TESS Group
Programme brochure
2026 / 27 intake
Level 4 Apprenticeship · ST1512 · 12 months delivery + 3 months EPA

AI & Automation
Practitioner.

The flagship AI apprenticeship for every department. Turn your team into in-house AI practitioners who use Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini safely, then design, build and maintain the AI agents that take real work off the team. No coding. 100% levy-funded at £18,000.

3–5
Accredited qualifications
included free
15mo
Delivery
+ Gateway & EPA
100%
Apprenticeship
Levy funded
4.9★
690+ verified
reviews
1212 AI & Automation modules — ST1512 curriculum across 12 months
BBCS Foundation Certificate in AI — Chartered Institute for IT
MMicrosoft AB-730 AI Business Professional (or Google AI Essentials)
NNCFE Level 3 AI Prompt Mastery — TESS exclusive CQ
CCoachy AI tutor — 24/7, built on Claude, EPA-safe by design
★ Next cohort · 9 June 2026
Reserve a place for your team.
Open cohort starts every month. 12 spots open on the June intake — scan to book a 30-min discovery call with TESS.
Scan to book a discovery call
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Awarding partners Ofsted Good CMI BCS NCFE Microsoft Copilot
tessgroup.co.uk
0333 0523 003 · [email protected]
AI & Automation PractitionerLevel 4 · ST1512
Who it's for
For every department

Built for the people who actually run your business.

HR, Finance, Operations, Marketing, Sales, Admin, Compliance, L&D. No coding. No technical prerequisites. Plain-English AI prompting, no-code workflow automation, real workplace projects. 12 months delivery + 3-month BCS End-Point Assessment.

⚙️
OperationsProcess leads · COOs · service managers · operations PAs
👥
People & HRHR partners · L&D leads · talent · people ops PAs
📊
FinanceFP&A · controllers · bookkeepers · finance PAs
🎯
MarketingBrand · content · CRM · social media · marketing PAs
⚡
Sales & CXAccount managers · CX leads · support · BDRs · sales PAs
📋
Admin & PAEAs · PAs · office managers · document control
🛡️
Compliance & RiskCompliance analysts · risk · DPOs · audit · governance PAs
📚
L&D and TrainingTraining coordinators · learning designers · LMS · L&D PAs
Why now

Six reasons this matters in 2026.

01Reclaim 10+ hrs / weekAI-powered automation eliminates repetitive tasks across every role.
02Every departmentBuilt for the people who run your business — not just IT.
03Measurable ROIReal workplace projects from Month 3. Results visible in weeks, not years.
043–5 qualificationsBCS, Microsoft, NCFE bundled inside the £18,000 levy spend.
05100% levy-fundedOut-of-pocket cost: zero. Non-levy employers pay just 5%.
06Coachy AI tutor24/7, built on Claude, scoped to ST1512. Included free.
AI & Automation PractitionerLevel 4 · ST1512
The qualifications
The Stack

Up to five accredited qualifications. All bundled, all funded.

The apprenticeship is the ST1512 AI & Automation Practitioner Level 4 standard. Industry-recognised credentials from Microsoft, BCS and NCFE are bundled inside the £18,000 apprenticeship levy spend — at no extra cost.

BCS
Standard

BCS Foundation Certificate in AI

The chartered industry body for IT. Foundation-level AI literacy across machine learning, ethics and responsible use — awarded by the same body that runs the End-Point Assessment for ST1512.

Chartered Lifetime
Microsoft
Standard

Microsoft AB-730 AI Business Professional

Microsoft's globally-recognised Applied Skills credential. Demonstrates working fluency on Copilot — the platform most UK enterprises already pay for. Or Google AI Essentials for Google Workspace organisations.

Professional Lab-assessed
NCFE
Standard

NCFE Level 3 AI Prompt Mastery

NCFE-accredited credential in prompt engineering — the skill that turns a generic AI subscription into a daily productivity multiplier across the team. TESS-exclusive Customised Qualification.

