/ Apprenticeships /
Start date:
September 2025
You'll need:
No formal qualifications required. See entry requirements section.
Duration:
3.5 years
This apprenticeship is your pathway to mastering essential skills for diverse ministry roles. We blend hands-on experience with deep theological understanding to give you a comprehensive learning experience that fits real-life scenarios. Plus, as a degree course, you'll be ready for advanced studies in related fields.
Did you know
The BTh Theology and Ministry is an integral part of the Church Minister Degree Apprenticeship (ST0527).
Fully funded: You don't need to worry about student loans! In the UK's apprenticeship framework, your fees are covered by employer contributions, making it a fully funded opportunity.
Similar courses available include:
Skills
We keep our programme updated to match the latest trends in ministry. This means apprentices learn skills that match the current needs and challenges in the field.
Teams-based: Apprentices will learn to take a collaborative approach and embrace this as a theological value. Sharing insights and solving problems in groups will help build real-life skills for teamwork in ministry.
Personal Development: The programme focuses on personal skills and empowerment for a life-long learning journey, not just training for a particular role, with an emphasis on identity confidence, gift-recognition, faith development, ethical commitment, and emotional awareness.
Coaching for Success: Each apprentice will have a dedicated Ministry Supervisor at work, and from the university side, a Professional Learning Mentor, who will meet regularly with the apprentice to monitor progress, set goals, address challenges, and hone skills.
Learning
This programme covers all the key areas of the Bible, theology, pastoral care, worship, preaching, and mission, while supporting students in different professional tracks and church affiliations.
Flexible learning - Online and face-to-face elements are combined in an individual blended learning plan agreed with your employer.
Faculty Experience: Staff brings real-world insights from their own ministry involvements into the classroom, enriching the apprentices' learning with practical perspectives.
Church Connections: The department has good connections with numerous Christian churches forged by years of placement arrangements and personal connections of students and staff.
Career
Leave Roehampton prepared for a meaningful career.
Graduates of BTh Theology and Ministry can pursue careers in:
• Congregational Leadership
• Youth Ministry
• Children's and Family Ministries
• Pioneer Outreach
• Chaplaincy
• Community Development
• Counselling
• International Mission
• Strategic Management
• Worship leaders
• Education and Training
• Speakers, podcasters, authors, or bloggers
• Media Ministry
Applying
If you are interested in completing this apprenticeship yourself, please speak to your employer to see if they offer an apprenticeship programme. We would be more than happy to speak to them about setting one up, so please do ask them to get in touch with us if they don’t have something in place.
There are no formal entry requirements and you will not be expected to have any academic or theological background although, where appropriate, those who have already done some church-related study will be welcome.
Apprentices will be required to pass GCSE English and Maths during the course if they do not already have these.
If you are an employer and would like to offer apprenticeships at your organisation, please get in touch with us by emailing apprenticeships@roehampton.ac.uk.
We can provide you with all the information and guidance you need to set these up.
Information for employers
The apprentice will be employed by you, the organisation for a minimum of 30 hours per week.
Apprentices must be employed for at least the duration of the apprenticeship, which will typically be between 12 to 48 months.
The apprentice will have the same employment rights as other employees and will be paid a salary, receive paid leave for study, complete coursework and attend university classes, usually once a week or in a block delivery.
As an employer, you will need to identify the mentor for the apprentice, who can support apprentice and attend tripartite reviews with apprentice and Training Provider (University of Roehampton). This will take place on termly basis and will give an opportunity to discuss progress of your apprentice.
Lastly, as an employer you will need to cover the funding for the apprenticeship programme.
As an employer, if your pay bill is over £3million, you are required to pay the Apprenticeship Levy to HMRC. You will be able to put these contributions toward the cost of a degree apprenticeship.
If your contributions have been exhausted, the government will pay at least 95% of the fees for you. You will need to cover the remaining 5%.
If your annual pay bill is less than £3million, you will not be contributing towards Apprenticeship Levy. However, the government will pay at least 95% of the fees for each apprentice you have. You will need to cover the remaining 5%.
Your apprenticeships can be funded by a levy paying employer transferring up to 25% of their unused levy to a different employer. For more information, visit GOV.UK.
If you are an employer you will need to create an account on the apprenticeship service. This will allow you to
- Receive the funds to put toward your apprenticeships
- Manage your apprentices
- Set up payments to your training provider
As the employer you will pay the training provider directly the 5%, if applicable. HMRC will pay the provider the 95% of the fees directly.
This funding can be used to pay for the training of your apprentice, however it will not cover their wages, so you will need to pay for that.
For more details, visit GOV.UK.
At the University of Roehampton, we have a long tradition of research and teaching in education and health.
We have been training teachers, through our four colleges, for 180 years and have launched a successful nursing programme both on our main campus and at Croydon University Centre. We are committed to ensuring our graduates are equipped with the knowledge and skills to add value to their employers, community and society more widely.
Through our partnerships with the National College of Education and QA we have experience and knowledge of apprenticeships. While we continue to partner with these education providers, we are now also offering apprenticeships directly.
We would like to hear from employers interested in apprenticeships provision in the following areas:
- Education
- Construction
- NHS, Health and Social Care:
- Nursing (Registered Nurse, Nursing Associate, Specialist and Community Public Health)
- Advanced Clinical Practitioner
- Public Health Practitioner
- Clinical Associate in Psychology (CAP)
- Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner
- Arts Therapist and Health Play Specialist
- Sports Coaching
Apprenticeship standards that we offer:
- Teacher Apprenticeship
- Sports Coach Apprenticeship (subject to validation)
- Nursing Associate Apprenticeship (subject to validation)
- Academic Professional (subject to validation)
- Senior Leader (postgraduate)
We are committed to ensuring that our employer engagement meets the needs of our partners and of our apprentices, and that engagement is meaningful, clear and enables a continuous route for monitoring and evaluation.
Our processes for working in partnership with employers across our apprenticeship programmes is set out in our Employer Engagement Practice and Procedure for Apprenticeships.