The content of this Pathway has been agreed by Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW), in collaboration with Healthcare Sector Employers. This is the only Health Informatics Apprenticeship Pathway in the Healthcare sector approved for use in Wales that is eligible for Medr funding.
ISSUE DATE: 01/10/2025 ACW Framework No.: FR05113v2
Learning Programme Content
The Learning Programme provision shall comprise of three mandatory elements:
- Qualifications,
- Essential Skills
- On/off the job training
The total minimum credit value required for the Level 3 Pathway Health Informatics is 77 credits.
Entry requirements
Level 3
Entry requirements are the same as Level 2, but also includes applicants may have already achieved a range of qualifications eg:
- Essential Skills Wales
- Foundation Apprenticeship
- GCSEs
- Welsh Baccalaureate (at this time there is no credit transfer)
- Welsh Baccalaureate with Principal Learning (at this time there is no credit transfer)
- Other level 2 qualifications
Apprentices who wish to accredit any prior learning must select options within the Pathway which will equip them with new skills and learning.
Apprenticeship pathway learning programme(s)
Level 3: Health Informatics
Level 3: Health Informatics Qualifications
Participants must achieve the combined qualifications below.
| Level 3 Diploma in Health Informatics | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awarding Body | Qualification No. | Credit Value | Total Qualification Time | Combined / Competence / Knowledge | Qualification Assessment Lanaguage(s) |
| Agored Cymru | C00/4885/6 | 52 | 520 | Combined | English-Welsh |
Please see Annex 2 for the relationship between the competence and knowledge units within the combined qualification.
Essential Skills Wales (ESW)
| Level 3: Health Informatics | Level | Minimum Credit Value |
|---|---|---|
| Communication | 2 | 6 |
| Application of number | 2 | 6 |
| Digital literacy | 2 | 6 |
Essential Skills Wales qualifications assessment languages are English-Welsh.
On/Off the Job training
| Pathway | Minimum On the Job Training Hours | Minimum Off the Job Training Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Level 3: Health Informatics | 277 | 341 |
On/Off the Job Qualification details (Minimum Credit & Hours)
Health (Informatics Level 3). Total 77 credits. • Combined qualification 52 credits • Essential Skills 18 credits • ERR/ Wider skills Wales qualification 7 credits The total amount of training hours - which includes both on and off-the-job learning for this Pathway is 618 training hours. Over 18 months
|
On/Off the Job Essential Skills details (Minimum Credit & Hours)
- 6 credits/60 GLH Level 2 Essential Skills Wales Communication
- 6 credits/60 GLH Level 2 Essential Skills Wales Application of Number
- 6 credits/60 GLH Level 2 Essential Skills Wales Digital Literacy
Other additional requirements
Apprentices are required to:
- Be willing to undergo Disclosure and Barring Service checks (this is needed as apprentices may come into contact with children, young people or vulnerable adults)
- Be flexible as there may be a requirement to work shifts
- Individual Healthcare sector employers may have additional employment entry requirements e.g. a current driving licence would also be an advantage (and may be necessary for some roles).
Job roles
Perioperative Support workers
The latest version of the job roles and job descriptions for this Pathway
Level 3
| Job title | Job role |
Assistant Practitioner (Informatics) | Involved in the handling and management of electronic and paper based data and information, using IT and manual systems. This could include day-to-day management of patient records, validation and coding of data and the analysis, reporting and use of data to support the quality of information. |
Progression
Level 3
Progression routes into the Apprenticeship:
See Entry Requirements
Progression from the Apprenticeship:
Learners may progress from this pathway onto a Level 4 Health (Informatics) Apprenticeship.
Learners may also progress into other areas such as IT, Customer Service or Library and Information Services. These may include qualifications or other work-related education and training to support Continuing Professional Development. Learners may also progress from this pathway into Higher Education undertaking a range of Informatics related degrees.
Progression should not just be seen as vertical. In some instances progressing into another role at the same level may be just as rewarding as it offers the opportunity to develop new skills and knowledge.
