The Apprentice Finder - Profile

I've been a member of the FSB for about 18 months. I joined for a couple of reasons, namely the free banking and the networking opportunities.

To be frank I've found the networking side to be very poor in West Yorkshire where I'm based. Given the number of members, the turnout for the events is shockingly poor.

I have received some good advice and guidance from the FSB employees locally in terms of getting the most out of the membership and will probably continue when it comes to renewing later this year.

The telling stat for me is the 47% of graduates in non-graduate roles. It's not currently being highlighted enough yet (probably because the government don't want too many turning their backs on university just yet).

When I tell parents this, they suddenly become more interested in what I've got to say because they all know somebody who went to university who's now in a role they could have got straight from school.

Steve, I understand the cynicism, however it's not currently apprenticeships that's really keeping those figures down. There's something else (cue next detailed response) and that is a piece of legislation that came into being last September called Raising of Participation Age or RPA for short.

This means that anyone who has their 17th birthday in this academic year must now either go back to school, go to FE college, get an apprenticeship or get a traineeship. It's done wonders for the NEETS figures, however there is a bigger scandal brewing which won't manifest itself until the summer/autumn of 2016 (bear with me, this takes a bit of explaining).

The majority of schools now tell their pupils that they must remain in school for an extra year rather than give them their true options (as required by statute) because it means more funding for them.

In 2015 the RPA rises again to 18. If the current trend continues, there's a real crunch point going to hit. The reason for this is because of how the apprenticeship funding changes when someone gets to 19. Basically, anyone who is over 19 when starting an apprenticeship only attracts 50% funding to the training provider which means the provider then asks for a fee to help cover their costs. The knock on effect of this means that many employers will specifically request to employ someone under 19 as an apprentice rather than over 19.

So, the scandal that will hit in a couple of year's time is that a much larger number of people will leave school after their 18th birthday. If they then want an apprenticeship, they've got until their 19th birthday to find one or find their chances of getting one severely diminishing.

It's a problem I've already highlighted to my MP, but I think it largely fell on deaf ears. Of course there are several things the government could do to avert this, however as it won't happen until after the next election, my belief that they won't do anything and allow it to happen as the headline NEET figures will be much lower as a result.

Sorry for the long-windedness, just thought you might be interested in what's going on out there ;-)

Apprenticeships are most definitely on the rise at present. When you look at the current statistics, it's clear to see why...

Before I go onto some of the stats, it's probably best for me to start with what an apprenticeship actually is these days. Whilst it's true that apprenticeships were once associated solely with manual or vocational roles, that's no longer the case as you can now enter many professions through apprenticeship routes. Examples of this include the legal profession, accountancy, financial services and teaching.

Currently 47% of graduates are in non-graduate job roles.

27% of those who have done an apprenticeship earn more than graduates.

78% of apprentices go on to study at higher education level during their professional career, proving that apprenticeships needn't be a barrier to becoming highly qualified.

40% of graduates take more than 6 months on graduating to find a job (that's any job, not necessarily one they're qualified in).

The stats above mean that more and more A level students look to apprenticeships as their next step after school. I'm currently helping several find a suitable role for them in the West Yorkshire area, so if you want a high calibre school leaver in your business, come and have a chat ;-)

So, why would you as an employer take an apprentice on? Well, they're certainly cosrt effective. My recruitment service doesn't cost you anything as the employer because the training provider pays me.

If the apprentice is under 19, the training is fully funded. So that doesn't cost anything either. If you haven't employed an apprentice in the last 12 months and employ under 1000 people (that'll be most of you) you qualify for a grant of £1500 per apprentice (maximum of 10) which is paid after the apprentice has completed 13 weeks on programme.

It's not always plain sailing, this blog entry explains a more frustrating (and thankfully rare) side http://theapprenticefinder.wordpress.com/2014/04/03/no-names-no-pack-drill/.

Steve Richardson, you can have a Web Designer apprentice. How many would you like? I'm happy to help you recruit and source training.

If anybody would like to know more about apprenticeships, please feel free to contact me. My details are on my website which is www.theapprenticefinder.com.

I'll also try to answer any general questions here as well :-D

Thank you Steve,

My query wasn't meant as a criticism, I hadn't read the T & Cs (I bet I'm not alone there)...

Thanks for the prompt response!

As above really, how long does it take?

I entered details yesterday, but when I search under my keywords, I'm not appearing.

Why is this?