Level 3 CQ Portfolio
NCFE
Optional

NCFE Level 3 Certificate in Data

Working with data: cleaning, analysing, visualising and drawing defensible conclusions. The natural pair with AI — stops AI being a black box for your team.

Level 3 Optional extra
NCFE
Optional

NCFE Level 3 Cyber Security Practices

Workplace cyber security fundamentals. Particularly relevant once AI is touching customer data — a credibility signal for any organisation with a CISO.

Level 3 Optional extra
Coachy
Plus · Included free with every learner

Coachy — your AI tutor, 24/7.

Built on Claude. Scoped to the ST1512 standard and EPA-safe by design. Ask questions about AI tools, automation concepts, EPA prep or your workplace project — any time, mobile or desktop.

AI & Automation PractitionerLevel 4 · ST1512
The curriculum
12 modules · 5 phases

From AI-curious team to AI-confident operators.

Five phases. Twelve modules. By Month 4 they've built a working AI agent. By Month 8 they've piloted it safely. By Month 11 they've shipped a real solution on the platforms you already use.

00 Month 0

Get on the start line

M00 Onboarding · AI diagnostic · Coachy & OneFile set up
01 Month 1

Find your bearings

M01 AI Foundations — Copilot, Claude, Gemini side by side. RICF prompting. DPO-signable AUP by week 4.
02 Months 2-5

Discover & Build

M02 Process Discovery — SIPOC, swimlane, value-stream mapping
M03 Workflow Automation — Power Automate, Make, Zapier, Lovable
M04 Agentic AI — Copilot Studio, multi-agent, RAG, ReAct reasoning
M05 AI Integration & Assurance — APIs, ISO 42001, guardrails
03 Months 6-8

Govern & Deliver

M06 Data, Decisions & Data Law — UK GDPR, DPIAs, retention
M07 Responsible AI — bias auditing, Equality Act, accessibility
M08 Pilot, Test & Assure — control groups, regression, bias testing
04 Months 9-10

Take the team with you

M09 Leading AI Adoption — change frameworks · centre of excellence
M10 AI Strategy & Value — TCO · ROI · board business case
05 Month 11

Ship something real

M11 Applied AI Mastery — ambitious capstone build, live in your business. Copilot, Gemini & Claude hands-on day. Gateway readiness.
★ End-Point Assessment with BCS

Independently assessed by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT.

Two parts. A Work-Based Project scoped from Months 2–8, written up and submitted at Gateway. A Professional Discussion underpinned by a portfolio of evidence. Your TESS skills coach manages all EPA admin behind the scenes.

72% TESS distinction rate
vs
~33% UK national average
AI & Automation PractitionerLevel 4 · ST1512
Compare · Invest · Book
How TESS compares

How TESS compares to the rest of the market.

The same ST1512 standard. Very different delivery. 3-5 qualifications, no coding, 72% distinction rate, Coachy AI tutor. No other UK provider matches the stack.

What you get TESS
AI & Automation L4		 Typical AI
L4 provider		 Generic AI
workshop
BCS Foundation Certificate in AI (Chartered)✓✕✕
12 AI & Automation modules across 12 months✓Partial✕
Microsoft AB-730 OR Google AI Essentials✓✕✕
NCFE Level 3 AI Prompt Mastery (TESS exclusive)✓✕✕
Chartered, lifetime, portable credential✓✓✕
Coachy AI tutor — 24/7, free✓✕✕
Levy-funded (Sep 2026 onwards)✓Defunded✓
Funding band
£18,000
100% drawn from the Apprenticeship Levy. SMEs: 95–100% government co-investment.
  • Levy payers: £0 out-of-pocket. Cost drawn from your monthly Levy.
  • SMEs (under £3M wage bill): 95–100% DfE co-investment.
  • All qualifications complimentary — BCS + NCFE + NCFE L3 + Microsoft AB-730 + BCS Foundation.
  • No transition cost — open enrolment on a live ST1512 standard.
Ready when you are

Book a 30-min discovery call with TESS.

No obligation. We'll walk you through how the programme works for your team, your sector and your Levy.

0333 0523 003 · [email protected]
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