Polymer Processing Technician Level 3 Apprenticeship Approval

The Level 3 (L3) Polymer Processing Technician Apprenticeship is designed for those in a role of manufacturing plastics/ polymers. Polymer processing technicians produce polymer products to specification and responsibilities include setting up and configuring equipment, tooling and preparing materials for processing, as well as using technologies such as injection moulding, extrusion and rotational moulding. You can read more about the apprenticeship here. 

This L3 apprenticeship standard has been approved for delivery by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE). The maximum funding has been set to £25,000 (which is lower than the previous maximum funding of £27,000). The funding still needs further clarification because the cost of the end point assessment (EPA) has not yet been set. The EPA is a mandatory part of the course where an independent assessment body asseses whether the apprentice is competent in their role at the end of their training. Currently, the EPA costs £3000 plus VAT, but may increase or decrease. The BPF will continue to monitor this situation.

The apprenticeship will become live from the early part of 2024. In the meantime, the current funding and course content is still in place.

For more information on apprenticeships and the BPF’s Education and Skills Committee, please contact [email protected].