Registrations are now being taken for the Insurance Practitioner Apprenticeship’s 2021 intake, with 100 places available.

The popular ‘earn and learn’ programme was first set up in 2016 and is encouraging prospective employers and apprentices to get in touch for its upcoming year. The government-funded apprenticeship (students pay €600 in registration fees annually) is run in partnership with IT Sligo and LIA.

Organisers of the apprenticeship explain that employers can benefit from it through the opportunity to bring on board ambitious and hard-working individuals, while apprentices get the chance to gain real work experience and earn a salary as they progress towards a third-level qualification (BA Hons in Insurance Practice).

Apprentices complete the degree portion online through distance learning over three years. The minimum entry requirements include two honours in higher level subjects in the Leaving Cert and a pass in four additional subjects including English/Irish and Maths. Alternatively, if applicants are over 23, interviews or other selection tools may be used.

Apprentices work full-time for an insurance employer, with one day per week devoted to online lectures. The remote learning element has been an integral aspect of the programme since the beginning, and as a result is unaffected by Covid-19 restrictions.

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Dermot Murray, CEO of The Insurance Institute, said that the apprenticeship programme had started out as a way to modernise and future-proof the insurance sector, and has gone from strength to strength.”

“It has led to an influx of new ideas and talent into the industry, and has provided apprentices with a completely unique approach to achieving a successful career, as well as a third-level qualification,” Murray continued.

“Over the past five years we have seen 87 apprentices graduate from the programme. Undertaking the programme is not for the faint-hearted – working and studying means you need to really want it but everyone who has been through the apprenticeship knows it’s worth all the hard work.”

Joanne Keane, CEO of LIA, said that the apprenticeship programme has been incredibly well received by the industry and by new entrants.

“The programme equips apprentices with the necessary hard and soft skills required for a career in insurance, and also ensures their learning is always applicable to their day-to-day work, as well as to trends that are coming down the line. We look forward to supporting this year’s incoming students as they go through the programme,” Keane added.

For more information on the programme, visit www.earnandlearn.ie

Photo: Joanne Keane and Dermot Murray (right), with minister of state Niall Collins