Peer Worker Apprentice
Plymouth City Council
Plymouth (PL1 1QX)
Closes in 14 days (Thursday 8 October 2026)
Posted on 21 September 2026
Contents
Summary
Working alongside Employment Specialists and wider team, you'll provide peer support, and practical guidance to participants, helping them build confidence, develop skills, and achieve their own aspirations. Through sharing your experiences, promoting self-advocacy, and building trusted relationships, you'll help create positive change.
- Wage
-
£22,313 a year
Minimum wage rates (opens in new tab)
- L3 (Aged 16-20 - £22,313 per annum)
- L3 (Aged 21+ - £24,520 per annum)
- Training course
- Peer worker (level 3)
- Hours
-
Core hours are between Monday - Friday 9.00am - 5.00pm and you will receive allocated and protected study time each week.
37 hours a week
- Start date
-
Sunday 1 November 2026
- Duration
-
1 year 3 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
- Identify, facilitate access to or signpost resources within the
service and communities that promote choice, informed decision making and are aligned to personal goals - Safely discloses personal experiences with individuals and models self-help and self-management skills
- Establish safe, supportive and respectful relationships with
individuals, carers and families - Use co-production and lived experience to support individuals and groups to identify and work toward their self-defined goals
- Empower individuals to self-advocate and understand their rights and choices
- Represent and promote peer support within development
activities and service development - Work as part of the team and contribute to service improvement
- Maintain their peer perspective by using personal development and supervision to reflect on the role
- Maintain the safety of themselves and others and encourage positive risk taking putting the best interests, needs and preferences of the individual first
- Communicates effectively with individuals, colleagues, and other services in the context of peer support and provides feedback to individuals
Where you'll work
Cobourg House
Mayflower Street
Plymouth
PL1 1QX
Training
Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.
Training provider
PLYMOUTH CITY COUNCIL
Training course
Peer worker (level 3)
Understanding apprenticeship levels (opens in new tab)
What you'll learn
Course contents
- Develop and maintain mutual and reciprocal peer relationships
- Mutually establish the purpose and boundaries within the peer relationship
- Engage with and support families and carers
- Manage and prepare for the ending of the peer relationship
- Purposefully share lived experience within the context of the peer relationship
- Establish connections with the individual based on shared understanding of experiences
- Model self-help and self-management approaches for the individual they are supporting
- Support the individual to develop self-management and problem-solving skills
- Support individuals to identify opportunities and overcome setbacks and challenges when trying to achieve self-defined goals
- Support individuals to work toward self-defined goals using peer-based approaches in 1-to-1, drop-in or virtual settings
- Support individual-led activities
- Collaboratively discuss care and support options with the individual
- Actively contributes to an individual’s care and goal plans with the individual
- Sets up and work with groups to facilitate working toward individual or shared goals within the group setting
- Support individuals to safely access support for their goals through digital platforms
- Support the individual during changes in their life circumstances
- Discuss concerns with the individual and when necessary raise any issues with an appropriate colleague or supervisor
- Support the individual to self-advocate and through self-determination, make choices and control the care and support options open to them
- Signpost to advocacy services
- Support the individual to prepare for reviews and complete applications or referrals, e.g. housing, medication review, food bank, benefits
- Identify new resources or community projects that could be accessed by individuals being supported
- Raise awareness and understanding of the opportunities available to the individuals being supported
- Act as a community connector to build links with community resources
- Support individuals to navigate through systems to access support, signposting resources relevant to their circumstances and self-defined goals that they can access independently
- Support co-production and delivery of learning and development activities to raise awareness and understanding of the Peer Worker’s role and remit
- Use service development activities to tackle stigma and labelling to encourage culture change
- Give presentations and deliver training to small groups
- Promote the lived experience perspectives and concerns of the individual being supported across own workplace and other organisations and services
- Promote and embed peer-based approaches in teams and services with which they work
- Use meetings with other multi-disciplinary team members to facilitate understanding of the individual’s perspective and their rights
- Work collaboratively with the multi-disciplinary team and other organisations or services
- Positively challenge low expectations and discriminatory practice to influence system change and enhance services
- Seek advice, support or assistance from the appropriate person when the limits of own responsibility and competence has been reached
- Manage own time and work priorities, using resources effectively
- Develop and maintain peer and professional networks
- Actively participate in team and peer supervision
- Reflect on and applies learning to practice
- Recognise the importance of self-care, taking appropriate action when required
- Participate in appraisal, personal development planning and continuous professional development
- Identify risks and contribute to required risk assessments
- Facilitate discussions with individuals and between the individual and the services they use on potential risks to their health and safety when working toward their self-defined goals
- Promote positive risk taking and different perspectives on risk within the team
- Take action in line with organisational policy where there are safeguarding concerns
- Recognise high-risk situations and takes action in line with organisational policy
- Adapt their communication to meet the needs of others
- Support individual's who are experiencing distress
- Provide relevant and supportive feedback to the individual in the peer relationship
- Actively seek feedback from individuals or groups on the support provided
- Maintain accurate records, ensuring where records are about the individual being supported, these are co-produced
