HRreview is this week taking an in-depth look at apprenticeships. With the cost of university increasing dramatically, potential students are considering other options before committing to the cost of a university education. Apprenticeships are high on the agenda of both the government and private business, with the Prime Minister, David Cameron, pledging that the country will have three million new apprenticeships by 2020.
The number of apprenticeships, and the number of private companies offering them, is rising significantly, with employers recognising the opportunity to bring young talent with huge potential into their business and provide training and development opportunities that engage and upskill them. At the same time British business increases its productivity the more apprenticeships there are, and in return, apprentices receive weighty working experience before they are even out of their teens.
Here on the HRreview website over the coming week and in the Apprenticeship Special Edition, in partnership with Milkround, BPP Professional Apprenticeships and Symposium, we will be posting some of the best analysis and insight into the impact apprenticeship schemes are having in the UK.
Over the next week we will be hearing from Sue Husband, director of the Apprenticeships and Delivery Service for the Skills Funding Agency who will make plain the reasons to hire an apprentice. Elizabeth Hunt, Client Marketing Executive for youth recruitment job boards Milkround and Milkround School Leavers will consider the benefits of apprenticeships and how their virtues can be better communicated, while Aisleen Pugh, Associate in the Employment Team of Bircham Dyson Bell will investigate the true cost of apprenticeships.
The week will also see representatives from BBP discussing their innovative degree apprenticeships, while Mike Thompson from Barclays will highlight the firm’s apprenticeship scheme, which has been developed with an older generation in mind.
Robert joined the HRreview editorial team in October 2015. After graduating from the University of Salford in 2009 with a BA in Politics, Robert has spent several years working in print and online journalism in Manchester and London. In the past he has been part of editorial teams at Flux Magazine, Mondo*Arc Magazine and The Marine Professional.