Build Trust. Strengthen Belonging. Support Positive Change.

Help children and young people feel heard, understood and connected. The Level 3 Peer Worker Apprenticeship develops the skills to use relevant lived experience safely and purposefully, supporting young people to recognise their strengths, express their needs and work towards their own goals.

At JCL Skills Solutions, our focus is on applying peer support within education and residential childcare. This includes supporting young people experiencing social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs, emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA), exclusion or difficulties engaging with education and services.

For employers, the programme offers an opportunity to develop skilled Peer Workers who strengthen relationships, bring a lived experience perspective into their teams and support inclusive provision.

APPLY TODAY

About the Course

Peer Workers use insight gained through their own lived experience to build supportive relationships with people facing similar challenges. Through shared understanding, they can help young people develop trust, explore their choices and feel more confident about their next steps.

Within education and residential childcare, peer support can contribute to a young person’s sense of belonging, participation and connection with the adults and services around them. Relevant settings may include schools, inclusion units, alternative provision, specialist settings and children’s homes, where a suitable peer support role is in place.

You will learn to work alongside education, care and pastoral teams while maintaining the distinct purpose of peer support: working with young people through mutual respect, shared understanding and goals that matter to them.

The typical training duration is 15 months, followed by a typical three-month end-point assessment period. Your individual training plan will take account of your existing knowledge, skills and experience.

What You’ll Learn

Building Trust and Belonging

Develop respectful, consistent relationships that help young people feel listened to and valued. Understand how shared experience can support connection, particularly when trust in adults, education or services has been affected.

Sharing Lived Experience Safely

Learn when, why and how to share your experiences in a way that benefits the young person. Maintain boundaries and recognise that their experiences, choices and needs may differ from your own.

Supporting Young People with SEMH Needs

Develop communication and relationship-building approaches that respond sensitively to distress, emotional needs and difficulties with engagement. Work within your role and alongside colleagues to support the young person.

Understanding EBSA and Re-engagement

Explore how peer support can help young people describe their experiences, identify barriers and contribute their views to agreed support plans. Encourage manageable steps towards connection and participation, working alongside education staff, families and other professionals.

Trauma-informed and Inclusive Practice

Recognise how adversity, exclusion and previous experiences can influence relationships and engagement. Promote safety, choice and respect, adapting your approach to individual communication needs and circumstances.

Young People’s Voice and Self-advocacy

Help young people understand their options, communicate what matters to them and participate in decisions affecting their education, care and wellbeing.

Opportunities

This apprenticeship can support suitable peer-based roles within:

School inclusion and pastoral provision
Inclusion units and alternative provision
Specialist education settings
Residential childcare and children’s homes
Services supporting engagement, wellbeing and transitions

Relevant job titles may include Peer Support Worker, Peer Mentor or Lived Experience Practitioner. Suitability depends on your responsibilities, relevant lived experience and opportunities to provide genuine peer support.

With further experience and training, you can explore wider peer support, coordination, service development or team leadership responsibilities.

Here’s what you can expect:

Learning Relevant to Your Setting

Connect the principles of peer support to the needs of young people within education or residential childcare.

Practical Skills You Can Use Every Day

Develop your ability to listen, build relationships, support choice and help young people identify their next steps while earning a wage.

Personalised Training and Support

Receive guidance and feedback that reflect your lived experience, role, learning needs and professional goals.

A Stronger Contribution to Inclusion

Bring young people’s perspectives into team discussions and help colleagues understand barriers to trust, belonging and participation.

Off-the-job Training

Off-the-job training takes place during your normal paid working hours and develops new knowledge, skills and behaviours linked to the apprenticeship. This may include taught sessions, guided learning, practical skills development and structured reflection.

Training Plan

Your training plan will connect this learning to your peer support responsibilities.

What are the entry requirements for the Apprenticeship?

You must have lived experience relevant to the peer support role and the young people you will support. This could include experiences of SEMH difficulties, barriers to education, exclusion, care or accessing support services.

The apprenticeship standard does not specify formal academic entry requirements. You will need to be employed, or secure employment, in a suitable role that provides opportunities to deliver peer support.

Your experience, learning needs and support requirements will be reviewed before enrolment. English and maths requirements and the appropriate suitability and safeguarding checks will also be discussed.

Let’s Make It Happen Together

Ready to use your lived experience to support young people, or develop peer support within your education or residential childcare setting?

Contact JCL Skills Solutions to discuss the Level 3 Peer Worker Apprenticeship.

Skip form

Keep up with everything we are doing at JCL Skills Solutions by following our conversations, photo stories and short films on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.