Equality and diversity
It is important that apprenticeship Pathways are inclusive and can demonstrate an active approach to identifying and removing barriers to entry and progression. Pathways should advance equality of opportunity between persons who share protected characteristics and those persons who do not as identified in the Equality Act 2010.
The protected characteristics identified in the Equality Act are age, disability, gender re-assignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity. Marriage and civil partnership is also included although only in respect of the requirement to eliminate discrimination in employment.
Training providers and employers MUST also comply with the other duty under the Equality Act 2010 to ensure that applicants are not discriminated against in terms of entry to the industry based upon those nine protected characteristics.
Employers/providers must be able to demonstrate that there are no overt or covert discriminatory practices in selection, recruitment and employment. All promotional, selection and training activities must be monitored and comply with legislation.
There is a gender imbalance within the health sector, which is a predominantly female workforce. All jobs are open to both males and females and are advertised accordingly. Male role models are positively promoted through marketing materials, photos and case studies. However, a perception that certain job roles are for women remains and this may prevent some males from applying to work in these job roles.
Local apprenticeship programmes may be designed by employers to encourage a higher number of male applicants into these roles and into the workforce as a whole.
Skills for Health is not aware of any other imbalance in the take up of this particular Pathway eg by Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic groups. For all health apprenticeships local recruitment is encouraged to reflect the local community.
It is recommended that employers/providers conduct an exit interview if the apprentice leaves the programme before completion. During the learner’s exit interview, it is recommended that information on learners leaving the programme before completion is identified and used to support the learner and develop the provision where necessary.
Skills for Health will monitor take up and achievement of all Apprenticeships and take steps to address any barriers to take up and achievement as part of our Sector Qualifications Strategy.
Employment responsibilities and rights
Employment Responsibilities and Rights (ERR) is no longer compulsory. But it is recommended that all apprentices (especially the 16 years -18 year group) receive a company induction programme.
Level 3
Level 3 Award in Employment and Personal Learning Skills in Health.
This qualification may form part of the induction programme offered by employers.
Responsibilities
It is the responsibility of the Training Provider and Employer to ensure that the requirements of this pathway are delivered in accordance with the Welsh Government/Medr Apprenticeships Guidance.
Further information may be obtained from: Medr
Annex 2 - Level 3: Health Informatics
Relationship between competence and knowledge qualifications
On completing the above qualifications the total number of credits which an apprentice will attain equals 52 which exceeds the required minimum of 37 credits.
The combined qualification exceeds the required minimums of 10 credits for competence and 10 credits for technical knowledge.
The minimum requirement of 10 credits of assessed knowledge is met in this Pathway through the achievement of the mandatory units required to meet the credit threshold.
The learner may achieve in excess of the minimum requirement in undertaking the full qualification.
The list below sets out how the credit for knowledge has been assigned across mandatory units.
Managing health informatics in healthcare settings
Credit assigned to knowledge: 1
Credit assigned to skills: 2
Total unit credit: 3
Principles of managing information and producing documents
Credit assigned to knowledge: 3
Credit assigned to skills: 0
Total unit credit: 3
Communication skills for working in the health sector
Credit assigned to knowledge: 3
Credit assigned to skills: 0
Total unit credit: 3
Identify information requirements in a health context
Credit assigned to knowledge: 1
Credit assigned to skills: 3
Total unit credit: 4
Manage own performance in a business environment
Credit assigned to knowledge: 1
Credit assigned to skills: 1
Total unit credit: 2
Promote good practice in handling information in health and social care settings
Credit assigned to knowledge: 1
Credit assigned to skills: 1
Total unit credit: 2
Totals (for mandatory units listed above not entire qualification)
Total Credit Assigned to Knowledge: 10
Total Credit Assigned to Skills: 7
Total Credit: 17
To achieve a further 3 or more credits for skill learners must undertake one of the many optional skills units available. For example:
Data Management Software
Credit assigned to knowledge: 0
Credit assigned to skills: 4
Total unit credit: 4
Apprentices who have already achieved combined and/or competence and/or knowledge qualifications and units prior to entry to the Apprenticeship must select options which will equip them with new skills and learning.