Arts Therapist Degree Apprenticeship (Art, Drama & Music Routes) National Procurement

This occupation is found in health, education and social care. Arts Therapists work in a range of settings such as the NHS, local authorities, voluntary, or private sector, hospitals, clinics, education, shelters, hospices, or prisons. The broad purpose of the occupation is to use art, drama or music to carry out therapy interventions to improve a person's mental, physical health and wellbeing. Arts Therapists are both artists in their chosen field and psychological therapists. They use art, drama or music as their primary mode of communication. Arts therapies can help to enhance general development, autonomy, social interaction and communication skills and can support both mental and physical rehabilitation. They may be used to address anxiety, confusion, pain, trauma and depression and to improve quality of life. Arts Therapists help the individual to experience themselves and others in different ways through the arts therapy intervention. This is particularly helpful when emotions are too confusing to express verbally, when verbal communication is difficult, or when words are not enough to relay feelings. Health Education England have partnered with the Managed Procurement Services team at Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust, to deliver a range of support for employers to increase their uptake of Apprenticeships following the Sainsbury education reforms. This provides a range of local, regional and national support services including the procurement of apprenticeship providers, the management of apprenticeship provider quality and engagement, and the contracting process, all of which have delivered considerable savings for employers in terms of reducing procurement cost, and also in launching a number of innovative delivery programmes for apprenticeships to support both small and large professions. Salisbury frequently work in partnership with professional bodies, and NHS trusts, STPs / ICSs, and wider regional systems, as well as organisations such as London Councils, the Association of Directors of Social Services, the Ambulance Chief Executives Association, Public Health England, NHS Leadership Academy and NHS EI. Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust are therefore a Contracting Authority within the meaning of the Public Contract Regulations 2015, and are able to make this Procurement available to other public organisations listed in the relevant section of this document. Salisbury Commercial Services is a trading name of Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust for the delivery of this Procurement and associated services. The successful provider(s) will be able to demonstrate significant co-production of course material, and will reflect employer led needs as well as fully satisfying the requirements of the Apprenticeship Standard, including agreeing all teaching time, attendance, etc with employers rather than dictating how the Apprentice will learn. Providers should be mindful of the wide geography of the employers, and should be able to demonstrate significant innovation in education delivery (including the use of emerging technology, VR, etc), as well as being able to demonstrate how they would support both the learners, and line managers / mentors within the learner's workplace. A key feature for the successful provider will be a willingness to work with the employers to co-produce, and in some cases co-deliver the programme. The successful bidder(s) will be able to deliver to all geographical regions without requiring learner travel. We do not believe current demand indicates potential for multiple regional programmes. Bidders do not need to have to deliver each route (Art, Drama, Music). Bidders may offer a single or multiple routes depending on their capability. We are inviting tenders and would welcome bids from providers who wish to work together to develop a flexible programme delivery to be carried out nationally. Providers need not have a live / validated programme available at the time of bidding - we will be expecting providers to work with stakeholders to shape programmes rather than an "off the shelf" course available immediately. Please note the following entry requirements apply to this Procurement : • Registration on the ESFA Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers, or evidence of a current application to ESFA, • Where an Ofsted visit / full report has been issued, this must be Grade 1 or Grade 2 relating to apprenticeship delivery, • Where an Ofsted Monitoring Visit / Report has been issued, this must show Significant Progress or Reasonable Progress across all reported areas, and cannot include any finding of Insufficient Progress or less for any delivery area, • Organisations without an Ofsted visit / report may still apply but must provide evidence of learner success rates above the national average for apprenticeships (across all courses). • Must provide within the Levy funding band, one resit per module and one resit at EPA for each learner • Must not require additional entry criteria to that listed in the Standard