Apprenticeship Week 7-11 February 2011

Technical industries like chemicals and pharmaceuticals require a broad range of skills and a highly trained workforce. To find the technical skills they need companies are increasingly looking at the value apprenticeships offer.

Through apprenticeships, companies are training a new generation of employees to the specific standards they require and can be confident that their employee has been thoroughly trained for the job they are being asked to do. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the apprenticeship route also leads to greater staff loyalty.

The benefits to the apprentice are many, especially in an industry such as chemicals that offers high quality training, good career prospects and salaries around 40% more than other manufacturing sectors. With the increase in tuition fees, an option to finish your training debt free and with several years’ industry experience under your belt it is an attractive prospect.

At a recent meeting of the Chemical Industry All Party Parliamentary Group, apprentices Sarah Porter and Richard Davies called on MPs to campaign for a shakeup in careers advice. They argued for the need to ensure that apprenticeships are better understood and promoted to school leavers and sixth formers. By giving MPs an insight into what a modern apprenticeship is like, they convinced MPs that more needed to be done to transform the image of apprenticeships.

In January, Esther McVey MP who chairs the Chemical Industry All Party Parliamentary Group led a debate in the House of Commons on careers advice, she argued for better careers advice on apprenticeships and said "We need to increase understanding of the status of apprenticeships."

Responding on behalf of the Government, the Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, Mr John Hayes said:

"… one would have expected teachers to know rather more about apprenticeships than they do. As they do not have that information at their disposal, they cannot always match people's aspirations and talents to the opportunities that I spoke of earlier. That is why we need independent, high quality, up to date and impartial advice and guidance for all young people."

Case Study – Sarah Porter, Apprentice in Research and Development (Innovia Films, Cumbria)

Sarah Porter is an Apprentice in Research and Development at Innovia Films in Cumbria. Sarah had started to follow the route laid out for her by her Sixth Form College and applied for a traditional chemistry degree. However she had doubts that this would satisfy her and started to investigate other opportunities. Innovia Films had made the effort to go into Sarah’s school with a CREST project for sixth formers so she had become aware of alternatives available within the chemical industry.

Describing what motivated her to choose the apprenticeship route, Sarah said "I felt that the system was trying to force me down a path I didn’t want to take. I was very motivated about my interest in science, my education and a career but not university. An apprenticeship was not something that had been mentioned in careers advice but it seemed the ideal way to combine continued education, at the same time as getting on with my life.

I work at Innovia Films four days a week and study at Northumbria University in Newcastle one day a week. I do have to fit in course work at evenings and weekends but so do most students and my company is supportive. After six months at Innovia Films, I was already applying my knowledge from college to conduct my own testing experiments and within a year I was writing my own reports.

Friends who took the university route are envious that I have a good job and no student debt - I am part of the way towards a degree and with several years work experience already on my CV. I have already my career whilst university graduates are struggling to find employment or even unpaid internships. Outside of work my passion is horses, which is not a cheap hobby to have. If I was a student there is no way I could have afforded to keep going and my skiing holiday in March would have been off the cards too.

I think the image of apprenticeships needs a makeover. It is not a second rate option, but a viable alternative for technically minded, intelligent individuals who prefer to learn on the job rather than just from the text books."

Richard Davies, Apprentice in Mechanical Inspection (Shell, Merseyside)

Richard Davies is currently an apprentice in mechanical inspection at Shell in Merseyside.

Richard started sixth form and completed his first year of AS studies but had not found the experience motivating and was looking for an alternative to another year at school. Richard said "I knew I did not want to go to university, the potential costs were daunting and I wanted to move on from desk based learning to something more practical that was likely to lead to a good job".

The TTE Training LTD Ellesmere Port who provide technical education courses had been into Richard’s school so he was aware of some of the benefits of an apprenticeship and at an open day it was easy to get in touch with them to work out which course suited him.

The apprenticeship that Richard secured is sponsored by Shell UK, it began with a two year broad based technical BTEC that ranged across many engineering disciplines.

It was then up to Richard to choose a specialisation when he began working at the Shell site for 18months to complete the NVQ level 3 qualification along with a HNC, Richard still attends college in Liverpool one day a week and sometimes has to fit in follow up work at home.

Commenting on the BTEC course Richard said "the course at TTE gave me a good insight into the different options open to me before I specialised, the broad base means I understand many of the challenges that colleagues in other engineering roles at Shell will be facing. The rotations at Shell mean I get to experience working on different parts of the Stanlow site "

On starting his placement at Shell Richard said "the apprenticeship route means I think I am better placed to make a proper contribution in my job much more quickly than a graduate could, because of the practical knowledge I have gained during the apprenticeship. The great thing about Shell at the Stanlow site is that they have been training apprentices for 20 years so you can see the career paths they have taken and the advantages of being an apprentice compared to a graduate".

Commenting on the apprenticeship route Richard said, "I was the first in my year at school to go to TTE, but a few others have followed and there were more the year after, one friend couldn’t get in and went to University instead. My friends at university are definitely envious that I have no student debt, and that Shell has confirmed my job on completion of my apprenticeship. I think apprenticeships need to be more heavily promoted as an alternative option to university rather than a second choice for those who don’t feel suited to a purely academic route".

Contact Name: Fiona Ferguson