PR & Communications Assistant Apprenticeship Level 4

Duration: 15 months

Whether you are promoting or protecting them, brand and reputation are at the heart of PR and communications roles. Ideal for both agency-side and client-side junior professionals the apprenticeship focuses on the ways brands, organisations and individuals communicate about themselves, their products or their services with their publics.

Apprentices gain the knowledge, skills and behaviours they need to produce and distribute content, support campaigns, build internal and external stakeholder relationships and evaluate success. The programme trains apprentices to be proactive, communicative, enthusiastic, punctual, committed and creative.

JGA has a strong record with new apprenticeship training with the vast majority of apprentices have who reach assessment achieving merit and distinction.

We are delighted that our blue-chip clients range across public, private and third sectors and are both corporate and agency. The House of Commons, HS2, CMA CGM Group, Axa, Peabody, London Borough of Camden, NHS, West Midlands Ambulance Services and Full Fat all trust JGA to deliver the apprenticeship nationally.

Course Content

What is Public Relations (PR)?

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

Brand and Reputation Management (Brand, Stakeholders and Crisis Management)

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

PR and Communications Strategy (Situation Analysis, Objectives)

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

PR and Comms Strategy Part 2 (Communication Basics, Key Messages)

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

PR and Comms Strategy - Part 3 (Channels and Digital Communications)

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

PR and Comms Strategy - Part 4
(Timings, Budgets And Monitoring)

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

PR and Comms Strategy - Part 5
(Measurement And Evaluation)

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

Creating Compelling Content

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

Building and Delivering a PR Campaign

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

Anyone successfully completing the apprenticeship will be eligible to apply for membership of the Public Relations & Communications Association (PRCA).

Delivery Model

The course is delivered through once monthly full day seminars and coaching from an experienced public relations professional, as well as virtual classroom and pre-recorded lessons. All teaching is presently delivered remotely and there is an active programme of starts.

View course brochure

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