As National Apprenticeship Week begins, Teesside business organisations have been talking about the work they are constantly doing to help thousands of apprentices reach their full potential.
National Apprenticeship Week runs until February 12, with the theme ‘skills for life’ and is designed to raise the profile and celebrate the success of the apprenticeship community.
More than 2,000 Professional Apprentices are currently enrolled on programmes at Teesside University, and over 200 employers are collaborating with the University to support their workforce development needs and secure the talent pipelines of the future.
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During National Apprenticeship Week, Teesside University’s National Horizons Centre is hosting the Advanced Therapies Apprenticeship Community Northern Roadshow on 7 February.
In addition, the University will be launching its Apprenticeship Employer Forum, a new initiative aimed at employers which will enable them to inform and shape the professional apprenticeship offer.
Teesside University’s Director of Apprenticeships, Jo Burgess said: "These are incredibly exciting times. Our Apprenticeship offer has been expanding, focussing on placing the needs of apprentices and employers at the heart of its development.
"I am delighted that we’ll be launching our new strategy during National Apprenticeship Week – a time when the spotlight is firmly on apprenticeships and the positive impact they make. It sets out a commitment to be recognised as a flagship apprenticeship provider, delivering clear career progression options and supporting organisations and businesses to maximise the use of the apprenticeship levy, a critical lever for building capacity in key high-level skills priority areas and levelling-up.
The Student Loans Company is recruiting for 12 new apprentices in Darlington.
Applications for the Student Finance Officer Apprenticeships opened today and successful candidates will join the organisation’s Operations team in July.
The 18-month programme is being run in conjunction with Darlington College and apprentices will work towards apprenticeship certificates in L3 Business Administrator and L2 Customer Relation Practitioner.
Jackie Currie, Interim Executive Director of Operations at SLC said: “It’s fantastic that we are able to launch our latest apprentice search during National Apprenticeship Week and I’m looking forward to welcoming a new cohort of apprentices to the Operations Team this summer. It’s an opportunity for people in the North East to get great experience with a large public sector organisation and achieve a recognised qualification at the same time."
SLC is committed to creating career opportunities through its Emerging Talent programme and currently has 68 apprentices working across all areas of the business including in its Operations, People and IT teams. Many former apprentices have also continued to progress their careers with SLC after leaving the programme.
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is leading calls to introduce the £3,000 apprenticeship incentive for under-25s and small businesses.
This comes as figures from the Department for Education (DfE) show the significant impact of the Government’s increased apprenticeship incentive during the pandemic.
The boost, from £2,000 for young apprentices and £1,500 for older apprentices, to £3,000 for all age groups, led to a 21% surge in apprenticeship starts during the Covid-19 crisis.
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But with the reduction back to £1,000 for under 19s and care leavers only, apprenticeship starts plummeting by 12%.
FSB Policy Chair Tina McKenzie said: “Empowering small employers to attract and retain top talent is a crucial step towards unlocking the full potential of small businesses, leading to improved productivity and sustainable growth.
“Apprenticeships offer a fantastic opportunity to empower young people, but success is contingent on the right support."
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