Information, Advice & Guidance

What is an IAG apprenticeship?

The Level 4 Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) Apprenticeship is a higher qualification, awarded by City and Guilds. It’s a work-based qualification and fully funded by the Welsh Government.

Information, advice and guidance are different types of support your people can offer to their colleagues and to your clients. It refers to relaying facts, making personal professional recommendations, or providing leadership and direction.

The IAG apprenticeship accelerates support abilities within your organisation. Whether your people are handling factual queries, or offering assistance based on their professional experience, the higher qualification will give them the agency and authority to advise with confidence.

Who is the IAG apprenticeship for? 

The IAG qualification is suitable for new or existing employees, who need to develop, update and accredit existing skills. It’s also a training tool that offers progression into higher-level roles or education.

The IAG apprenticeship consists of carefully selected qualifications that provide the skills and knowledge required to be successful in an advice and guidance role, in the context of your organisation.

The qualifications are tailored, so it meets the specific needs of your organisation and the development requirements of your people.

IAG Case Studies

Click the video below to hear our learner stories, and get a taste of how the IAG apprenticeship can improve your teams’ skills.

> Read More IAG Level 4 learner case studies

What is the eligibility criteria?

For businesses

Welsh Government funded Apprenticeships are open businesses of every shape and size. The full eligibility criteria can be found on the Welsh Government’s website.

Your business must complete a health and safety appraisal, conducted by us, during a visit to the place where your Apprentice will work and learn. Once complete, it’s valid for four years.

For candidates:

Welsh Government funded apprenticeships are available to anyone over the age of 16 living in Wales.

As it’s a Higher-Level Apprenticeship, equivalent to degree level, you will need relevant experience to complete the qualification. Although, you don’t need any other qualifications to evidence your experience.

When you enquire with TSW Apprenticeships, every step of the process is about quality. The right qualification, the right learning support and the right employer support.

Apprenticeship consultation

When you enquire, we’ll get in touch to discuss your needs, the apprenticeship process and introduce you to our service. We’ll help you build a learning roadmap to enhance your business performance via further education. We’ll supply supporting literature, like the IAG workbook, so you can digest the detail and set expectations within your organisation.

Recruitment support

We can help you to identify the people within your organisation who would benefit from the IAG qualification. It’s a completely free apprenticeship consultation, so you can identify the opportunities, shortlist the candidates and learn about the work-based apprenticeship programme offered by the Welsh Government.

Awareness session

This is the springboard for the apprenticeship where we set expectations with your candidates. Their Training Advisor works with them to lay out the educational roadmap ahead, learn how they’ll be measured, and what support they’ll receive from their assessors, you and the business. It’s a great opportunity to ask questions and set expectations about the time and energy demanded by the IAG qualifications.

Health and safety appraisal

We’ll visit your place of work and conduct a health and safety appraisal document. It’s a mandatory exercise to prove your organisation is a safe environment for Welsh Government apprentices. We conduct and manage the paperwork entirely, so all you need to do is show us around. Once complete, it’s valid for four years, so you can easily take on more apprentices, or bring other qualifications into your organisation.

Employer Engagement Visits

Feedback and evaluation helps us to see how successfully the learning is transferring into your organisation, so we can help you measure the returns.

That’s why we book in a six-month Employer Engagement Visit health check with you and your apprentice.

We walk the candidate through a quick survey, where we discuss their learning experience so far and the quality of the programme. The questions are standardised, so we can collate and compare data between organisations to apply real adjustments.

Then we review with you to see if the programme is meeting your expectations, whether you’re able to engage with the apprentices and their work, and if you’ve noticed the candidate demonstrate knowledge and competence.

We’re on hand to support you with any queries as the apprenticeship progresses.

We’re on hand to support you with any queries as the apprenticeship progresses.

Coaching for the apprenticeship key themes

If you sign up for an apprenticeship in Wales, you’ll learn about key themes embedded in its curriculum.

The key themes are consistent across every apprenticeship in Wales. To find out more about your work on each key theme, and the activities our Training Advisors organise to promote them, visit our hub pages below:

• Equality and Diversity
• Global Citizenship
• Welsh Culture
• Safeguarding and Prevent

What’s in the IAG syllabus?

There are four mandatory qualifications that combine to create the Higher Apprenticeship in Information, Advice Guidance. They all must be completed to achieve the apprenticeship. To achieve the full diploma you must achieve a minimum of 37 credits:

Combined knowledge and competency qualification

• Level 4 Diploma in Advice & Guidance:

Essential Skills Wales Qualifications

• Communication Skills level 3
• Application of Number Level 2
• Digital Literacy Level 1

There are additional optional units within the combined knowledge qualification, which shape the apprenticeship to the needs of your business.

You must commit to fulfilling each qualification within the apprenticeship in order to access Welsh Government funding.

To find out more information about the units and credit value within each qualification, download the IAG workbook.

What is a level 4 qualification?

It’s a certificate of higher education, equivalent to degree level. The IAG qualification evidences your people’s competency to do their job well.