With the government investing £1.5bn in apprenticeship schemes this financial year, and new apprenticeships increasing by 14 % over the last year, there is a greater focus on on-the-job training than there has been for years. But is the UK’s strategy ambitious enough?
A clear majority of the 343 respondents to last week’s poll thought that, despite increased spending on apprenticeship schemes and a rise in the number of places available, the government is still not doing enough to promote apprenticeships or to make it easy for companies to take on apprentices, with almost 65 per cent choosing this option.The next largest group, 30 per cent, thought that while things were moving in the right direction with apprenticeships available at the larger engineering firms, more work was needed to ensure that smaller companies further down the supply chain could also offer schemes. Just 5 per cent thought that the current situation was satisfactory, with opportunities opening up across the engineering landscape.
Do you agree with these opinions? Do you have experience of the current apprenticeship situation, as an employer, apprentice or education provider? What practical steps could open up more apprenticeships, and do you think that current apprenticeships are teaching the skills that are needed?
For a big industrial nation like the UK, the low number of apprenticeships is a joke.
I can only compare it with Germany, but youngsters serving appenticeships in Germany end up highly qualified and with highly sought-after qualifications. Nearly all school leavers (if not continuing in higher education) start apprenticeships. Here in the UK, people sometimes think that a quick six week course gets them a qualification. Think again.
a 100% subsidy for the taking on of apprentices would be more appropriate in the current economic climate.
We presently have an apprentice, first time at our Company, however I am not sure that the skill set standard he demonstrates is of the right quality. At the workplace we can only go so far, he attends College one day a week but this seems only to cover required documentation completion? I don’t even think he has been trained to sharpen a drill bit! and this from the ‘apprentice of the year’ I am quite saddened by this as I myself was an apprentice (RAF) and built all required projects to +/- 5thou I doubt many could work to +/-5mm these days.
Again, from a German perspective, apprenticeships are covering every craft imagineable including (yes) hairdressing and (yes) banking. 1.5 million apprentices a year. The vast majority is taken on by small and medium sized businesses. There seem to be a social obligation to train up young people to a good level. The whole scheme originates from the old guilts in the middle ages. The ultimate for an apprentice is to become a master of his/her trade and then be able to start her/his own business. So, it is not only focussed on engineering but covers just about everything. The youth in this country should be offered a similar chance. Starting off into an apprenticeship should be a natural step for every youngster in the UK. Only then the skill level will improve across the board and engineering will see a leap ahead.
Apprentices are often a challenge to fully skilled guys and the fact they don’t know anything at the start of their ‘training’ is part of the challenge. Most youths are not great at the beginning of their time but by the second and third year, they start to “get it”