Apprenticeships work for employers and apprentices

It is GCSE results week and another year of increased pass rates at higher grades is expected, but when students review their options many are predicted to decide that the tradition next steps of A levels followed by university may not be the best way to start a career.

As this year’s A Level students have found even getting the best grades does not guarantee a place at university and those with average or below average grades are no better off than someone with GCSE passes.

 

An increasing number of school leavers are investigating the earning and learning potential of an apprenticeship as the best way to enter the world of work.

It is a trend that employers need to tap into as it also offers them the potential to mould their own workforce and make a real difference to their bottom line. 

 

Recent research has shown that if every employer hired one apprentice the investment in training would add £1.2 billion to the economy within six years.

 

Marks and Spencer is just one employer to have benefited from taking on apprentices.  The retailer provided Uzma Zahid (17) with a 50-day Apprenticeship placement so that she could gain a detailed understanding of all aspects of a retail business.  Once the fifty days were completed Uzma was offered employment by Marks and Spencer and was successful in becoming the regional ‘Young Apprentice of the Year' at the Yorkshire and Humber Apprenticeship awards 2010.

 

Angus Rumgay decided at age 15 that taking A-levels was right for him, but he was very interested in mechanical engineering and has become an apprentice at Sulzer one of the world’s leading industrial pump manufacturers. He has excelled at his apprenticeship and is now working full time for the company in Port Harcourt Nigeria

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