Government support for apprenticeships

Offering apprenticeships is one way that businesses can go about training new employees in practical skills. However they are also often criticised as simply a cheap way of hiring labour for a couple of years, with no guarantee of employment for the apprentice at the end of the training period. The government is trying to increase the number of apprenticeships on offer as one way of tackling youth unemployment and the skills gap that we have in the UK economy, by offering grants to small businesses who take on an apprentice. This video report looks at the history of apprenticeships, with some lovely footage from the sixties, and the benefits that the scheme could bring, along with the fact that there is still no guarantee of a full-time job at the end of it, and so could be useful for students of both unit 2, looking at recruitment and training, and unit 4 looking at the relationship between business and government.

When the BBC Breakfast programme carried the report on Thursday morning they also featured an interview with a couple of engineering apprentices at the Mini factory in Cowley, who were both very enthusiastic about the training they were receiving. The company’s website says that “Plant Oxford is home to one of the region’s largest apprenticeship schemes employing and training around 30 apprentices per annum on a four-year course, which for some will culminate with an honours degree gained at a local university.” It is also, incidentally, a brilliant place to take students on a plant tour - details here.