Assistant Ambulance Practitioner role – FAQs

Ever wondered what a day in the life of our frontline crews is like? We followed Faye on her night shift in north London. 

The starting salary will be £31,081, which is inclusive of Outer High Cost Allowance (HCAS).

After training salary will remain at £31,081 if posted Outer London or will increase to £31,944 if posted Inner London.

Our training education centres are based at Dockside, East London and Brentford, West London. Both training education centres are Outer London.

• Dockside – Newham Dockside, 1000 Dockside Road, E16 2QU
• Brentford – 4 Brentside Park, Brentford TW8 9DS

The AAP role is an entry route role to become a Paramedic without the requirement of going to university.

Upon successful completion of AAP training, you will be eligible to apply for the Trainee Emergency Medical Technician (TEMT) role.

If successful, you will start on our upskilling from AAP to TEMT apprenticeship programme. Once you have successfully completed all elements of the TEMT training you will join as a full time Emergency Medical Technician (EMT).

You will then be eligible to apply for the Paramedic Degree Apprenticeship, which is a two year course. After that you qualify as a Newly Qualified Paramedic.

London Ambulance Service funds all training.

No clinical experience or qualifications are required, however you must have the required Maths and English qualifications to be able to apply and enrol on the apprenticeship pathway.

The standard Maths and English qualification are GCSE grade A*C/4 to 7 or Functional Skills level 2. Please click here (see attached file) for the full list of acceptable Maths and English qualifications.

Overseas qualifications will be acceptable where there is clear evidence from UK ENIC (NARIC) that the qualification is an equivalent level and grade to the minimum requirements for English/Maths. Further information and guidance can be found on the ENIC website.

If you have lost certificates and require replacements, guidance and what to do if the examination board no longer exists can be found on the gov.uk website.

You will be posted to the areas of greatest need. We are currently only posting new Assistant Ambulance Practitioners to stations across North-West, North or East London. The Trust has a transfer register and will move staff to other stations as and when vacancies become available.

We publish all our vacancies on Health Jobs UK and the NHS Jobs website.

You can also keep up with our latest news and vacancies on Instagram Facebook LinkedIn and X (Twitter).

All applicants need to be aged 18 years or older (in line with legislation) and acceptable qualifications for the apprenticeship pathway (please refer to qualification FAQ). There is no requirement to have any previous healthcare experience.

All applicants need to have a current  B class driving licence, valid in the UK, with a maximum of 3 penalty points and C1 provisional licence or full C1 licence at the time of application. A driving licence summary check will be requested at pre-screening stage to evidence this entitlement.

Other essential and desirable criteria can be found on the job description.

Unfortunately, we will not be able to move forward with your application if you do not hold your C1 provisional licence at the point of application.

Please apply for this role once this has been added to your licence.

• Make sure all sections of the application form have been completed
• Ensuring all details are correct including your full employment and education history
• Make sure you have provided professional email addresses for your referees as we are unable to request references from personal email addresses
• Within your support information, detail your experience, knowledge, achievements, skills & abilities that meet the criteria of the person specification
• There is an additional question which asks what is your motivation for applying for the role, make sure your answer is detailed confirming what your motivation is
• Lastly, this is YOUR application form so YOUR time to shine!

Your application will go through pre-screening where a driving licence summary will be requested from you to evidence that you hold a current manual B class driving licence, valid in the UK, with no more than 3 penalty points and C1 provisional licence. You will also be required to provide evidence acceptable qualifications for the apprenticeship pathway (please refer to qualification FAQ).

If all is satisfactory, your application will be shortlisted to be invited for an interview.

If you do not hear back from us within 4 weeks of the advert closing, please assume that you have not been successful at the shortlisting stage.

Once successful at an interview and you have received a conditional offer letter of appointment we will invite you for an assessment/ information day where you will meet our recruitment team and find further information about the role and what is required for pre-employment checks ( on boarding process) before starting the Apprenticeship programme.

On the day you will also be required to undertake a  lifting assessment. This will include lifting and carrying a 50kg mannequin in a wheelchair with a partner.

