SECTOR FOCUS: SKILLS
The truth about apprenticeships
N
ational Apprenticeship Week took place during March, and the Chamber hosted a special event to coincide with this. The event was ‘National Apprenticeship Week: Demystifying
Apprenticeships’, and businesses were invited along for a seminar to inform them about the benefits that apprenticeships can bring to their business, give them information regarding the upcoming Apprenticeship Reforms, and also dispel the common misconceptions about accessing apprenticeships. This event – and others which were part of ‘National Apprenticeship
Week’ - will leave no-one in any doubt about how important apprenticeships are to the skills agenda, according to David Tomalin, the Chamber’s Skills Hub manager. He said that prime minister David Cameron had talked about how
important apprenticeships are to the economy in his very first speech after his General Election victory last May, and promised three million of them by 2020. Another element of the
government’s commitment is the apprenticeship levy, which will be introduced from April 2017 and will apply to large businesses with a pay roll in excess of £3 million. They will have to set aside 0.5 per cent of their annual wage bill it to fund the levy. The government says the levy will raise £3bn by 2019-20, and will
‘One of the key roles of the Institute for Apprenticeships will be to oversee quality’
encourage employers to directly invest in the skills development of their staff. The government will also create an online portal known as the Digital
Apprenticeship Service, which all organisations will have access to. David Tomalin (pictured) said: “Employers can use the portal to ‘shop’ for
apprenticeships, find accredited training providers and pay for training with their digital vouchers. Anything that can help to remove the barriers to accessing apprenticeships and give employers choice is to be welcomed. “Central to achieving this aim of more and better apprenticeships are
employers. They’ve been tasked with defining them: setting out in specialised groups exactly what businesses want an apprentice to be able to do by the end of their training.” When the levy is introduced, the government will establish an Institute
for Apprenticeships, where employers or groups can submit apprenticeship standards and assessment plans.
One of the key roles of the Institute for Apprenticeships will be to
oversee quality, and apprenticeships will need to last a minimum of 12 months and involve at least 20 per cent off-the-job training. In the meantime, further education colleges are moving to deliver additional higher level apprenticeships and are keen to ensure that they are well positioned to deliver pathways for employers and students alike. Universities are also keen to embrace apprenticeship delivery at higher level, and are positioning their offerings to support employers and students. David added: “We are seeing the emergence of National Colleges to
support skills possibilities in areas such as nuclear, advanced manufacturing, digital skills, wind energy, creative and cultural and high speed rail. “With all of this activity, many businesses feel that communicating with
schools is a key priority, enabling careers of the future to be evangelised and children enthused and driven to jobs that will be available to them in the future. “I realise that many businesses are keen to demonstrate that they could
be a fantastic careers choice for young people, but they also need to realise that education will not create young people that are skills ready and that some investment in terms of training, time and support will be required to develop the workforce that they require in the future.”
Eggstravagant display at Big Bang Fair
It wasn’t Willie Wonka’s – but a ‘chocolate factory’ was on display at the Big Bang Fair, held at the NEC to coincide with National Apprenticeship Week. The chocolate egg sculpture was
created by a talented team at Cadbury World – and proved something of an inspiration to youngsters seeking an apprenticeship, or employment, at the Bournville-based chocolate maker. Standing at an impressive three
foot tall and weighing almost 60kg, the show-stopping chocolate creation was on display as part of
Mondelēz International’s podium with the Food and Drink Federation’s (FDF) ‘Taste Success’ stand. It was themed ‘inside the factory gates’ and featured a 3D production line made entirely from chocolate, as well as an outer shell decorated with cocoa pods and bronze lustre to reflect the day to day engineering behind the making
48 CHAMBERLINK APRIL 2016 Chocolatiers Donna Oluban (left) and Dawn Jenks
of chocolate. Created using the equivalent of 1,333 bars of chocolate and incorporating both Cadbury Dairy Milk and Cadbury white chocolate, the striking
creation took on-site chocolatiers two days to make. Diane Mitchell, marketing manager at Cadbury World, said: “The egg was designed to
showcase the exciting range of careers available within the food and drink industry, in a way that captured the imagination of young people. We were thrilled to return to the Big Bang Fair to help promote career opportunities within science and engineering.” Members of the Cadbury World
education team were at the fair showcasing a range of engaging educational talks to support the national curriculum. The largest celebration of
science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) for young people in the UK, the Big Bang Fair featured an award-winning combination of theatre shows, interactive workshops and exhibits, as well careers information from STEM professionals. Attracting 70,000 people, its aim was to show young people (primarily aged 7-19) the exciting and rewarding opportunities which are out there for them.
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