Most of the job titles say analyst; the standard says the work is found in every sector that generates data. What ST0795 asks of an apprentice, the assessor and the employer.
Level 3 Data Technician Apprenticeship (ST0795): the Standard, the AI in It and the Assessment
By James Cotton · Last updated · 9 min read
Part of our topic guides on Data & AI Apprenticeships and Data Analyst Careers.
By James Cotton, Founder, iO-Sphere
For an employer asked to support someone on it, training typically runs 24 months and includes a published minimum of 348 hours of off-the-job training in paid time; the costs and what you agree to are in the time and money section below.
Prompt engineering is assessed now
The Skills England record for ST0795 holds 11 duties, plus 26 knowledge statements, 16 skills and 4 behaviours: the statements (KSBs) an apprentice must show by the end. AI appears in three knowledge statements, one skill and the occupational summary, which asks anyone in a data role to "keep abreast of developments in digital technologies such as Internet of Things and Generative Artificial Intelligence". No duty names it.
- K20: "The ethical use of data, including in relation to its use with Artificial Intelligence and other automated systems, and the potential impacts of unethical use of data on the organisation."
- K23: "The relationships between data, machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Generative AI. For example, the impact of data and any biases within it on training AI models, and the impact of AI on data volume, quality, security, privacy and ethical considerations."
- K26: "Understand when and how to apply the principles of prompt engineering to identify and research effective data transformation techniques to ensure data quality and integrity."
- S16: "Demonstrate the ability to use different tools and methods to formulate and utilise effective prompts to research, apply, and evaluate data transformation techniques."
In the current end-point assessment plan, K26 and S16 are assessed in the scenario demonstration (a timed practical task, described below), theme "Data analysis and validation". The pass descriptor: "Demonstrates the use of tools or methods that can or have been applied as prompts to research and evaluate data transformation techniques, K26, S16."
K20 and K23 are assessed in the professional discussion, theme "Data Gathering", where the apprentice must "Explain the relationships between data, machine learning, AI, and Generative AI, and how ethical data use in AI and automated systems impacts organisations, including the potential consequences of unethical data use. K20, K23."
The plan calls the scenario an "open book" assessment and draws a line on tools within it: "The apprentice cannot use the internet or artificial intelligence tools to complete tasks only to source information and guidance." So within the scenario, AI tools may help find information, may not do the tasks, and prompting must still be shown to pass.
ST0118, the Level 4 Data analyst standard, names no AI; our guide to the Level 4 data analyst apprenticeship covers it. It also has fewer knowledge statements, 15 against the Level 3's 26.
Who the standard is written for
Skills England's overview of the role is "Source, format and present data securely in a relevant way for analysis"; the fuller summary adds "using basic methods". The standard says the employee "will be responsible for collecting and processing data under the guidance of a senior colleague or multiple colleagues across the business", mainly responsible for their own work, though they "may have the opportunity to mentor others".
The sentence I would put in front of any employer is this: "This occupation is found in all sectors where data is generated or processed including but not limited to finance, retail, education, health, media, manufacturing and hospitality." My view is that the standard serves people well beyond the job title "analyst", because data work is foundational across so many roles.
The standard's own list of typical job titles points the other way: "Data support analyst", "Data technician", "Junior data analyst" and "Junior information analyst". Skills England lists no Level 3 standard titled data analyst; the only standard with that title is ST0118, at Level 4, and our comparison of data apprenticeship levels sets the two side by side.
The standard sets no entry requirements, so employers and providers set their own, and on English and maths it defers to the funding rules. Our guide to who can start a data analyst apprenticeship and how to find one covers eligibility, and whether a given job can hold a Level 3 programme has a guide of its own.
What the standard leaves open
ST0795 names no specific product: a search of the Skills England record finds no SQL, Python, Excel, Power BI or Tableau. Its tools are generic, such as "spreadsheets with tables and charts, dashboarding tools" (K9) and "data blending tools" (K13). The current plan requires the assessment venue to have "access to software for manipulating data, appropriate to the scenarios selected by the independent assessor".
Which tools are taught is each provider's choice. We deliver this standard as our Data & AI Essentials (Level 3) apprenticeship, and what we teach on it is our design: Excel, SQL and Power BI, with AI tools used alongside them.
How the assessment works under the current plan
As of October 2026, version 1.1 of the assessment plan is in force until the revised plan below takes effect. First comes the gateway, the point at which the apprentice is confirmed ready for assessment, and that decision is the employer's: "The employer may take advice from the apprentice's training provider, but the employer must make the decision."
There are two methods, which "can be delivered in any order", and no written exam or knowledge test. The first is a 90-minute scenario demonstration with questioning: an independent assessor observes the apprentice completing tasks set by the end-point assessment organisation (EPAO) and asks at least 5 questions within that time.
The scenario "may use data sets that are in a different business domain to the one in which the apprentice normally works". One of the plan's reasons for using a scenario is that it "avoids issues around confidentiality or exposing an organisation's confidential information". The apprentice receives a guidance document, including the data set, up to a week ahead, and a related data set on the day.
The second is a 60-minute professional discussion with at least 8 questions, covering data gathering, analysis, validation, distribution and dissemination, and approaches to work. All four behaviours are assessed here. It is underpinned by a portfolio that will "typically contain 5 discrete pieces of evidence", which earns no marks itself: the assessor should review it "to prepare questions for the discussion".
