What is National Apprenticeship Week 2022?
Each year, the Education and Skills Funding Agency celebrates the exceptional work done by employers and apprentices across the country. This is namely called, apprenticeship week. This year, in 2022, apprenticeship week is taking place between 7th and 13th February.
Many independent training providers and public colleges amplify this message to create more awareness of apprenticeships and the value that they add to the economy. This becomes a great opportunity to shine a light on how apprenticeships create a positive effect on all businesses, large and small, and also individuals life’s and careers. You may find many independent training providers and public colleges ramping up their online presence during this period as they post individual stories, virtual open evenings and many other methods of marketing.
Apprenticeships Helping Economic Growth
Apprenticeships have played a huge part in the economic bounce back from the Covid-19 pandemic that crippled the labour market in England during 2020. During this period, the government introduced an apprenticeship incentive stimulus, with a view to getting more individuals into work and education that may have been adversely affected. This proved very popular and ultimately, successful. Proof of this was published by the Department of Education. Provisional figures published shows that there were 130,200 new apprenticeship starts from August to October in 2021. When comparing this to the same period in 2020 (91,100 starts) this showed a 43% increase.
Out of the 130,200 apprenticeship starts within the first quarter of 21/22 academic year, independent training providers (like Velocity Academy) were responsible for 57% of those. This amounted to 74,300 apprenticeship starts. Whereas, public colleges only accounted for 26% which amounted to 33,700.
Modern Apprenticeships in 2022
Apprenticeships in England, not too long ago, were reformed with a view to making them employer led to suit the industry the apprentice is working in. Previously, prior to apprenticeship standards being 100% phased in in 2020, past apprenticeship programmes were very assessment focused and not academically focused on increasing skills and knowledge. The emphasis has now flipped, and apprenticeships are very much an on-par alternative to university education. An example of this is if you would like to become an data analyst or digital marketer, you can now complete an apprenticeship standard in these vocations and gain all of the required skills, knowledge and certifications required.
Apprenticeship standards mandate 20% off-the-job training. This dictates that 20% of the apprentices contracted working hours should be dedicated to gaining new skills and knowledge. This could be through attending classes from their training provider, online learning courses, work shadowing or completing assignment work.
Towards the end of the apprenticeship programme, the apprentice will then complete their End-Point Assessments. These are final exams that a 3rd party invigilator will conduct with them (not the training provider). This process can be very much likened to a practical driving assessment. Where your driving instructor, in this case your training provider, will teach you and give you the practical skills and knowledge. Then you would complete your final assessments with an independent examiner to award you your final grade.
Velocity Academy with Apprenticeship Week 2022
At Velocity Academy we are also looking to showcase our amazing apprentices and employers that we work with. We are showcasing our outstanding delivery of apprenticeships by hosting webinars and open events online. We also are going to be very active on our social platforms too, highlighting our inclusive employers and successful apprentices. So be sure to follow Velocity Academy on Linkedin and other platforms to keep in touch.
For more information on our apprenticeship programmes that we deliver, you can find more information here
If you would like to talk to one of our apprenticeship advisers, feel free to complete the form below: