Getting Started with your PR & Comms Apprenticeship

Welcome to your Public Relations & Communications Assistant Apprenticeship with The JGA Group. This page will help you get started with your apprenticeship.

On this page:

Apprenticeship Overview

The PR & Communications Assistant apprenticeship programme is an 15-month programme and the standard is made up of 9 core modules. Seminars are held remotely via Teams or Zoom, supplemented with online learning tools and self-study materials. Progress is recorded via an online tool (OneFile).

It is a requirement of the government that over the course of the apprenticeship you spend at least 20% of your time completing activities which are not part of your day-to-day job role. This is called off-the-job training. If you do not have GCSE/O Level grades A-C/4-9 in English and maths, JGA will provide you with teaching to achieve an equivalent Functional Skills qualification.

Module Summary

  • The meaning of Public Relations and why it’s an important channel
  • Corporate Affairs and the media landscape
  • Identifying good and damaging PR stories and explaining why they are considered good or bad
  • The role of the PR and Communications function

  • How brand and reputation are intrinsically linked
  • Why reputation management is important and how much control an organisation actually has over its reputation
  • Internal communications, employee engagement and change management
  • Identifying and evaluating stakeholders
  • Crisis planning and management

  • How to develop effective communication plans
  • The external environment and its impact on organisation goals.
  • Using situation analysis tools
  • How PR and Communications objectives support the organisation’s vision, mission and values

  • Forms of communication including body language, written word, verbal and visual
  • Communication as a two-way process including active listening and the barriers to communication
  • How to create detailed, audience-specific messaging as part of the creative process of delivering any campaign or project

  • Channels and tools used in traditional and digital PR
  • How social media supports business objectives
  • Using social media in a business environment
  • Social media best practice
  • How company websites and video support PR and communications

  • The key phases of managing a PR project
  • How to plan and monitor a program of activities to achieve SMART objectives
  • How to research, brief and select an agency or supplier
  • The principles of finance processes related to budgeting for PR

  • What to measure and why in PR and Communications
  • Performance metrics and key performance indicators
  • Measuring PR and communications activity including press coverage and social media monitoring
  • Know what a Balanced Scorecard is and how it can be adapted to measure events

  • Understand how powerful the effective use of language can be
  • Effective proofreading techniques
  • Techniques for writing clear and compelling content for different audiences
  • How to write a press release that grabs the attention of journalists
  • How to create compelling content for different media

  • Recap modules one to eight
  • How to build and deliver a PR and Communications campaign

Top Tips Blogs

Get advice from former apprentices.

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Your Tutors & Coaches

The full team involved in teaching and coaching for the PR and Comms Apprenticeship.

Dan Gordon

Daniel Gordon
Tutor

Maud Davies

Maud Davis
Tutor

Francis Coxhead

Francis Coxhead
Tutor

Robin Marks

Robin Marks
Tutor & Skills Coach

Harriet Morgan
Skills Coach

Iain Pickles

Iain Pickles
Coach & Progress Adviser

Sarah Jane Baynes

Sarah Jane Baynes
Skills Coach & Progress Adviser

Anthony Milner - Digital Marketing Tutor

Anthony Milner
Progress Adviser

Jo Cowin

Jo Cowin
Progress Adviser

Melanie Clarke
Progress Adviser

Explaining the Roles

There are three key roles in the team which will support your apprenticeship. Some members of staff cover more than one of these.

Your tutor will lead you through your workshops or seminars and deliver a large proportion of the knowledge elements of your apprenticeship with you.

Your coach will meet with you each month to help develop and evidence your skills and behaviours within the workplace. Your line manager will attend part of this session. They will help you gather evidence to demonstrate your overall competency.

Your learner progress adviser will help provide additional support where needed and monitor your progress. You will meet with them, and your line manager, every three months.

Your E-Portfolio: OneFile

We use One File as our e-portfolio system. This is where your assignments will be set, you will submit your work and you will log your off-the-job training.

Your regular reviews will be stored on here as will some resources for your course. You will complete a learning journal, be able to monitor your progress towards your Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours and refer to your workplace training plan.

Our training video covers all the key features of OneFile you need to know. Visit the Support and FAQs page if you have questions or issues.

Mandatory Units

The JGA Group is strongly committed to practices that protect children, young people and adults from the risk of abuse, neglect or significant harm. Staff recognise and accept their responsibility to develop an awareness of the risks and issues involved with Safeguarding.

Therefore, as part of your enrolment process for your apprenticeship, we require you to complete the JGA Safeguarding – ETF Learners Side-by-Side Courses. Which will introduce you to key topics within Safeguarding.

Side-by-Side is a Prevent resource for learners from the Education and Training Foundation.

The modules will cover:

  • Radicalisation and Extremism
  • Staying Safe Online
  • What can you trust?
  • British Values

Please create a login and complete the Side-by-Side training.

You will be required to complete the module and assessment (short quiz) for the topics in order for you to unlock your certificate.

When you have achieved all four modules mentioned above, please download your certificates, attach and submit them to your assigned task named: JGA Safeguarding (This task will be assigned to you on OneFile after attending your OneFile training session).

Once your certificates have been checked, you will complete your JGA Safeguarding learning aim and it will appear as 100% completed.

Workplace Development Plan

A Workplace Development Plan will be developed with you, your Line Manager and your JGA skills coach.

This will include specific role related learning or activities to help you achieve the Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours (KSBs) required by the apprenticeship standard.

It will help you to evidence your progress and meet the off the job training requirement.

It is a key tool to individualise the apprenticeship to your needs and that of the business.

Programmed Activities

Seminars

Regular small group tutor-led seminars, full day or two half days per module

Coaching

Regular coaching sessions with a sector expert; your work mentor/line manager will be invited to the first part

Reviews

Quarterly formal progress reviews in collaboration with your line manager and Learner Progress Adviser

Self-study

Pre and post seminar activities, self-directed learning and learning opportunities within your workplace

Assessment

End Point Assessment (EPA) is the process at the end of your programme for you to demonstrate to a third-party assessor that you have acquired the knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSBs) set out in the Apprenticeship standard.

Learner Handbook

Alongside this learner zone, the apprenticeship handbook will help guide you through your apprenticeship.

Safeguarding, Prevent, Welfare & British Values

Paula Wakelin
Paula WakelinSafeguarding & Prevent Officer
There is nothing more important than keeping you safe. If you or someone you know is at risk, click on the button below to raise your concerns.

We are strongly committed to practices that protect you from the risk of abuse, neglect or significant harm. Our staff recognise and accept their responsibility to develop an awareness of the risks and issues involved in safeguarding. All staff and learners should have zero tolerance for abuse, bullying, neglect and violence.

Prevent is about safeguarding people and communities from the threat of terrorism. At the heart of Prevent is safeguarding children and adults and providing early intervention to protect and divert people away from being drawn into terrorist activity.

We provide expert support to help you on your apprenticeship journey. This includes mental health and neurodiversity, careers guidance and academic and financial challenges.

We want to help you achieve your full potential. We offer careers consultancy to ensure you have impartial and constructive information and guidance to help you decide and then to action your career decisions.

We aim to create an equal, diverse, inclusive and respectful culture. All of us contribute towards this culture through our actions and words. JGA aims to address any barriers to equality in our systems, policies and decision making as well as in our behaviour and ways of working.

The Fundamental British Values underpin what it is to be a citizen in a modern and diverse United Kingdom, valuing our community and celebrating diversity.

There is a code of conduct which applies to you and all learners on our programmes. This lays out the expectations for your behaviour whilst on the apprenticeship.