You will be required to bring your current Passport and/or a right to work document, current driving licence and one additional proof of address such as bank statement dated within the last three months.

The interview will take roughly 1 hour and will be conducted via Microsoft Teams.

The interview will be competency based, where the panel will request examples to support your answers alongside the core values of the Trust. Remember to use interview techniques when answering your questions, for example STARR – Situation, Task, Action, Result, and Reflection.

The Recruitment Team have created an “interview top tips” video which is available on YouTube, we would encourage you to watch this video prior to your interview: https://youtu.be/sspqquFFa8Y

If you are successful at interview you will be sent a conditional offer with a provisional start date outlining all of the pre-employment checks that are required. You will need to obtain your full C1 licence at least two weeks before the course start date depending on your notice period as we will not be able to clear your pre-employment checks until this has been added to your licence.

If you are unsuccessful you will receive a call and feedback will be provided. You will need to wait three months before you can re-apply for this role.

The C1 provisional licence process can take up to 3 weeks so it’s really important to start the process as soon as possible. It can take longer if your health or personal details need to be checked.

There is no application fee to apply. You need to complete the “D2” and “D4” forms from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).

You can either collect these from your local post office or order the forms on the GOV.UK website here.

Filling in form D4

The D4 form has to be filled in by a doctor. This could be either:

• Your GP – but an optician might need to fill in the section about your eyesight
• A private firm specialising in driver’s medical exams

Your doctor, optician or a private firm can charge you.

Filling in form D2

• The category you are applying for is C1

Once complete, you will need to send both forms along with your photo card driving licence to the DVLA. If you have a paper driving licence you must include a passport-style colour photo and original identity documents. The postal address to post the forms back to is DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1BR. You should then receive your driving licence back in the post within 3 weeks with the C1 provisional entitlement held.

If you hold an EU licence, you will need to complete a “D9” form found here on the GOV.UK website and obtain a UK licence with the C1 provisional entitlement.

We strongly advise you to revise as much as possible whilst waiting for your C1 provisional licence to be returned from the DVLA to help improve your chances of passing your theory test first time.

LAS funding will be available to complete the C1 theory tests (multiple choice and hazard perception) and C1 practical test via the C1 incentive agreement for successful candidates.

Candidates will be responsible to cover any re-tests for the C1 theory or C1 practical test should they be unsuccessful on their first attempt.

This is only available with our driving school, Wallace. We will not be able to reimburse any money if this is booked privately.

There are two parts to the theory test; multiple choice and hazard perception. Once you have obtained your C1 provisional licence, you can book your HGV theory (module A) and Hazard perception test (module B) test.

The multiple-choice test is about HGV driving, you will need to score a minimum of 85 out of 100. Essential reading would be the “Highway Code”, DVSA “Driving goods vehicles manual” and “The official theory test for large goods vehicles”.

The hazard perception test you will watch 19 video clips and need to score a minimum of 67 out of 100. There are a lot programmes available online to practice, we would recommend using “theory test pro” which offers questions and hazard perception clips.

You do not need your driver CPC.

The C1 licence is an additional part to your Cat B licence. It allows you to drive ambulances and other vehicles up to 7.5 tonnes with a trailer up to 750kg.

If you passed your category B driving test before January 1997, you will automatically have a C1 on your licence. If not, you will need to book your C1 training and your practical test after successful completion of passing your C1 theory tests.

If have been successful for the role and have completed the C1 incentive agreement form, we will send your details over to Wallace school of driving  who will be in touch to arrange the C1 training and practical test.

If you wish to book privately, you can do this by contacting a driving centre that offers C1 training. You will then need to book your C1 practical test through the DVLA.

Please be advised you will not be able to take annual leave during your initial 18 weeks training course that includes the following

• 13 weeks training including driving course
• 5 weeks initial mentorship period

This is to minimise the disruption to your learning and risk of not completing key topics ahead of starting your operational role. We do recognise that sometimes there are exceptional circumstances where a day of leave may be needed for emergency purposes, this request should be discussed with either your clinical tutor or line manager as soon as possible. Please note any annual leave declared at interview or as part of recruitment process cannot be approved by recruitment team.