Customer Service Apprentice

Stroud District Council

Gloucestershire (GL5 4UB)

Closes on Sunday 12 July 2026

Posted on 4 June 2026

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Summary

Providing customer service and clerical support. 

• Wage:

  Competitive

  Competitive wage offered

  Minimum wage rates (opens in new tab)

  16 - 20 years old - £20,933

  21+ - £24,521

• Training course: Customer service specialist (level 3)
• Hours: 37 Hours per week.

  37 hours a week

• Start date:

  Tuesday 1 September 2026

• Duration:

  1 year 3 months

• Positions available:

  1

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

• Provide practical evidence of learning to support a formal qualification.
• To undertake a development programme leading to a National Qualification as part of an apprenticeship and to actively participate in their own development plan to be agreed with the line manager and the assessor.
• To work alongside experienced professionals, learning all aspects of business administration and customer service, and becoming part of an efficient team
• To demonstrate a positive, enthusiastic, committed and flexible attitude towards work, team members, colleagues and other persons.
• To communicate with council customers by phone, email or face-to-face.
• To effectively use ICT in carrying out duties 
• Taking telephone messages and/or dealing with telephone calls.
• To maintain confidentiality and discretion in compliance with the Data Protection Act
• Undertake such other duties commensurate with the grade of post as may be properly assigned by the Head of Service.
• Work where tasks are interchanged but the programme of tasks is not normally interrupted.
• Responds to queries and complaints.
• Adopt a proactive problem-solving approach.
• Have confidence to deal with difficult situations.
• Know when it is appropriate to seek guidance from a line manager.
• Provide constructive ideas and feedback on the apprentice programme

Work with guidance and within set procedures, but with the scope to make creative suggestions for improvement to be referred to the Senior Business Support Officer.

Where you'll work

Ebley Mill
Ebley Wharf
Stroud
Gloucestershire
GL5 4UB

Training

Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.

Training provider

CIRENCESTER COLLEGE

Training course

Customer service specialist (level 3)

Understanding apprenticeship levels (opens in new tab)

What you'll learn

Course contents

• Business focused service delivery: Demonstrate a continuous improvement and future focussed approach to customer service delivery including decision making and providing recommendations or advice
• Business focused service delivery: Resolve complex issues by being able to choose from and successfully apply a wide range of approaches
• Business focused service delivery: Find solutions that meet your organisations needs as well as the customer requirements
• Providing a positive customer experience: Through advanced questioning, listening and summarising negotiate mutually beneficial outcomes
• Providing a positive customer experience: Manage challenging and complicated situations within your level of authority and make recommendations to enable and deliver change to service or strategy
• Providing a positive customer experience: Use clear explanations, provide options and solutions to influence and help customers make choices and agree next steps
• Providing a positive customer experience: Explore and interpret the customer experience to inform and influence achieving a positive result for customer satisfaction
• Providing a positive customer experience: Demonstrate a cost conscious mind-set when meeting customer and the business needs
• Providing a positive customer experience: Identifying where highs and lows of the customer journey produce a range of emotions in the customer
• Providing a positive customer experience: Use written and verbal communication to simplify and provide complex information in a way that supports positive customer outcome in the relevant format
• Working with customers/customer insights: Proactively gather customer feedback, through a variety of methods. Critically analyse, and evaluate the meaning, implication and facts and act upon it
• Working with customers/customer insights: Analyse your customer types, to identify or anticipate their potential needs and expectations when providing your service
• Customer Service performance: Maintain a positive relationship even when you are unable to deliver the customer’s expected outcome
• Customer Service performance: When managing referrals or escalations take into account historical interactions and challenges to determine next steps
• Service Improvement: Analyse the end to end service experience, seeking input from others where required, supporting development of solutions
• Service Improvement: Make recommendations based on your findings to enable improvement
• Service Improvement: Make recommendations and implement where possible, changes in line with new and relevant legislation, regulations and industry best practice

Training schedule

• Cirencester College 
• Customer Service Specialist Level 3 

Whilst the majority of training will take place at the employers' premises, there will be occasional attendance required at Cirencester College.

Requirements

Desirable qualifications

GCSE in:

• English (grade C / 4)
• Maths (grade C / 4)

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
• Administrative skills
• Logical
• Team working
• Initiative

Other requirements

To work with communities sometimes outside normal office hours, including weekends.

To ensure that at all times service delivery informs, reflects and supports the council’s prevailing aims and objectives.

To work with colleagues across the organisation as required in support of organisational goals.

To promote the Council’s overall commitment to equality of opportunity/Diversity at all times and work within the requirements of the Council’s Equality Scheme.

To undertake all training and development initiatives as required.

To work within health and safety guidelines in accordance with the

Health and Safety at Work Act.

To work within the requirements of the Council’s Environmental Policy and Management System.

To undertake any appropriate duties required to meet the council’s obligations under the Civil Contingencies Act.

To undertake all appropriate duties required to meet the council’s safeguarding obligations according to the Children’s Act (2004), Working Together to Safeguard Children Statutory Guidance (2018), the Care Act (2014) and the Care and Support Statutory Guidance (2014), Mental Health Capacity Act (2005), and Deprivation of Liberty Standards (2007).
 

About this employer

Stroud District Council is the local government authority for the Stroud district in Gloucestershire, England, headquartered at Ebley Mill.

https://www.stroud.gov.uk/ (opens in new tab)

Disability Confident

A fair proportion of interviews for this apprenticeship will be offered to applicants with a disability or long-term health condition. This includes non-visible disabilities and conditions.

You can choose to be considered for an interview under the Disability Confident scheme. You’ll need to meet the essential requirements to be considered for an interview.

After this apprenticeship

Potential for a full-time role once the apprenticeship has been completed. 

Ask a question

The contact for this apprenticeship is:

CIRENCESTER COLLEGE

Apprenticeships

apprenticeships@cirencester.ac.uk

The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC2000035081.

Apply now

Closes on Sunday 12 July 2026