Worcestershire Apprenticships – Kerry Davis

Event: Apprenticeship Talk – Kerry Davis

Number of pupils attending: 7

Aim of the Activity

• To give pupils an opportunity to look at a range of placements other than colleges for Post 16
• Learning from the work force
• Aspirational
• Vocational opportunities
• Linking Gatsby Benchmark 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Activity

In Year 11 we have pupils who have been completing a BTEC construction course. These pupils would be ideally suited to an apprenticeship or trainee course Post 16. They have previously been visited by Fly to Drive so knew something about apprenticeships and on the job training. For Year 11 we invited Kerry from to speak to the pupils about the courses that are available to them next year.

Year 11 attended a presentation by Kerry, about apprenticeships and what is available in Worcestershire. She informed students of the wide variety of apprenticeships available; how long they take; the format of work/study and the minimum that they could be paid for these. Kerry also showed us the gov.uk apprenticeship website and we searched for nearby opportunities post 16. Kerry also spoke to the students about not only apprenticeships but traineeships if students were unclear about moving forward post 16.

Quotes from Students

“How many hours a week can I work”
“How much can I get paid?”
“Do I have to go to college”
“Why do you get paid for an apprenticeship and not a traineeship”

Impact of Activity

The students were surprised by the range of apprenticeships available and the levels that you can go up to. They felt informed about how most start from the bottom and help people to work their way up and progress within a company. They asked some excellent questions, and we now know how to set up alerts for different types of apprenticeships as they come up throughout the year. The students enjoyed the fact that a new scheme was available for when you sign up and get accepted onto an apprenticeship it’s called a bursary to help with any equipment or items needed to help you start your new role. In the up-and-coming careers lessons in class the students will be exploring apprenticeships on offer to them. The students found that 80% was working and 20% was studying of the week was very appealing to them this engaged a large majority of the class into thinking about an apprenticeship for post 16 options.