuals they support, their families, carers and other professionals
- Support others to understand the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion in social care
- Exhibit empathy for individuals they support, i.e. understanding and compassion
- Exhibit courage in supporting individuals in ways that may challenge their own cultural and belief systems
- Demonstrate and promote to other workers excellent communication skills including confirmation of understanding to individuals, their families, carers and professionals
- Use and facilitate methods of communication preferred by the individual they support according to the individual’s language, cultural and sensory needs, wishes and preferences
- Take the initiative and reduce environmental barriers to communication
- Demonstrate and ensure that records and reports are written clearly and concisely
- Lead and support others to keep information safe, preserve confidentiality in accordance with agreed ways of working
- Support others, to recognise and respond to potential signs of abuse according to agreed ways of working
- Work in partnership with external agencies to respond to concerns of abuse
- Lead and support others to address conflicts or dilemmas that may arise between an individual’s rights and duty of care
- Recognise, report, respond to and record unsafe practices and encourage others to do so
- Lead and mentor others where appropriate to promote the wellbeing of the individuals they support
- Demonstrate the management of the reduction of infection, including use of best practice in hand hygiene
- Promote healthy eating and wellbeing by supporting individuals to have access to fluids, food and nutrition
- Carry out fire safety procedures and manage others to do so
- Develop risk assessments and use in a person centred way to support individuals safely including moving and assisting people and objects
- Manage, monitor, report and respond to changes in the health and wellbeing of the individuals they support
- Take the initiative to identify and form professional relationships with other people and organisations
- Demonstrate, manage and support self and others to work within safe, clear professional boundaries
- Take the initiative to evaluate and improve own skills and knowledge through reflective practice, supervision, feedback and learning opportunities
- Demonstrate continuous professional development
- Carry out research relevant to individuals’ support needs and share with others
- Demonstrate where necessary mentoring and supervision to others in the workplace
- Demonstrate good team/partnership working skills
- Demonstrate their contribution to robust recruitment and induction processes
Training schedule
- The learner will be studying the Lead Adult Care Worker Level 3 Apprenticeship Standard qualification
- About 8 hours out of the 40 you will work per week will be dedicated to working towards this
- Functional skills will be studied if equivalent qualifications are not held
Requirements
Essential qualifications
GCSE or equivalent in:
Share if you have other relevant qualifications and industry experience. The apprenticeship can be adjusted to reflect what you already know.
Skills
- Communication skills
- Organisation skills
- Customer care skills
- Non judgemental
- Patience
- Physical fitness
Other requirements
The values of the organisation can be reflected in your daily work. You will: Be respectful of the privacy, dignity, independence and rights of people with learning disabilities, be able to gain the confidence and trust of people with learning disabilities, work collaboratively and supportively with your teammates.
About this employer
L'Arche is a social care provider, supporting adults with learning disabilities to live life to the full. Here in Ipswich we are a lively community where people with and without learning disabilities share daily life together; where everyone is valued, differences are accepted and talents are recognised and celebrated. We are committed to developing personal responsibility and growth in a community setting. What makes L’Arche different is the attention we pay to building relationships and a sense of belonging, which goes beyond work and the provision of a service. We aim to celebrate people with learning disabilities and build circles of support around them. We go beyond basic needs to attend to people’s emotional and spiritual lives.
After this apprenticeship
- Successful apprenticeships completing their qualification is full are invited to join the community as a fulltime member of staff and continue through the career progression route with L'Arche
Ask a question
The contact for this apprenticeship is:
WEST SUFFOLK COLLEGE
The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC2000001617.
Apply now
Closes on Thursday 15 January 2026
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