In the News
This week is National Apprenticeships Week, the annual celebration of what’s unarguably the most recognisable publicly funded training programme going.
The theme this year, same as last year, is ‘Build the Future’ and there are over 1,200 events taking place across the country to mark NAW22, according to the Department for Education.
One of which was hosted by the Association of Apprentices (AoA) on Wednesday afternoon, where the representative body premiered the fantastic Apprentices: Connect, Engage, Inspire film they made with ITN Productions Industry News.
The Mark went along to the event, and we were thoroughly impressed by how the film expertly covered the current apprenticeships landscape. Especially welcome was the section on adult apprenticeships, featuring 41-year-old level 7 MBA apprentice Anita.
You can read our full report from the AoA’s event in this edition.
Events such as Connect, Engage, Inspire and Amazing Apprenticeships’ Time for Change workshop have captured the public’s attention during this critical week. As has the DfE’s announcement of the agencies which will pioneer new flexi-job apprenticeships and a long-awaited plan for prisoner apprenticeships.
But how do we keep up that momentum and keep people talking about brilliant apprenticeships?
Fraser in the Field
For this edition of The Mark, director of Bridgehead Education Fraser Whieldon attended the virtual premiere of the Association of Apprentices’ film 'Apprentices: Connect, Engage, Inspire', produced with ITN Productions Industry News, and the preceding 'Build the Future through community' webinar. Here is our report of the event.
Big day for the apprenticeship sector’s newest representative body
Following a soft launch last year, the association’s chair Sir Peter Estlin welcomed the audience to the “launch of the Association of Apprentices”.
He explained that a founding aspiration for the association was “to see us collectively building a world class apprentice sort of ecosystem made up of several tens of thousands of businesses employing apprentices”.
This would be built on the training providers and awarding bodies nationwide, “but arguably most importantly of all, hundreds of thousands of apprentices.
“The association is very much here and founded to support apprentices support them on their journey, in reaching their achievements, but also in continuing to build their careers.”
There are now 60,000 apprentices in the AoA community, with over 1,000 actively using their AoA Connect social media and AoA Learn personal development platforms, Sir Peter said.
The AoA has also just appointed its first chief executive Emily Austin.
‘More needs to be done’ to improve apprenticeship opportunities for disadvantaged people
Non-executive director Jessica Oghenegweke, a former member of the Social Mobility Commission, told the event research had shown apprenticeships are “one of the most effective tools of boosting social mobility amongst employees from less advantaged backgrounds”.
The Commission had also found women from a disadvantaged background can earn 16 per cent more for completing an apprenticeship, compared to 10 per cent to women of the same age from more affluent backgrounds.
However, Jessica cited recent data which showed “minorities and the socially disadvantaged are missing out on some apprenticeship opportunities.
“For example, only 13 per cent of degree level apprenticeships, the fastest growing and most expensive apprenticeship option, are currently going to disadvantaged apprentices.
“More needs to be done to address these barriers and open up opportunities in social mobility cold spots to ensure that people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are able to secure apprenticeship placements.”
This was what she said was “so special,” even “magical” about the AoA, as “cold spots don’t exist with an organisation” and there is no bias based on location.
The AoA would fit in where apprentices “experience a lack of support and professional networks and understanding where to go for help”.
Apprentices need support, regardless of the challenges
Also speaking at the webinar was Kathryn Marshall, apprenticeship senior manager at AoA partner employer Lloyds Banking Group.
The bank is celebrating ten years of delivering apprenticeship programmes and will also welcome its 10,000th apprentice this year, Kathryn said.
“We really see the benefits of apprenticeships across our organisation and really focus on delivering a high-quality experience, and purposefully talk about that overall experience.
“So apprenticeships are so much more than delivering skills, knowledge and behaviours that are outlined in the standard. It's what the apprentices go on to achieve, and the different perspectives that they can bring, which really builds on their confidence to challenge, to question, their curiosity to learn and to develop.”
Lloyds got involved with the AoA, Kathryn explained, because “the pandemic has taught us that importance of focusing on the whole experience and the support needed to ensure that regardless of the challenges that are thrown at us, the support is available to get through.”
An ambition of the bank for the AoA was to build a community “who can support and learn from each other, to provide additional learning, to continually build that love of learning”.
But what about the film?
It’s difficult not to be impressed by Apprentices: Connect, Engage, Inspire. An expertly-produced film with a narrative weaving through the different areas of our apprenticeship system.
Various employers – from Openreach to Great Ormond Street Hospital – were featured, as were their learners. The Chartered Institute of Management also had a slot explaining the importance of management training.
You can watch the film using this link and the webinar with this link. You can also catch up on our live tweets of the whole event here.
Opinion
After a week where apprenticeships were firmly in the spotlight, Amazing Apprenticeships director Anna Morrison CBE writes about how we can keep the nation’s focus and drive engagement.
National Apprenticeship Week is the moment in the education sector calendar when the entire apprenticeship community unites to celebrate everything that is brilliant about apprenticeships. 2022 marked the fifteenth year of this annual celebration - it promised to be bigger and better than ever, and it certainly didn’t disappoint.
The positive buzz around apprenticeships has never been greater. Amazing Apprenticeships has seen record levels of engagement from schools and colleges, parents and carers, employers and the media, all keen to explore apprenticeships in more detail and to build their knowledge and understanding.
The week has also provided an important platform to discuss and showcase how apprenticeships can be used to support our most disadvantaged individuals, and to engage employers in a much deeper level of conversation around social mobility, diversity and inclusion. Our Time for Change workshop kicked off the week with more than 500 high profile employers seeking to learn from Coca-Cola, Astra Zeneca, the University of Oxford and the Social Mobility Commission about how they have been working with Amazing Apprenticeships to address diversity in their workforce.
The positive buzz around apprenticeships has never been greater
So, how can we take this momentum forward for the rest of the year?
Collaboration is key. The benefit of the combined efforts of organisations and individuals across the country means that we achieve a huge groundswell of support and activity. The unifying effect encourages us to we work together to amplify and celebrate each other. As a sector we are fantastic at collaborating – NAW2022 sets us up nicely to do even more.
Real stories from local role models. Hearing real stories from apprentices and businesses is the lightbulb moment for many. During the week we hear from apprentices about the life-changing difference their apprenticeship has made and from businesses about the tangible benefits that apprenticeships have brought to their workforce. Regularly sharing local stories is a fantastic way to continue the drumbeat around apprenticeships and ensure that we’re finding new ways to reach different audiences with these positive and inspirational messages.
Sharing what works. One of the reasons I love National Apprenticeship Week is because the entire apprenticeship community opens its doors and tells as many people as possible about what works. Whether it’s helping to get employers started with taking on their first apprentice, or explaining to a job-seeker how to navigate the apprenticeship recruitment process – we share our combined knowledge, best practice and help each other. As we settle into our post-pandemic and post-Brexit world, I have a feeling that working together in this way will be needed more than ever.
At Amazing Apprenticeships we’re building on this year’s success, already working with employers, schools and training providers to do even more in the 12 months before NAW2023. We’d love to hear from you!