Each method is graded fail, pass or distinction, and the two grades combine like this:
| Scenario demonstration | Professional discussion | Overall grade |
|---|---|---|
| Fail | Any grade | Fail |
| Any grade | Fail | Fail |
| Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Distinction | Pass | Merit |
| Pass | Distinction | Merit |
| Distinction | Distinction | Distinction |
The scenario demonstration has two distinction descriptors. The professional discussion also has two, both under the theme "Distribution and dissemination".
Employers "must work with the training provider to select an approved EPAO", and the independent assessor makes the grading decision. As of 2 October 2026, when the register entries and funding figures for this standard were read, Find an end-point assessment organisation listed 18 organisations for this standard, 15 of them showing version 1.1, and Find apprenticeship training listed 111 training providers.
Time, money and what the employer agrees to
Skills England gives a typical duration of 24 months of training, plus a typical 3-month assessment period. The minimum is 8 months: paragraph 77 of the apprenticeship funding rules for August 2026 to July 2027 requires the practical period, the training itself, to last at least that long after prior learning is counted, and the assessment can only follow after that.
The standard's "Minimum hours for compliance" is 348, which under paragraphs 82 to 85 is the minimum off-the-job training volume, within paid hours, and "Represents the full occupational content of the standard (all KSBs)". Prior learning can reduce it, but "No programme must fall below 187 hours of evidenced delivery."
The funding band for version 1.1, from 20 August 2025, is £13,000 for training and assessment; the retired version 1.0 record carried £12,000. For starts from 1 August 2026 with an apprentice aged 25 or over, the government funds 95% up to the band maximum at an employer that does not pay the levy (a charge on employers with a pay bill over £3 million), and 75% at a levy payer whose funds have run out.
On the full band, that leaves the employer paying up to £650 or up to £3,250 respectively. For an apprentice aged 16 to 24 at the start, at either employer the government funds all training and assessment costs up to the band maximum. A levy payer with funds pays from its account. Our guide to the 2026 levy reforms covers what changed, and the apprentice can never be charged.
Paragraph 66 sets out the employer's side: to "Provide the individual with the appropriate support and supervision", to "Release the apprentice for off-the-job training", to give the opportunity to embed and practise the skills, and to "Take part or provide input into progress reviews".
The numbers nationally
The Apprenticeships, Academic year 2025/26 release from the Department for Education and Department for Work and Pensions, published 16 July 2026, counted starts rounded to the nearest 10:
| Academic year | Starts | Achievements |
|---|---|---|
| 2020/21 | 1,200 | low (suppressed) |
| 2021/22 | 2,890 | 150 |
| 2022/23 | 4,310 | 870 |
| 2023/24 | 6,160 | 1,940 |
| 2024/25 | 7,600 | 3,070 |
| 2025/26, August to April only, provisional | 6,160 | 2,480 |
Of the 7,600 starts in 2024/25, 6,440 were aged 25 or over (about 85%, our arithmetic), and it was the first full year in which the Level 3 Data Technician had more starts than the Level 4 Data Analyst.
In the release's national achievement rate tables for 2024/25 (official statistics, not accredited), the standard's achievement rate was 60.4% against 66.4% for all Level 3 apprenticeships, with retention at 61.5% and a pass rate of 98.2%.
What is changing
Skills England has published a revised assessment plan for this standard but has not set the date it takes effect. Until that date is set, the assessment described above stays in place, and the band, duration and hours are unchanged. The revised plan covers the same knowledge and skills, AI and prompting included. It requires the assessment to include a simulated task, and its performance descriptors are set at pass or distinction.
Frequently asked questions
Does the apprentice get a qualification as well?
The standard lists no separate qualification. Skills England's summary says: "When you pass the EPA, you will be awarded your apprenticeship certificate". The current plan adds: "This apprenticeship is not aligned to professional recognition."
Can someone who already has a degree start it?
Paragraph 68.2 of the funding rules allows funding at the same or a lower level than a qualification already held "if the apprenticeship will allow the individual to acquire significant new skills and the provider can show that the content of the training is materially different". A provider may set a stricter policy, which is its own rule.
What happens if an apprentice fails one method?
Any re-sit or re-take caps the overall grade at merit, unless the EPAO determines there are exceptional circumstances. Re-sits are at the employer's discretion and use a new scenario, and failed methods must be re-sat or re-taken within 6 months, otherwise the whole assessment is taken again. The Level 4 Data analyst plan says its grade on a re-sit or re-take "is not capped".
Does an apprentice need Level 2 English and maths?
It depends on age at the start. Under paragraph 55, an apprentice aged 16 to 18 must "hold or achieve an approved level 2 in both subjects before they can successfully complete the apprenticeship". From 19, English and maths are optional with the employer's agreement, funded on opting in, and not needed to pass gateway.
Can the assessment be taken remotely?
Yes. The plan says the scenario demonstration "can be conducted virtually" and the professional discussion "can be conducted by video conferencing". The EPAO must give 2 weeks' notice of each, and the assessor may extend either by up to 10%.
Build a data-literate workforce
Data apprenticeships funded through the Growth & Skills Levy: £0 for any apprentice under 25, and most of the cost covered for older starts.