A Grade 1 Outstanding training provider supporting around 1,300 live learners, Hawk Training entered its second year with Aptem in 2025 having fully embraced the Enhance AI-driven features. The results have exceeded expectations.
About Hawk Training
Hawk Training is a leading work-based learning provider delivering high-quality apprenticeship programmes across sectors, including management, business services, and early years. Supporting around 1,300 live learners on Aptem, Hawk is committed to innovation, quality, and impactful learner experiences.
In 2025, Hawk Training entered its second year with Aptem, having implemented the system at speed and fully embraced all aspects of its Enterprise package – especially the Aptem Enhance features.
99%
Learner feedback response rates have reached as high as 99% – “absolute gold!” according to Vanessa Jones, Operations Director.
Aptem gives us a contingency when things change because the system can take the pain. By successfully adopting Aptem we have future-proofed our delivery.”
Vanessa Jones, Operations Director, Hawk Training
The Hawk and Aptem journey
“We chose Aptem because of its adaptability,” explains Vanessa Jones, Operations Director, Hawk Training. Aptem offered the flexibility Hawk needed to retain bespoke elements from their previous system while enabling process optimisation and innovation.
Key reasons Hawk selected Aptem:
- Adaptability: Other systems were too rigid; Aptem allowed Hawk to retain what made them unique.
- Integrated employer experience: Previously disparate systems are now unified.
- One platform for all stakeholders: Solved major confusion for learners and employers and increased engagement.
- Certainty and stability: AI and automation relieve pressure on admin, supports compliance, and create capacity in a post-Covid world.
- Operational resilience: When restructuring, Aptem’s technology made transitions feasible.
- Shift to hybrid delivery: Pre-Covid, 75% of delivery was face-to-face. In 2025 this is around 50%, with greater flexibility and learner engagement with high quality online learning.
- Improved collaboration: Teams understand each other’s roles more deeply, sharing resource development and programme design.
What has cemented the Aptem/Hawk relationship over the two-year journey to date is that both organisations believe in a people-centric approach. “Don’t underestimate the power of the people,” said Vanessa. “This is where Aptem and Hawk align. Aptem’s support, training and responsiveness, matched our team’s proactivity and willingness to embrace change.”
Hawk Training’s approach to AI
Hawk is proactive and open in its adoption of AI – viewing it as a tool that enhances learning, improves capability, and frees time for human-to-human education. Their philosophy centres on:
- Using AI to complement teaching and learning.
- Developing educational resources using AI.
- Providing staff training and fostering an open culture where AI usage is shared, discussed, and continually improved.
- Ensuring security and safeguarding by educating staff and learners about data protection risks.
- Embedding AI resources within learning plans.
- Using Aptem to guide when and how AI supports programme design, delivery, and assessment.
- Being more vigilant about plagiarism by investing in stronger starting point assessments and knowing learners deeply.
Hawk’s implementation was well timed for benefiting from Aptem’s investment in AI-driven features – called Aptem Enhance.
We would be significantly struggling in terms of capacity if we didn’t have AI. The timesaving is where we can invest in human-to-human education.
Vanessa Jones, Operations Director, Hawk Training
AI-driven Aptem Enhance features transforming Hawk Training
Aptem Enhance has equipped Hawk with a suite of tools that deliver measurable impact.
Aptem Virtual Assistant (AVA)
Aptem’s virtual assistant provides instant, AI-powered support for learner questions, purpose-built for each apprenticeship standard and available 24/7. Hawk’s tutors now direct learners to AVA as a first port of call, safeguarding tutor time. As of November 2025, learners ask AVA around 600 questions across every three-month period – queries that previously went directly to tutors. Each question would have taken approximately five minutes for a tutor to resolve, saving 50 hours of tutor time every quarter.
Enhanced Reviews
Enhanced reviews functionality reduces the administrative burden of reviews by automating the planning, preparation and summarisation. Hawk adopted it within 24 hours of launch. Beyond timesaving, the functionality provides a structure that enables review conversations to have a much richer narrative. With 600 reviews using the enhanced functionality in every 12-week cycle, Hawk saves 200 tutor hours per quarter. “Every 12 weeks our learners are now effectively practising a professional discussion as part of their review, which prepares them for end-point assessment,” explains Mark Holmes, Programme Design and Development Manager.
This (Enhanced Reviews) has been the most impactful of all the Enhance features to date for Hawk. We adopted it within 24 hours of launch, and it is saving us a minimum of 20 minutes of tutor time per review.”
Vanessa Jones, Operations Director, Hawk Training
Checkpoint
Checkpoint is an automated objective progress monitoring tool that asks learners questions related to their Knowledge and Skills mapped to their apprenticeship standard. For Hawk, checkpoint has replaced end-of-theme assessments with flexible, continuous testing. Tutors can instantly see results and act on gaps in learning throughout a module rather than waiting until the end. Learners have completed 200 checkpoints in the past two months alone, leading to instant intervention where needed.
Marking Aid
Marking aid is an AI-driven tool that simplifies the learner submission and evaluation process, enabling tutors to mark learner submissions up to 50% faster without compromising quality. Hawk implemented marking aid in November 2025 starting with Functional Skills English. Each mock Functional Skills Reading paper now takes five minutes to mark (previously 30 minutes), and each Writing paper takes 25 minutes (previously over an hour). “A large part of my job was marking. With marking aid, now I teach rather than mark,” said Dominic Scorer, Head of Functional Skills at Hawk.
How Aptem Enhance supports the new Ofsted framework
As a Grade 1 Outstanding training provider, high-quality education sits at the heart of Hawk’s training delivery. Hawk sees Aptem Enhance as central to meeting new Ofsted expectations around inclusion and how people learn.
Enhance features support:
- Differentiated learning: Checkpoint motivates learners and recognises progress in varied ways.
- Narrative-rich evidence: Enhanced reviews capture spoken word, wellbeing discussions, and holistic learner support.
- Natural planning conversations: Prompts help tutors explore the right areas without making reviews feel like a tick-box exercise.
- EPA readiness: Turning every review from a ‘tick box’ exercise into a rich discussion enables learners to practise professional discussions every 12 weeks – critical for 100% of EPA assessment.
- Data-rich progress tracking: Checkpoint data aligns clearly with Ofsted’s focus on tracking learning journeys.
Aptem Apprentice is supporting us to change our practice and the way we’re doing things, not the other way around. With Aptem, there is genuine alignment between our values and shared goals. Our partnership continues to strengthen
Vanessa Jones, Operations Director, Hawk Training
Resources
Steve Willis
BMS Progress
