SkillsApprenticeship
More Apprentices as week proves a Increasing numbers of people will be given an opportunity to earn while they learn, after more than 20,000 new Apprenticeships were pledged by employers as part of the recent National Apprenticeship Week.
Nationally, Lloyds Banking Group committed to hiring 5,000 apprentices, Greene King and Whitbread pledged 2,000 a piece and EE, Mitchells & Butlers and Starbucks each announced 1,000 vacancies. Announcements were been made by hundreds of businesses around the country, not just corporates but many smaller companies with Hertfordshire businesses among those supporting the initiative. Indeed; 47% of the employers creating new Apprenticeships are small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). National Apprenticeship Week also saw a boost to the new Traineeships, which give young people the work preparation training, English, maths and work experience they need to get an Apprenticeship or other job. The announcements about the success of National Apprenticeship Week followed new research revealing that nearly half (44%) of employers intend to take on one or more apprentice in the next five years. And research from the Association of Accounting Technicians revealed that apprentices delivered £1.8bn of net economic benefits to UK organisations in the last year.
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The Week also saw the Prime Minister announce the Government’s commitment to creating two million Apprenticeships over the lifetime of the current Parliament. David Cameron also announced the next round of Trailblazer employers; 29 new groups of employers who will lead the transformation of Apprenticeships. The new Trailblazers, spanning sectors from accountancy to aviation, nursing to retail, include small businesses and sector specialists as well as some big names such as Tata Steel, John Lewis, British Airways and BMW. Other announcements during the Week included the launch of new Higher, degree level, Apprenticeships in Space Engineering and Nursing. And to help bring more SME employers on board, further support has been announced including a new online mentoring service, Apprenticemakers. Meanwhile, the AvLive feed of vacancies which training providers and partners can use to promote Apprenticeship vacancies has been upgraded following a successful six-month testing period.
“The Government is putting an end to the damaging divide between vocational and academic learning. We are committing the biggest ever investment in Apprenticeships and are on track to create two million Apprenticeships over the course of this Parliament.”