Advanced Butcher Apprenticeship

An Advanced Butcher Apprenticeship at Plumpton College will equip the apprentice with the skills to progress a butchery career towards supervisory and management positions, within a growing meat industry that needs trained, qualified supervisors and managers.

Butchers progressing to advanced roles in manufacturing companies will often diversify into production management including roles with responsibility for people and/or functions such as sales, quality control or training others.

Equally, butchers advancing their careers in a large supermarket, independent retail or farm shop will be excellent communicators and possess a technical knowledge of meat products that are often supplemented with more generic skills in merchandising, sales, quality and people supervision

It is important for existing competent and reliable staff in a business, to be offered a career path to acquire and develop new skills and responsibilities. This is a cost effective and efficient solution for businesses to recruit and retain staff.

An Advance Butcher Apprentice at Plumpton will acquire the skills, knowledge and behaviours to practice butchery management at the highest level and there are different career paths available based on the job role;

• Retail,
• Instore or
• Processing Butchery.  

On successful completion apprentices will automatically be eligible for full membership of the Institute of Meat (IoM).

What apprentices will learn

• Precision meat cutting and presentation for commercial and domestic customers
• Health and safety practices, and food safety and hygiene systems to management level
• The principles and science of meat
• Knowledge of meat and poultry, its selection and provenance
• Processing techniques
• Artisan practices and preparation of wet and dry meat, including curing, smoking and making pies and sausages
• Business profitability and how to maximise productivity, efficiency and customer care
• Merchandising and labelling
• Staff recruitment, mentoring and staff appraisals
• Specialist skills: retail shop, processing plant or in-store supermarket butchery

Qualifications Awarded

• Apprenticeship Certificate
• Level 3 award in food safety supervision for manufacturing
• Level 3 award in hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) for food manufacturing
• Level 3 award in health and safety in the food supply chain business
• Level 2 in math and English (if applicable)

Delivery model

A blended learning experience with a mixture of live online learning and attendance at Plumpton College Butchery School in East Sussex, approximately every fortnight (term time only). Quarterly workplace competency and efficiency observation and assessments.

End Point Assessment

• Knowledge test
• Observation
• Project and presentation

Apprenticeship Grading

• Fail, Pass, Distinction