Student Special: Why The Insurance Practitioner Apprenticeship offers new opportunities for school leavers

The Insurance Practitioner Apprenticeship is offering school leavers the opportunity to work full time for an insurance employer, as well as earn a salary and study for a BA Hons in Insurance Practice.

It’s as appealing an offer as you can get – the chance to ‘earn and learn’; the opportunity for school leavers to get the third-level experience while also making money and alleviate all those big post-school concerns about job prospects, affordability and independence.
Apprenticeships are becoming more and more popular. Research by The Insurance Institute shows that young people – and their families – are crying out for apprenticeships to suit their career paths. 60% of Young Adults would consider undertaking an apprenticeship as an alternative to college, while 52% of parents would encourage their child to undertake an apprenticeship.

This is precisely what the Insurance Practitioners Apprenticeship is offering, as they launch their 2019 ‘earn and learn programme’ - the first apprenticeship to award a level 8 honours degree (BA (Hons) in Insurance Practice). Now in its fourth annual intake, the programme will have over 100 spaces to fill.

The Detail

The three-year, work-based training programme combines academics with on-the-job learning, allowing you to acquire both technical and soft skills. As an apprentice, you will be recruited into an insurance organisation, where you will learn the practical aspects of the job while studying towards your degree.

Don’t just take our word for it in terms of the benefits! Cian Costigan, a First Year Insurance Practitioner Apprentice and Account Technician with Aiken Insurances, was unsure of what he wanted to do after completing his Leaving Cert, but discovered that the programme offered everything he wanted for his career path.

“When I began researching it I couldn’t believe such a programme existed – it ticked all the boxes for me. I was really keen to gain real work experience, and I wanted to be out in the field learning and being challenged on a daily basis. Obviously the fact I could earn a living was also appealing – but the idea that I could work while gaining a third level degree, in an industry that offered me a lifelong career was everything I could have hoped for and more.”

For more information about the Insurance Practitioners Apprenticeship, go to earnandlearn.ie and kickstart your new career path today.