Learning Works www.unionlearn.org.uk/southwest » News from unionlearn with the South West TUC Spring 2011
In this issue »
10 years of union-led learning in Cornwall p.2 »
There's learning up t'mill p. 7 »
Continuing Professional Development p. 4 »
Apprentices are the new gold standard The March budget contained good news on apprenticeships. Susie Weldon finds out why they are “a first-class way to start a career” Apprenticeships received a big boost from the Chancellor George Osborne in his March budget when he announced an extra £180 million in funding to improve the skills of the UK workforce. And unions and employers in the South West are already leading the way in making apprenticeships work. Salisbury-based specialist bakery Nicholas and Harris is one employer which is embracing apprenticeships with enthusiasm. The firm is taking part in the Food Manufacture apprenticeship scheme and has managed to include structured ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) support to train its staff many of whom are Eastern European – in the kind of technical baking language they need. Apprenticeships are a structured way of gaining specific skills while learning on the job. They lead to nationally, recognised qualifications and are increasingly seen as the gold standard for work-based training. They are designed by the Sector Skills Councils to ensure they are relevant to their industry sector. There is a huge variety available, involving careers as diverse as agriculture, horticulture and animal care to retail and commercial enterprise or from business, administration and law to leisure, travel and tourism.
Specialist South West bakers Nicholas and Harris have been championing the use of apprentices
The GMB union is very keen to encourage more employers to sign up to apprenticeships, says Lynn Ferguson of the GMB’s southern region. She advises any union learning reps interested in finding out more to start by downloading unionlearn’s “excellent apprenticeship toolkit”, available from its website. “It has all you need to know on how to negotiate on apprenticeships,” she says. “It’s absolutely invaluable.”
Lucy Buxton, training manager for Nicholas and Harris, describes apprenticeships as “a win-win” for company and employees alike.
The government is urging more employers to get involved in apprenticeships with Business Secretary Vince Cable calling them “a firstclass way to start a career”. At the moment only one in 10 UK businesses currently do so, compared to one in four in Austria, Germany and Switzerland.
And GMB project worker Joanne Lucyszyn says the staff really value being able to improve their skills.
The March budget held out the prospect of up to 50,000 additional apprenticeships created nationwide. Of these around
“Apprenticeships are a structured way of gaining specific skills while learning on the job. They lead to nationally, recognised qualifications and are increasingly seen as the gold standard for work-based training” 10,000 would be advanced level and higher apprenticeship places focused on small and medium-sized firms. The new funding, which includes an extra 80,000 work placements for young people, is in addition to the government’s previously announced £1.4 billion apprenticeships programme.