From enabling personalisation for every learner to building learning plans easier and faster, hear how one provider is transforming the way it builds and manages its learning plans with Aptem.

Providers are facing rising expectations to deliver learning experiences that are personalised, relevant, and flexible, meeting the needs of both learners and employers. Ofsted’s new focus on inclusion compels providers to demonstrate how they are meeting the needs of every learner, regardless of their background or learning needs. And with good reason – whether an apprentice is just starting out, upskilling in a new sector, or bringing previous experience to the table, flexible and individualised learning plans can help to encourage engagement, progression, and success.

Meeting these needs requires more than a one-size-fits-all approach. The reality is, creating genuinely personalised journeys requires providers to rethink how they plan, track, and adapt learning. All while balancing systems, processes, and funding models which need to be built for standardisation and scalability.

As a result, making individualised learning a reality remains a significant challenge for many across the sector. However, those able to overcome these obstacles can have a huge impact on every learner and deliver Ofsted’s expectations while also delivering a high-quality learning experience.

Building successful learning plans

Apprenticeship planning means more than assembling content. It’s about starting with a solid scheme of work, clearly mapping skills, knowledge, and assessment requirements, and organising them into a way that is coherent and has maximum impact for the learner. Plans should be designed with flexibility in mind, allowing tutors to adapt content, add stretch and challenge, and demonstrate progress based on a learner’s prior knowledge, learning needs, and sector-specific requirements. It’s not just about how the content can be delivered to the learner, but how it can also be tailored to them and their needs so they get the most out of their apprenticeship.

Regularly reviewing content, allows providers to identify what’s working, pinpoint challenges and also deliver quality at scale.

A modular mindset: Pareto’s fresh approach to learning plans

When Anne Hill arrived at Pareto, she brought inspiration from her background in further and higher education, where modular learning had long been the gold standard. Anne recognised that applying a modular approach to apprenticeships could help Pareto personalise learning journeys and boost flexibility for both learners and employers.

Anne collaborated with the Aptem team to bring this modular approach to life. With the support of the Compliance team at Pareto, they mapped out how they could use Aptem’s sub-programmes functionality to build modular, adaptable programmes with compliance, learner progress, and experience at their core.

Sub-programmes in Aptem

A sub-programme allows providers to ‘plug-in’ additional learning elements to a main programme. These additional elements might relate to a specific learning pathway, additional learning support or functional skills, although their potential use case is a lot broader than this and they can span multiple areas to support creating a bespoke learning experience.

The result

Pareto’s programmes now consist of standalone modules that can be easily moved, adapted, or tailored for each learner or employer. Modules such as communication or customer service can be rapidly reimagined to suit different sectors, roles, or closed employer groups. This allows for standardisation, at scale.

“Reimagining our entire curriculum into a modular approach was a daunting challenge, and there were definitely some sleepless nights at the beginning. The Aptem team were hugely supportive of our ideas and really helped us to make it happen. I’m so pleased to say that our entire curriculum is now built in a modular way. From curriculum, to delivery, from compliance to our learners, everybody is seeing the advantage of this modular approach.”
– Anne Hill, Head of Curriculum at Pareto.

What modular learning means for apprentices

Genuine individualisation: Learning journeys can now be sector-specific, role-specific, and highly relevant. This is particularly beneficial for learners with additional needs, as modules or tasks can be added just for them.

Simpler learner experience: Learners now see their progress broken down into clear, focused modules, helping those that might find viewing the entire learning plan overwhelming.

The Pareto perspective: Benefits for tutors, employers, and organisational compliance

• Accelerated curriculum development with standardised templates and pre-built modules: Pareto’s team can now build and adapt programmes significantly faster. The team uses module templates to guide content, creating tailored learning plans. Building in this way removes the margin of error and maintains a quality standard so that all programmes have the same look and feel.
  
  
• Genuine individualisation for each employer: Pareto uses its bank of modules as a starting point to create unique learning journeys for closed employer groups, editing the sequencing and content to best suit the specific needs of each employer.
  
  
• Streamlined ongoing improvements: Curriculum leads and coaches regularly review learning plans to ensure sequencing and content best support the intended apprenticeship journey. The team can also better manage the programme changes that result from regulatory change – for example updates to funding rules or inspection frameworks.
  
  
• Efficiencies through module reuse: Core content on topics such as professionalism, communication, and customer service is packaged into modules that can be shared across multiple programmes. This makes it easier to keep all content up-to-date and consistent for every learner.
  
  
• Better version control: Previously, updating a programme meant creating an entirely new plan for new learners. With Aptem’s modular approach, Pareto can simply clone and edit the necessary module, removing the complexity of managing multiple programme versions.
  
  
• Enhanced compliance and reporting: Modules are stored in a well-organised library and numbered for easy search. Splitting content into focused modules helps the team to identify bottlenecks and take swift curriculum action. For example, when it was spotted that apprentices were falling behind in Off-the-Job Training for a particular standard, the team rapidly addressed this in the learning plan, helping apprentices get back on track to complete on time.
  
  
• Standardised approach: Pareto has created a main programme template which includes all generic elements such as coaching logs, reviews, and diagnostics. This is used as the starting point for all learning plans, to which modules containing learning content are added. This gives the Pareto team confidence that every plan meets compliance standards. Learners enjoy a consistent, high-quality experience, regardless of their pathway.

Anne and the Pareto team’s work with Aptem showcases just how impactful a modular, individualised approach to learning plans can be. Pareto’s co-designed apprenticeships allow for training to be adaptable to support learners (even whilst on programme). This approach helps develop even more considered learning solutions in the future so suit any learner’s needs.

By championing flexibility, compliance and curriculum planning, Pareto has created an environment where apprenticeships are tailored, efficient, and fit for the future. For providers across the sector, this is a powerful example of how technology and educational expertise can drive meaningful, scalable improvement for providers and their learners, while simultaneously supporting business needs of today.

To learn more about how Aptem supports apprenticeship delivery, take a look at our video or book a demo.