What are apprenticeships all about?

Apprenticeships are a way of training young people in the skills of tomorrow. They offer young people a way to get into the workplace and learn valuable skills; and they offer you the chance to get the people with the right skills to help keep your company successful.

If there are skills shortages in your line of work, apprenticeships could be the answer for you. You'll be able to attract highly motivated new recruits to your industry and a local training provider will supplement their practical experience with up-to-date training in the skills your business needs.

Who can be an apprentice?
Any young person aged between 16 and 24 is eligible to enrol on an apprenticeship. You can arrange for existing staff to go on apprenticeships or recruit new trainees especially. The Learning and Skills Council is currently working on plans to make apprenticeships available to adults and more details will be released soon.

What kind of apprenticeships are available?
There are over 160 different types of apprenticeship in all occupations. Examples of construction occupations you can train for via an apprenticeship are: scaffolder, plasterer, roof slater and tiler, stonemason, bricklayer, wall and floor tiler, site carpenter, surveying assistant, site technical assistant, town planning support technician. For a full list, visit the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) website.

For building services, there are many apprenticeships in plumbing, electrotechnical, heating and ventilating and air conditioning and refrigeration. Visit www.summitskills.org.uk for more information.

Some young people want to get straight into the workplace and learn the skills they need to do a good job. They'd rather get straight into work rather than stay on at school or college to study A-levels or other classroom-based qualifications.

On the job learning vs classroom learning
Learning on the job is a highly effective way of getting the most up-to-date skills and knowledge. Many young people respond better to a practical environment rather than a traditional classroom, and the learning experience is all the more vivid. And right from the start they'll be learning how to apply their skills and knowledge in your business, rather than learning general skills beforehand and having to learn how the business operates afterwards.

And apprenticeships are more popular than ever. Right now, over 200,000 young people are on apprenticeship training schemes. Since 1994, over one million young people have been through an apprenticeship programme.