Best Level 5 People Professional Apprenticeship Providers (2024 to 2025 Data Compared)
If you're an employer or a prospective apprentice comparing training providers for the Level 5 People Professional Apprenticeship, the government's Find Apprenticeship Training service is the best starting point. It's the only place you'll find standardised, provider-submitted data on delivery options, employer and apprentice review scores, and course achievement rates.
We pulled together the providers currently listed for this apprenticeship and compared them side by side using their published 2024 to 2025 figures. In the interest of transparency: People Study Pro is part of the same group as VQ Solutions, one of the providers featured below. We've included it on its own merits and backed every claim with the same public data used for every other provider, but you should know that before you read on.
What the Gov.uk Data Actually Tells You
Three figures matter most when comparing providers:
Course achievement rate: – the percentage of apprentices on that course who actually complete it. This is calculated from a specific cohort size, so a high rate from a small cohort (say, 9 out of 10) carries less statistical weight than the same rate from a larger one.
Review scores: – gov.uk separates employer reviews from apprentice reviews, and both matter. A provider can be excellent for employers but weaker for learners, or vice versa.
Delivery model: – workplace-based, day release, or block release. This isn't a quality signal, it's a fit signal: it determines how much of your apprentice's week is spent away from the business.
A provider with no published achievement rate isn't necessarily bad — it usually just means their cohorts haven't reached a completion point yet, or the sample is too small to publish. It does mean you're taking more of a leap of faith on outcomes.
Providers Compared
Source: Find Apprenticeship Training, gov.uk, 2024 to 2025 reporting year. Figures are correct as published at the time of writing and are subject to change as providers submit new data.
Provider Notes
Fareport Training Organisation posts the highest achievement rate on this list, and its review scores are strong across the board. Worth noting that the 88.9% figure comes from a 10-apprentice cohort, so it reflects roughly one non-completer.
Access Training offers a solid, straightforward workplace-plus-day-release model with a healthy achievement rate and consistently excellent reviews from a small but positive base.
VQ Solutions is Ofsted-rated "Good" and delivers the apprenticeship through a workplace and day-release blend, which suits employers who want structured off-the-job learning without losing an apprentice for a full week at a time. Its 75% achievement rate is drawn from the largest completed cohort of the mid-table providers (20 apprentices, roughly double Fareport's or Access's sample), and both its employer and apprentice reviews sit at "Excellent." VQ is also one of the few providers on this list that runs CIPD Level 3 and Level 5 as standalone commercial courses alongside the apprenticeship route, so employers or learners who don't fit apprenticeship funding rules, or who want to self-fund, have somewhere to go without switching training provider.
Potential Realised – HR & Training is a smaller provider with a respectable achievement rate and excellent apprentice feedback, though its single employer review means there's less to go on there.
Blackburn College delivers day release only, so it suits employers happy to have apprentices attend the college one day a week rather than train on-site.
City Skills has by far the largest completed cohort on this list (40 apprentices) and strong review volume, but the lowest achievement rate of the providers with published data. Multi-location delivery is a genuine advantage for employers with sites in more than one region.
Manchester Metropolitan University has an enormous volume of apprentice reviews (73) at "Excellent," suggesting real learner satisfaction, but no achievement rate has been published yet and delivery is block release only, meaning apprentices attend campus in multi-week stretches.
Transworld Publications Services and JC Training & Consultancy are smaller providers with excellent review scores but no published achievement rate yet, so there's less outcome data to assess.
Corndel stands out for sheer review volume, 326 apprentice reviews rated "Excellent", far more than any other provider here, which points to scale and consistency in delivery. No achievement rate is published yet for this course.
VQ Solutions: CIPD Accreditation Beyond the Apprenticeship
Worth calling out on its own, since it's easy to miss on the gov.uk listing: VQ Solutions is a CIPD-accredited centre that runs CIPD qualifications independently of the apprenticeship funding route. That includes:
- The Level 5 People Professional Apprenticeship itself, funded via levy or government co-investment
- A standalone CIPD Level 5 Associate Diploma for learners who aren't eligible for, or don't want, the apprenticeship route
- A standalone CIPD Level 3 Foundation Certificate for those starting out in HR
That breadth matters in practice. An employer might have some staff who qualify for apprenticeship funding and others who don't (existing staff without a genuine new skills gap, for instance, can fail the apprenticeship eligibility test). Being able to place both groups with the same accredited provider, on the funding route that actually fits them, is a genuine practical advantage rather than a marketing line.
How to Choose
- Check the achievement rate alongside the cohort size. A 90% rate from 10 apprentices and a 90% rate from 100 apprentices are not the same level of evidence.
- Read both review types, not just one. Employer reviews tell you about administration, communication and business fit. Apprentice reviews tell you about teaching quality and support.
- Match delivery model to how your business runs. Block release suits employers who can release staff for full weeks. Day release or workplace-based training suits those who need apprentices present most of the time.
- Ask about routes beyond the apprenticeship. If some of your staff won't qualify for apprenticeship funding, a provider that also offers the same CIPD qualification commercially (like VQ Solutions' Level 3 and Level 5 courses) means you're not managing two different training relationships.
- Cross-check the current gov.uk listing. Reviews and achievement rates are updated periodically, so confirm the latest figures directly on Find Apprenticeship Training before making a final decision.
The Bottom Line
There's no single "best" provider here, the right choice depends on your cohort size, delivery preferences, and whether you need flexibility beyond the funded apprenticeship route. Fareport and Access post the strongest achievement rates from smaller cohorts, City Skills and Corndel bring the most delivery scale and review volume, and VQ Solutions combines an Ofsted "Good" rating, a genuinely large completed cohort for its achievement rate, and the added flexibility of standalone CIPD Level 3 and Level 5 courses for learners outside the apprenticeship system.
Whichever provider you choose, once you or your apprentices are working through the CIPD Level 5 units, People Study Pro is there to help you structure assignments, track word counts by task, and understand what assessors are looking for at each stage.