Central Bedfordshire Council
Customer Service Apprentice
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Team: Customer Services
Job Family: CBG3 - Supporting
Salary: £25,185 per annum pro rata Hours: 37 hours per week Location: You will be expected to attend a CBC office location as often as needed to carry out your role, which will be no less than once per month. Contract Type: Hybrid - Fixed Term Contract / Secondment Opportunity 24 Months Closing Date: 9th August 2026 Interview Date: 22nd August 2026
About us:
Our Customer Service team sits at the heart of Central Bedfordshire Council. Every day, we connect residents and businesses with the services they rely on, supporting a growing community of approximately 316,000 residents and over 12,000 local businesses across the area.
At Central Bedfordshire Council, we are committed to delivering high quality, customer services that are easy to access, responsive and joined up. Our Customer and Digital Service plays a vital role in making this happen, supporting customers across multiple channels and ensuring a positive experience whenever they contact our council.
You will be joining a busy, fast-paced Contact Centre at the frontline of council services. Last year alone, our teams handled over 160,000 customer calls, whilst progressing thousands of enquiries, cases and service requests.
About the role:
We are recruiting three Customer Service Apprentices to join our customer services team. This is a great opportunity for anyone looking to start or develop a career in customer service, gain hands-on experience and work towards a nationally recognised qualification, while supporting our customers and local communities.
This role combines practical, on-the-job learning with a Level 3 Customer Service Specialist Apprenticeship. You will receive training, support and mentoring to help you develop the skills, knowledge and confidence needed to succeed, giving you the opportunity to build a strong foundation for a future career in customer services.
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The Apprenticeship:
You will be enrolled on a Level 3 Customer Service Specialist Apprenticeship, with support from experienced colleagues and an approved training provider.
During the programme, you will:
- Complete a recognised Level 3 Customer Service Specialist qualification
- Receive structured learning and on-the-job training
- Build a portfolio of evidence demonstrating your development
- Develop professional behaviours and communication skills
- Be given dedicated time within your working week for learning and development
What you will be doing:
With training and support, you will:
- Act as a first point of contact for internal and external customers
- Handle enquiries across a range of customer access channels
- Resolve issues at first contact wherever possible
- Accurately record customer interactions and outcomes
- Signpost customers to the appropriate services when required
- Work collaboratively with colleagues across the Customer and Digital Service
Who this role is for:
This role is perfect for people who enjoy helping others and want to develop a career in customer service.
You may be:
- Starting out in your career
- Looking to gain a recognised qualification while working
- Returning to work or considering a career change
- Interested in working in a professional, customer service environment
No previous formal customer service experience is required. We are looking for positive attitudes, enthusiasm and a willingness to learn.
Entry requirements:
This is an apprenticeship role and is open to a wide range of applicants.
- GCSE Maths and English are desirable, but not essential on entry
- Applicants without GCSEs may be considered if they have another relevant qualification or relevant experience
- If you do not already hold them, you must be committed to achieve Level 2 Maths and English before completing the apprenticeship
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Ready to apply?
If you are looking for an opportunity to gain a recognised qualification, develop practical experience and start a rewarding career in customer service, we would love to hear from you.
Our Offer
We have a number of rewards and benefits available to our staff, to view these please visit our Rewards and Benefits page.
Our aspiration is to be a truly flexible employer. We welcome discussion on location, hours and working pattern as part of the application process.
You will be expected to demonstrate how you meet the key accountabilities and competencies in this Recruitment Pack.
Our Competency Framework and Qualification Guidance are to be read in conjunction with our Recruitment Pack.
For an informal discussion about this position, please contact: John Lowe, Contact Centre Manager, at John.Lowe@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk
To maintain a fair and consistent approach for applicants, it is Central Bedfordshire Council's policy to only consider applications made via our online application system and we therefore thank you for not submitting your application offline. We reserve the right to close the advert early should we receive a high volume of applications.
Our National Careers Service team offer a free monthly workshop covering CV writing and how to complete the statement sections of the Central Bedfordshire Council online application form. This MS Teams workshop is open to anyone from the UK and lasts around 1.5 hours. Please book your place here.
More information about this service can be found here: Support getting into work or learning | Central Bedfordshire Council.
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