As an Employer, I like to know what is going on throughout my apprentices' journey. I am extremely pleased with the communication I receive from my apprentices' tutor. She is a hands-on tutor, who keeps me in the loop, and we have built a strong bond and she is extremely competent. I look forward to enrolling new apprentices' because of Ruth D!

I have almost completed my level 3 with shaping lives. My personal tutor, Imogen fisher was absolutely amazing!! I felt like she was there for me every step of the way, and helping me with everything that I needed. I would have not managed to complete this course without her help, guidance and support.
I really enjoyed the workshops and the E-learning. I found that I had learnt a lot from them.
I found the consolidation activities to be very difficult, with a very lot of information. It took me a very lot of hours to complete all 18 modules. I feel like I would have known the information even without writing and researching all of that.

I have just completed my level 3 Early Years Educator NVQ & am currently feeling very proud. My tutor Sarah Ashton has been absolutely amazing throughout my 18 months & I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better tutor. Fantastic course & well worth doing.

i am currently doing a level 3 apprenticeship. Elana major is one of my tutors and she really helps you understand the work. If you dont understand she will explain it in every way she can until you understand. Shes super sweet and kind which definitely makes the module more fun to do.

I still have a lovely experience receiving all of the help and support to understand everything. Thank you so much for all of the support and I appreciate it.
I have worked with Kelly and Chloe so far, I am not done yet but I am very positive and my success so far is because they have helped me.

I started my apprenticeship at the end of November last year. While everything was set up on Bud, I was left without an assigned tutor for several weeks. This left me struggling completely on my own to figure out how to navigate the platform, understand expectations, and log evidence. During this time, modules were already automatically marking themselves as "overdue" before I had even been given proper guidance or time to complete them. As a result, I had to spend my Christmas/December break away from my family teaching myself the system just to catch up.
Another structural issue is how the 20% off-the-job learning time is calculated for term-time workers. I work a 38-week academic year rather than 52 weeks, yet the course hours appear rigidly calculated across a full 52 weeks. This unfairly forces term-time learners to cram equivalent learning hours into a highly compressed 38-week window, creating a stressful and unmanageable workload alongside active workplace responsibilities.
Furthermore, the compliance logging rules are incredibly frustrating. If I spend my own personal evenings completing coursework and upload it outside of working hours, it faces rejection purely based on the timestamp. This makes it feel as though compliance ticks matter more to management than validating real effort and time spent learning.
On a positive note, my experience has improved significantly since getting my current tutor. She is highly supportive, answers questions, and explains expectations clearly, which has made a massive difference to my journey.
While I respect funding requirements, learners need adequate initial support, realistic tracking systems for term-time contracts, and clear communication. The chaotic start I endured was entirely avoidable with better early administration.

Rifat kauser is a really nice person and an amazing tutor she travelled 2 hours just to come see me and she is so supportive and helpful.

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I couldn’t recommend Sarah O’Dwyer enough! Sarah has been an incredibly supportive, understanding and dedicated personal tutor throughout my apprenticeship. She has always taken the time to listen, make sure I understand everything and guide me whenever I’ve needed extra support.

What I appreciate most is how approachable and encouraging she is. She genuinely cares about my progress and always goes above and beyond to make sure I feel confident and supported. Her patience, kindness and professionalism have made such a positive difference to my experience.

I’m extremely grateful to have had Sarah as my tutor and would highly recommend her to anyone looking for a tutor who genuinely cares about their students and wants to see them succeed. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Though it was difficult at times, Imogen supported me through it even with difficulties with my setting. She was easy to get in contact with and she was regularly available to support me through it all. Imogen clearly has a lot of experience and knowledge so I am grateful to have had her as my tutor.

I have a great experience completing my level 2. My tutor Imogen has helped me when I needed it and supported me through everything when she could and helped me achieve my confidence when it came to completing my professional discussion.

I have had a great experience with shaping lives throughout completing my level 2 childcare. My assigned tutor, Imogen Fisher supported and helped me to grow understanding and confidence in each and every learning area. I am now finished and complete with a distinction & ready to take on my level 3 course!

I completed my 18 month apprenticeship with Shaping lives. Went smoothly overall, however, when my trainer left it became a muddle over who my new trainer would be. Creating confusion and having to redo observations, elearning and coursework. Especially when changing settings and trainers at the same time. Showed a clear lack of communication and handover. This had then pushed my apprenticeship to be almost 2 years overall. However, my trainers Corrine who has since left and Imogen were amazing

Elana Major is amazing, she always explains all of the workshops is detail and makes sure everybody is on track. She is also very kind

I’ve just qualified L3 EYE with a double distinction and I can’t thank Shaping Lives enough. In particular, my tutor Sam P.S. for her support and dedication to my training. I couldn’t have done it without you.

Had a good experience

I had Amy as my tutor throughout a level 3 childcare course, she is absolutely fantastic and a great support, I honestly couldn’t have got through the course without her, any issues I had she resolved so quickly and was so happy to answer any questions I had. Thank you so much Amy ❤️

I had recently completed my level 2 nursery practitioner qualification and I couldnt be happier with the support I received throughout my journey. My tutor Sarah Ashton had been amazing from day one. She was always there to support and guided me whenever I needed it. I am so gratefulfor all the time, patience and encouragement she has given me throughout my qualification. Having such a supportive tutor made such a positive difference to my experience and I honestly couldnt have asked for anyone better. Thank you so much for believeing in and supported me from day one.

Sam P-S was extremely helpful and guided me through the whole process, giving me all the encouragement I needed to complete my course on time.

My experience has been so good with Amy Baines as my tutor. I would not have been able to do it without her at all. She has been so supportive and helpful though my whole experience. I went off on maternity leave halfway through my course and was so worried about coming back to loads of work and limited time, but Amy was so thoughtful and amazing during this time and helped me get the best possible outcome. She believed in me when I was feeling overwhelmed with it all so I appreciate that so much. If I decide I would like to continue learning and progressing to my level 3 I would 100% ask for Amy again. So thank you for giving me the best experience and giving me more opportunities

I dont know where to start with how grateful i am to my lovely tutor Angela, from the beginning to end she never lost faith in me and knew i could do it. I remember sitting with her on our very first meeting but she wouldn’t let me she gave me so much encouragement and i ended up finishing a year early with a distinction.

Angela not only helped me with my studies but also personally she gave me the confidence and belief as well as showing me that i need to have so much more faith in myself and my abilities. I cant thank her enough for everything and anyone who gets her is so lucky! THANK YOU ❤️