Pictured: Laura Dobinson, Independent Sector Career & Attraction Lead for Care Homes in the Highlands and Mark Conti, Care Home Manager at Eilean Dubh Care Home, one of the participating Care Homes in the programme
A new Social Care Apprenticeship programme is creating opportunities for people to begin a career in social care while supporting the development of the future workforce across the Highlands.
Developed by Laura Dobinson, Independent Sector Career & Attraction Lead for Care Homes in the Highlands, in partnership with UHI Inverness and local independent sector care providers, the programme will see 18 apprenticeship opportunities offered by 11 care providers across Inverness, and the Inner Moray Firth area.
The one-year programme has been developed in response to the need for workforce demand, and creating clearer entry routes into social care, providing people who may not have previously worked in the sector with the opportunity to enter paid employment while gaining a recognised qualification.
Beginning in January 2027, apprentices will be employed directly within participating care services and supported to work towards a qualification in Social Services and Healthcare through UHI Inverness.
Creating a supported pathway into social care
A key aim of the programme is to make social care careers more accessible to people at different ages and stages of their working lives.
Rather than apprentices beginning their qualification immediately, the first three months of the programme have been designed around workplace induction, training, shadowing and familiarisation, allowing new entrants time to build their skills, knowledge and confidence within their service. Formal learning with UHI Inverness will then complement their workplace experience.
The programme combines several important elements: paid employment, workplace mentoring, practical experience and structured learning. Participating employers have committed to providing apprentices with an entry-level role, workplace induction and support, while incorporating their UHI Inverness learning time within their working week.
Laura Dobinson, Independent Sector Career & Attraction Lead for Care Homes at Scottish Care, said:
“One of the things we have consistently heard through our workforce activity is the importance of creating clearer ways for people to enter social care careers.
“There are people who have the values and potential to build fantastic careers in the sector but may not know where to start, particularly if they have never worked in care before. This programme brings employment, learning and workplace support together to create that entry route.
“What has been particularly encouraging is the response from care providers. To have 11 providers come forward with 18 opportunities for our first cohort demonstrates a real commitment to developing our future workforce and creating opportunities for people locally.”
A collaborative approach to workforce development
The programme has been designed collaboratively with employers and UHI Inverness, ensuring that learning and workplace experience work alongside one another.
Apprentices will take part in regular class-based learning with UHI Inverness, supported by a dedicated tutor and assessor. Their learning will connect directly with their experience in the workplace, with employers providing opportunities to develop and demonstrate their skills in practice.
This approach also gives apprentices the opportunity to learn as a cohort, while gaining experience within different social care environments across the region.
Opportunities span services supporting older adults, younger adults with learning and physical disabilities, and people requiring mental health support, reflecting the breadth of career opportunities available within social care.
The model is designed not simply to support individuals to achieve a qualification, but to help participating employers attract new talent, develop a recruitment pipeline, strengthen workplace learning and invest in their future workforce.
Expanding apprenticeship opportunities in the Highlands
The programme also demonstrates how partnership working between employers, education and workforce organisations can create new apprenticeship opportunities that respond to local workforce needs.
The initial cohort will provide an opportunity to establish and learn from the model, while strengthening connections between social care employers, UHI Inverness and wider employability and skills partners across the region.
For Scottish Care, the development forms part of wider activity in the Highlands to improve employment pathways into independent sector social care. This has included careers engagement, placements, Foundation Apprenticeships, vacancy promotion and stronger links between care providers, education and employability services.
With 18 opportunities now being offered by employers in the first cohort, the programme represents an important step towards establishing an additional, supported route into the sector.
Laura Dobinson added: “The ambition is bigger than filling individual vacancies. We want to demonstrate that social care can offer a clear pathway into employment, learning and longer-term career development.
“If we can establish a model that works well for apprentices, employers and our education partners, there is real potential to build on what we learn from this first cohort and strengthen the apprenticeship pathway for social care in the Highlands.”
