Last week I sat in a room with a group of other 16 to 19 year olds taking ‘Key Skills’ tests in English and Maths, all of us there for Apprenticeship pre-selection. A full day of testing and interviews was the first hurdle toward an NVQ Apprenticeship for everyone in the room.
The group were a surprisingly diverse mix of young people, with GCSE qualifications, many had A-levels, some previous vocational experience or even a first year at university. But all of us had decided that formal education is not the way we want to pursue our future careers and would rather further our education through vocational learning.
Despite this abundance of interest in apprenticeships over half of the candidates had applied for just two posts in Child Care with the closing date for applications to the program not for another month; another apprenticeship vacancy, in business administration, had been closed early after receiving over 25 applications for one post.
In a climate where there are near 10 people applying for every job vacancy it is difficult to get any job but I have found the ratio of vacancies to apprentices shockingly low. Should young people, who are eager to continue their education in a vocational setting, have to face so much competition to become well trained members of the work force?
There are only around 30 current apprenticeships in the whole of Northumberland, spread right across the county, with applicants from across the North East. What we need is more apprenticeships, more opportunities for young people to further their education and more chances to succeed.
As a young person I support Guy's Skills for Work Campaign encouraging a greater focus on vocational training. I'm pleased to see the Government investing in more apprenticeships, increasing annual funding for adult Apprenticeships by up to £250m above the £398m a year funding inherited from the last government, by 2014-15.
