‘Apprenticeships success story should be celebrated’, says AELP

Association of Employment and Learning Providers  

Press release – 31 January 2012 - Aidan Relf Communications Consultant AELP

‘Apprenticeships success story should be celebrated’, says AELP

Independent training providers have welcomed today’s record apprenticeship success rates as a clear indicator that the apprenticeship programme is in rude health despite recent adverse publicity.

Last year’s completion rate put the UK among the best in Europe and the confirmed overall rate for 2010-11 of 76.4% has cemented that position still further. In the Data Service’s own words, success rates ‘have risen dramatically since 2006-07, increasing by 17.4%’.

Training providers, who deliver in excess of 70% of apprenticeships in England, have been in the vanguard of a major drive over recent years to improve the quality of learning for apprentices and the level of service for employer customers. Recently published official employer and learner satisfaction data showed that the providers’ significant investment in improving quality is paying off.

Apprenticeships - Building a Brand

Stewart Segal ~ Apprenticeships - Building a Brand

The national and sector press continue to run stories criticising the Apprenticeship programme. The Guardian ran an article on Friday 9th December which repeats the theme presented by several other journalists. It is a rather simplistic view of Apprenticeships that suggest that long Apprenticeships are good and short Apprenticeships are bad, Apprenticeships for people over the age of 25 are bad, Apprenticeships in engineering and manufacturing are always higher quality than in the service sector and that Apprenticeships in large companies should not be supported. This view of the sector masks a complex market in which the credibility of Apprenticeships depends on many different factors.

It is not true that delivering Apprenticeships to people who are already in work and who might be over 25 reduces the number of Apprenticeships delivered those who most need it, which is young people starting in their first jobs. There is no shortage of support for these young people and the funding is not substitution. In fact many companies only take on young people if they get support for training for some of their more experienced staff. Stopping training for older people will not help our young people get the opportunities they need.

Reaction: Chancellor's Autumn Statement 2011

Stewart Segal ~ Non-executive Director of HIT Training gives his reaction to the Chancellor's Autumn Statement 2011.

The Chancellor delivered an Autumn Statement that contained some tough messages today. Growth in the economy has slowed, borrowing has not reduced as much as the Government had hoped and there will be more job losses in the public sector. This follows the bad news on unemployment last week. However there were some measures that should help business, particularly smaller businesses. We know that the hospitality sector has a lot of small businesses and much of the growth on the economy will come from small and medium sized businesses.  

WORLDSKILLS PROVES A MASSIVE HIT

WorldSkills London 2011, the largest ever international skills Competition and careers event took place during early October at the Excel exhibition and conference centre.


1,000 young competitors from 51 nations were competing to be the best of the best in 45 different skill area’s which featured Cooking, Confectioner Pastry and Restaurant Service . The event lasted four days with team GB winning 13 medals in total, five of them were gold with Ben Murphy winning gold in the Cooking event.


More than 200,000 people from the UK visited and were inspired by the dedication of the teams taking part in the Competition.


Visitors were able to Have a Go at hundreds of new skills, meet top employers and get specialist careers advice to help make that important next step.

Reaction: Youth Unemployment Reaches 1 Million

Stewart Segal ~ Non-executive Director of HIT Training gives his reaction to this weeks news of unemployment figures among the young. 


This week the level of unemployment amongst young people aged up to 24 reached over 1 million. 
Although this was predicted by all of the newspapers it did not make the news any easier to accept. It is clear that as companies try and keep their costs down they are reluctant to take on young people who need training and support in the early stages of their careers. 


This makes Apprenticeships as a route into work even more important for young people and provides companies the opportunity to maintain their recruitment of young people. 

SWISSOTEL WIN HIT TROPHY AT HACCC 2011

A record 48 football teams made up of employees from the UK’s top hotels and restaurants, competed in a charity football tournament in September to help raise funds for Springboard.


The Hotel and Catering Challenge Cup (HACCC) saw 48 top London hotels and restaurants accompanied by nearly 2000 supporters participate in a charity football tournament on Sunday 18 September 2011.  HIT were in attendance acting as stewards and also offering information on training and apprenticeships available to industry staff, whilst showing of one of their new MINI Countryman’s


The event raised £15,000 for Springboard, which helps young adults and disadvantaged teenagers gain experience in the hospitality and catering sector.

A day in the life of a Trainer Assessor.

Hayley Wedgwood Trainer Assessor for Cambridgeshire takes time out of her busy schedule to give us a quick glimpse of daily life as an assessor.

It’s a Tuesday and I am off to one of my favourite sites to see one of my learners, Diane. The site is about 1 hour away from where I live and is located in a lovely little village in the middle of nowhere. The pub itself is very unique in that it is bright blue and can been seen from miles away.

When I arrive at the pub it is always a fantastic warm welcome with a lovely Latte waiting on the bar for me (talk about Customer Service) I check that it is still ok for me to see Diane and that work set on my previous visit is still convenient.

We start by sitting and catching up on how things have been since I last visited. I also check if Diane is happy in her work and has no issues or concerns as well as seeing if she has had any time off from work. Being responsible for Diane’s welfare means I have to check that she is happy.

So after a little chat and being filled in on local things (mainly gossip) which I love, we get to work and Diane and I have a professional discussion on how she follows the rules in her workplace and how this impacts on customer service delivery. Diane has prepared an excellent prompt sheet to help guide the discussion and give it a structured flow, it also means Diane is prepared and there are no surprises!