Acacia Training talk Apprenticeships

17 April 2018

Sara Cain, Marketing Communications Manager from Acacia Training and Development Ltd, writes about apprenticeships for the workforce, rather than school leavers.

Through working with Apprenticeship funding for many years, there is an audience that is consistently missed in the marketing and general awareness – but it’s there and should be utilised to it’s maximum. It’s the post 24 age group are often overlooked.

Apprenticeship is a term for a funding stream and is available to all – even graduates following the changes in April 2016. It’s not just for school leavers or those starting their career.

There is a question of “what is worse, training your staff and then they leave or having unskilled staff that stay?”.

Apprenticeships enable companies to invest in their established staff to enable them to gain a nationally recognised qualification at low cost along with investing in their skills to enable them to grow and develop. This is a valued asset to any company and a boost for skills of the Post 24 group who may not have gained qualifications previously in their career for whatever reason.

There is a massive selection of programmes available from level 2 to level 5 (Degree Equivalent) to certificate employee skills, develop them further and improving team productivity. Learning can be completed in a variety of ways be it college, evening class, day release or work-based learning to suit the employer and the learner.

For the staff member it is a boost to be invested in and pushes them further professionally which will ultimately lead to commitment to the workplace and an improved workforce – all for just 10% contribution while the government pays the remaining 90% (if the company are non levy paying).

Staff investment for all can only be a good thing and the Apprenticeship programme is an excellent funding stream that should be utilised for all.