NEWS... A cut above the rest
The Greater Manchester Apprenticeship Company (GMAC) is celebrating the success of its innovative apprenticeship support portal which has surpassed 6,000 users in just six months.
This is Me, launched in September 2016, is exclusively available to young people studying with GMAC providers across Greater Manchester, providing them with 24-7 support and access to a range of careers resources including help building a CV, video-based mock interviews, tips from employers and a hub of live vacancies in the region.
Former Stockport Academy student Maddie Frazer-Hanley, aged 16, was on a six-week employability programme with training provider The Skills Company when she accessed This is Me to enhance her CV and search for vacancies. She successfully applied for and was accepted onto a Level 2 Hairdressing apprenticeship at That Hair Place in Stockport. Commenting on the experience, Maddie said: “I’ve always wanted to do hairdressing and doing the course with The Skills Company confirmed that this is the career for me. It was an opportunity to see if I liked hairdressing, increase my confidence, make friends, and get used to The Skills Company – which was good as I then got onto an apprenticeship through them. I now go to The Skills Company once a week to do my training and the rest of the week I apply my skills at That Hair Place.”
Jayne Worthington, MD of The Skills Company and GMAC representative, said: “With the combined expertise of the partnership, we have been able to develop a unique tool that can provide the advice and guidance young people considering an
apprenticeship really need. Excitingly, we’re seeing increasing numbers of students across the partnership, like Maddie, moving on to an apprenticeship from further education, and we’re confident this will continue.”
To find out more about the Greater Manchester Apprenticeship Company, contact the project lead Helen Hawxwell (
gmac@apprenticeshipgrowth.co.uk)
MPCT scoops top prize!
The Motivational Preparation College for Training (MPCT) group, which helps young people to build life skills, self-confidence, and physical fitness through an ‘active learning’ approach, scooped the top prize at the Times Education Supplement (TES) Further Education Awards 2017 at the end of February.
Meanwhile, new data from the Department of Education has shown that MPCT’s network of Military Preparation Colleges are stealing a march on other sixth form colleges when it comes to qualifications in employability and preparation for life and work.
In the most recent Quality Achievement Rates released this month, 93.1% of MPCT’s learners gained an Award in Employability Skills (against the national result of 88.8%), and 98% of
learners received a Certificate in Employability (compared to national result of 83.4%). It also shows 82.4% of MPCT learners are prepared for life and work, compared with the national average of 66.4%. The college has also helped 74.6% of its young people to achieve basic skills in Maths and English, a steep rise on the national average of 54.8%.
With 20 Military Preparation Colleges across England and Wales, MPCT has helped over 10,000 young learners since 1999. The free-to- attend colleges, which receive Government funding to operate, place a big focus on preparing young learners for future employment, whether that’s in the Armed Forces or other career paths.
Huw Lewis MBE, Founder and Managing 4
www.education-today.co.uk
Director of MPCT, comments: “The TES FE awards celebrate the people who are committed to making a big contribution to supporting the skill levels of young people, and that’s at the heart of everything we do. We believe that every young person, no matter their background or past obstacles they may have faced, deserves to be given the best possible opportunity to succeed.”
www.mpct.co.uk March 2017
UK education system ‘will not fulfil the needs of the engineering sector by 2025’
Almost two-thirds (63%) of engineers believe that the UK education system will not meet the needs of the engineering sector by the middle of the next decade unless reforms are made, while 13% think it will. According to a new survey of more than 1150 members of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers undertaken in collaboration with the Tata Group, 70% said that ‘understanding of an engineer’s job’, together with ‘the image of engineering’ (68%) were the two biggest barriers to young people choosing an engineering career.
More than 1.8m additional engineers and qualified technicians will be needed by 2025 to meet existing and growing demand for skills across Britain, according to Engineering UK; there is currently a shortfall of at least 20,000 UK-trained engineers every year. The engineering sector as a whole currently accounts for 26% of GDP and more than 5.7m jobs. Dr Colin Brown, Engineering Director, Institution of Mechanical Engineers,
said:
“This report offers some valuable insight from Tata and the Institution’s members on key issues, as seen by engineers, as the UK rolls out its new Industrial Strategy. What is clear is that the UK’s engineering skills shortage is a huge challenge and one that cannot be tackled by engineers and industry alone. We need to entice more young people into engineering by getting parents, teachers, employers and education specialists on board to bring about the culture change necessary. A first step is seeing engineering as a people focused, creative and socially beneficial activity.”
www.imeche.org
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