BT's customer service apprenticeship completed by 100 contact centre staff

Each year, BT's contact centres and its advisers deal with more than 52 million calls from customers wishing to order products and services or seeking advice or technical support.

The apprenticeship scheme, which was launched in 2009, combines classroom work, one-to-one mentoring and on-the-job training so that by the time the apprentices have finished their course they have gained a BTEC in customer service, a NVQ and Key Skills in Literacy and Numeracy certificates, which collectively constitute an apprenticeship qualification.

The Awarding Body, Edexcel, accredits all components and BT is aiming for around 10,000 apprentices to complete the scheme by December 2010.

BT has worked closely with Edexcel and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) to develop the scheme, which helps ensure that its customer service people are the most professional in the UK. It provides them with significant skills and gives them further confidence to help BT's customers. It also demonstrates BT's commitment to the Government's Skills Pledge, a scheme that encourages organisations to support employees in developing skills and working towards relevant, valuable qualifications.

Jayne Coulson, BT director of programme delivery, said: "People in our contact centres are very much the ‘face' of BT for our customers so it is vital for us and our customers that employees are qualified to carry out their roles. Training our people in this way not only improves vital skills but also provides documented evidence of achievement. It might sound unusual to have an apprenticeship in customer service but in today's service-driven economy it's as vital as in any other type of work."  

The apprentices work in call centres across the UK dealing with a range of queries including sales, service, technical queries, repairs and 999 calls.