- Follow legal and organisational requirements when dealing with confidentiality, consent and information sharing
- Develop and maintain mutual and reciprocal peer relationships
- Mutually establish the purpose and boundaries within the peer relationship
- Engage with and support families and carers
- Manage and prepare for the ending of the peer relationship
- Purposefully share lived experience within the context of the peer relationship
- Establish connections with the individual based on shared understanding of experiences
- Model self-help and self-management approaches for the individual they are supporting
- Support the individual to develop self-management and problem-solving skills
- Support individuals to identify opportunities and overcome setbacks and challenges when trying to achieve self-defined goals
- Support individuals to work toward self-defined goals using peer-based approaches in 1-to-1, drop-in or virtual settings
- Support individual-led activities
- Collaboratively discuss care and support options with the individual
- Actively contributes to an individual’s care and goal plans with the individual
- Sets up and work with groups to facilitate working toward individual or shared goals within the group setting
- Support individuals to safely access support for their goals through digital platforms
- Support the individual during changes in their life circumstances
- Discuss concerns with the individual and when necessary raise any issues with an appropriate colleague or supervisor
- Support the individual to self-advocate and through self-determination, make choices and control the care and support options open to them
- Signpost to advocacy services
- Support the individual to prepare for reviews and complete applications or referrals, e.g. housing, medication review, food bank, benefits
- Identify new resources or community projects that could be accessed by individuals being supported
- Raise awareness and understanding of the opportunities available to the individuals being supported
- Act as a community connector to build links with community resources
- Support individuals to navigate through systems to access support, signposting resources relevant to their circumstances and self-defined goals that they can access independently
- Support co-production and delivery of learning and development activities to raise awareness and understanding of the Peer Worker’s role and remit
- Use service development activities to tackle stigma and labelling to encourage culture change
- Give presentations and deliver training to small groups
- Promote the lived experience perspectives and concerns of the individual being supported across own workplace and other organisations and services
- Promote and embed peer-based approaches in teams and services with which they work
- Use meetings with other multi-disciplinary team members to facilitate understanding of the individual’s perspective and their rights
- Work collaboratively with the multi-disciplinary team and other organisations or services
- Positively challenge low expectations and discriminatory practice to influence system change and enhance services
- Seek advice, support or assistance from the appropriate person when the limits of own responsibility and competence has been reached
- Manage own time and work priorities, using resources effectively
- Develop and maintain peer and professional networks
- Actively participate in team and peer supervision
- Reflect on and applies learning to practice
- Recognise the importance of self-care, taking appropriate action when required
- Participate in appraisal, personal development planning and continuous professional development
- Identify risks and contribute to required risk assessments
- Facilitate discussions with individuals and between the individual and the services they use on potential risks to their health and safety when working toward their self-defined goals
- Promote positive risk taking and different perspectives on risk within the team
- Take action in line with organisational policy where there are safeguarding concerns
- Recognise high-risk situations and takes action in line with organisational policy
- Adapt their communication to meet the needs of others
- Support individual's who are experiencing distress
- Provide relevant and supportive feedback to the individual in the peer relationship
- Actively seek feedback from individuals or groups on the support provided
- Maintain accurate records, ensuring where records are about the individual being supported, these are co-produced
- Follow legal and organisational requirements when dealing with confidentiality, consent and information sharing
Training schedule
Requirements
Share if you have other relevant qualifications and industry experience. The apprenticeship can be adjusted to reflect what you already know.
Skills
- Communication skills
- Attention to detail
- Organisation skills
- Problem solving skills
- Presentation skills
Other requirements
- The Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) Check requirement for this post is: Enhanced Adults and Child Barred List
- We particularly welcome applications from people with lived experience, including current or former Connect to Work participants, as we recognise the unique value that personal experience can bring to this role
About this employer
We are the local authority for Plymouth, providing services and information to many of the area’s 262,700 residents as well as businesses and visitors. We employ over 2500 members of staff in a wide range of occupations including health consultant, park ranger, children’s social worker, refuse driver, registrar, housing delivery officer and customer support assistants. Plymouth City Council is a Disability Confident Leader and equal opportunities employer. All applicants will be considered for employment regardless of any of the protected characteristics. As part of our commitment to promoting equality we offer guaranteed interviews to those who meet the essential criteria and are considered disabled, care experienced or are an Armed Forces Service Leaver within the last two years.
https://www.plymouth.gov.uk/current-vacancies (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
Your earnings can increase over time with an apprenticeship. Find out about potential future pay (opens in new tab).
After successful completion of the apprenticeship, there may be the opportunity to progress to a higher level or apply for a permanent role in the council if one is available and suitable at the end of your learning.
Ask a question
The contact for this apprenticeship is:
Plymouth City Council
David Wales
David.Wales@plymouth.gov.uk
The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC2000054557.
Apply now
Closes in 14 days (Thursday 8 October 2026)
After signing in, you’ll apply for this apprenticeship on the company's website.