Educational News - National Celebration of Apprenticeships

National Celebration of Apprenticeships

Monday 6^th February marks the beginning of National Apprenticeship Week; a week-long celebration of apprentices and apprenticeships. The week is designed to raise the profile of apprenticeships among student, parents, schools and employers.

The National Apprenticeship Service, which organises the annual apprenticeship week events hopes that 2012 will build on the success of 2011. Over 500 events will take place all across England, with leading organisations organising special events to recognise the achievements of their apprentices. For example, Channel 4 is hosting a breakfast networking event designed and presented by their apprentices. The apprentices will showcase a short film that they have created to chart their Apprenticeship journey so far.

An apprenticeship opportunity is open to any individual who has not achieved a degree or level four qualification such as an NVQ. Apprenticeships enable an apprentice to earn while they learn, studying for a national recognised qualification in a subject such as accountancy, customer service or business and administration. Apprentices also prove their competence in ICT, numeracy and literacy.

The expansion of apprenticeships is a key priority for the government with both the Business, Industry and Skills Minister Vince Cable and Prime Minster David Cameron having both voiced their support for apprenticeship schemes. Vince Cable recently clarified the strength of his opinion by saying: “I want to reinforce the message to business and young people that apprenticeships are a first-class way to start a career. That is why my department has pledged to work to create some 75,000 additional adult places.”

David Cameron commented: “Apprenticeships offer a fantastic opportunity for people to gain the skills they need for the jobs of the future, equipping the country for our goal to build long-term sustainable growth.”

Already, 2012 has seen large employees supporting apprenticeships by launching schemes. Network Rail has just launched a recruitment campaign on Facebook to recruit apprentices, particularly to work in electrical engineering. The CIPD has also announced that it plans to introduce a new route into the HR profession for apprentices and in addition will introduce a new apprenticeship qualification in the next two years.

Accounting and finance have been particular growth areas for apprenticeships, with big multi-national organisations such as PWC and Ernst and Young heavily promoting their school leaver programs; offering ACCA qualifications to trainees or allowing them to study for AAT courses. This becomes more important in the light that university applications are down this year by over 5% in England.

Commenting on the statistics, Liz Field, CEO of the Financial Skills Partnership (FSP), said: “Today’s figures show that UK school leavers continue to vie for too few university places and too few jobs. These are highly challenging times for young people.

“Happily, in a changing jobs landscape, there are some alternative opportunities opening up. One of these is the introduction of higher apprenticeships into the financial sector. Increasing numbers of bright and ambitious school leavers with the right attitude and aptitude will now be able to enter the sector as higher apprentices. They will gain high level qualifications while receiving invaluable on-the-job-experience and earning a wage.”

Many school and college leavers are looking for alternatives to university and find that apprenticeships that offer professional qualifications such as the professional CIMA accountancy qualification are ideal. The FSP is supporting apprenticeships by developing Level Four apprenticeships in business and finance. Many more finance and banking organisations are beginning to adopt E&Y’s and PWC’s lead. HSBC and Aviva have also been involved in the development of the level four apprenticeships and are keen to bring in new talent.

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