31 January 2020
What Schools Need To Know About National Apprenticeship Week 2020
National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) 2020 takes place between the 3rd and 7th February this year. It’s a five-day celebration of apprenticeships and apprentices in England, with events all over the country.
Here’s a breakdown of everything schools and careers advisers need to know about NAW 2020…
What is NAW?
NAW is organised by the National Apprenticeship Service, and this will be it’s thirteenth year.
More and more young people are choosing to do apprenticeships each year. And now, all the biggest and most popular companies are hiring apprentices.
NAW is designed to celebrate this. To bring together stakeholders in the apprenticeship community, celebrate their successes, and encourage more young people to consider the apprenticeship path.
Will there be events near my school?
Last year, there were over 500 events hosted nationwide during NAW. This year, there’ll be even more. If there are any events being organised nearby, be sure to let your students know.
You could also promote NAW events to parents – they are crucial influencers when it comes to the career decisions of young people. If you have a parents’ newsletter, let them know about any events they could attend.
Do students need to know about NAW?
The short answer is YES.
Despite widening participation from school and college leavers and schemes on offer across every imaginable sector, many students know very little about apprenticeships.
They are unaware of the incredible opportunities that are available to them, and so will not even explore the idea of doing an apprenticeship. This needs to change.
Students have more options available to them than ever before. No matter their background, career aspirations or exam results, there’s something available that will help them kick-start their career.
NAW is the perfect opportunity to educate and inspire young people to take the apprenticeship path. For more guides, blogs and resources that you can use in the classroom, jump over to our Schools Hub.
What to tell students about NAW
We know how difficult and daunting it can be introducing apprenticeships to students and their parents. Apprenticeships are complicated!
So let’s break down the essentials that your students need to know about the world of apprenticeships…
What’s available?
There are four tiers of apprenticeships, designed for students at different stages of their development.
Level 2 and level 3 apprenticeships are perfect for students who want to start a career immediately after completing their GCSEs.
Level 4 to 7 schemes are designed for students who have A-level qualifications.
There are links to extensive guides of each type of apprenticeship above.
Climbing the apprenticeship ladder
Students who complete an apprenticeship have the option of progressing onto the next tier.
This means that if a young person leaves school at 16 to do a level 2 or 3 scheme, they can work towards a higher or degree level apprenticeship, and get a university degree.
Doing an apprenticeship does not limit their ability to pursue degree-level qualifications or a highly-skilled profession. There is an alternative path for those who do not want to do A-levels or a traditional university degree.
We advertise all types and levels of apprenticeships on our jobs page. So if any of your students are considering doing an apprenticeship, send them there…
Which companies offer apprenticeships?
A HUGE range of companies offer apprenticeships. In fact, almost every significant and well-known organisation in the UK is currently employing apprentices.
All the big names in banking and finance, engineering and tech have apprenticeship schemes. All the big law firms and media companies hire apprentices.
And this is true across every sector in the UK. If you were to ask a student to name their dream job at their dream company, chances are, that company recruits apprentices.
RateMyApprenticeships Top 100 Employers 2019-20
So as the above section suggests, a fair amount of companies in the UK offer apprenticeships. But with so many employers out there, how to choose the right one to work for?
Enter RateMyApprenticeship’s Best 100 Employers.
It’s a list of the very best companies that offer apprenticeships. It covers every sector, and is based on the feedback of apprentices themselves.
Have a peruse, and use the Top Employers in the same way you might use the university league tables to advise a student on their university choices.
A Guide to Career Options
Our latest publication, A Guide To Career Options 2020 has been delivered to EVERY school and college in the UK. (Including yours!)
The Guide has been put together to help your students understand every career option that is available to them.
