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Apprenticeships in West Yorkshire
There are currently over 9,000 young people in West Yorkshire
training on either an Apprenticeship or Advanced Apprenticeship programme.
Training provision is distributed across more than 60 training providers,
comprising private local or national providers and local colleges of
further education. Some of the largest providers are the colleges,
such as Bradford College (City Training Services), Calderdale College,
Huddersfield Technical College, Leeds College of Building, Leeds College
of Technology, Park Lane College and Wakefield College. There are,
however, a number of large independent training providers with similar
training budgets. These include Kirkdale Industrial Training (KITs),
Rathbones and A & R Training, to name but a few.
The LSC, West Yorkshire no longer supports its website (www.gettrainedgofurther.com) nor the Directory, which provided information on Apprenticeships in West Yorkshire, because all local authorities have to provide an on-line prospectus for all 14-19 learners and information on training providers is included there (see below). However, another website (www.path2he.co.uk) has been launched with funding from Aimhigher, showing information on which training providers offer what Apprenticeships, as well as higher-level courses that can be taken in the county. If you are still at school and want to know what providers offer which Apprenticeships in your district you can find out from your local on-line prospectus. In West Yorkshire the hyperlinks are as follows:
About Apprenticesgohigher
Apprenticesgohigher is the name given to
the Aimhigher project that seeks to encourage apprentices in West Yorkshire
to continue their education and training to a higher level. It is led
by Wakefield College in partnership with universities, colleges, training
providers and employers across the county.
The project was launched in 2003 with funding from the Partnership for Progression initiative, subsequently included within Aimhigher. Its aims were to determine progression routes for apprentices, to develop appropriate routes for that progression and to explore learner support. It also looked at ways of targeting and supporting under-represented groups.
Additional funding was gained in 2006 for a further two years of work with a greater focus on work with training providers. Further activity will also take place to enable school children, teachers and parents/carers to be better informed about the Apprenticeship route to higher education.
Outputs
Website
The original website was launched in 2004 and has
been significantly updated to enable the main content to be shared
across the region, allowing the current version to focus on local provision.
Information
A number of leaflets have been produced to promote the project’s aims:
- Apprentice leaflet
- Employer’s leaflet
- Case study booklet
- Parents’ leaflet
Single copies can be obtained from the project manager, David Fisher, by completing a request via the enquiries page. Alternatively, pdf copies of the files can be downloaded for some of the documents by clicking on the appropriate links below:
If you need to download a copy of Adobe Reader, click here.
A major part of the current activity is to advise training providers on their role in delivery information, advice and guidance to apprentices to help them in their career development following completion of their Apprenticeships.
The training is supported by the West Yorkshire Learning Provider network. A booklet has been developed to show providers the information that they should be delivering. Copies of the booklet, shown below, can be obtained via the enquiries page.
Summer Schools
The project also works with Leeds Metropolitan University and the University
of Bradford to deliver one-day University Days to apprentices, where
they can find out more about university life while gaining some of
the skills that they would need to prepare them for the needs of study
at a higher level. If you would like to know more about the next Summer
Schools, please contact us via the enquiries page.
HE4Me
A new venture
for the project, in 2006, was the provision of a higher education fair
specifically for apprentices. The event was held at the Elland Road
stadium in Leeds, with Universities and Colleges with HE provision
being represented from across West Yorkshire, as well as some from
South Yorkshire.
The picture shows Wyn Young, a Leeds Met careers advisor considering suitable courses at her institution.
Annual Mailing
For
the last two years the project has mailed out to over 2,500 Advanced
Apprentices who were due to complete their frameworks in the relevant
academic year to let them know about the opportunities that they had
for progression to higher education. In this way many more apprentices
can be contacted than would be possible by face-to-face meetings. Many
have used this form of contact to respond by completing a questionnaire
and to seek advice about their options.
As an encouragement to respond a small prize is offered to someone chosen at random. This year’s lucky winner was Heather Kennedy who is completing her Advanced Apprenticeship in plumbing with Kirklees Council. Heather is shown here receiving her prize - a Red Letter Day experience from David Fisher, project manager.
Useful links:
LSC Site
