New apprenticeships era or wasted opportunity?

London – Semta, the sector skills council for science, engineering and advanced manufacturing, is justifiably upbeat about a huge increase in the number of young people taking up apprenticeships in industry – an 85% increase in England over the past two years is more than encouraging (see story).

However, its chief executive Sarah Sillars is equally justified in warning against complacency, particularly given the widening skills gaps being left by retirements and the fact that more than 80% of companies are still unwilling to take on apprentices.

There is also the concern that many parents and teachers are still unconvinced that, as the Semta boss put it, “apprenticeships will benefit their children and not somebody else’s.”

The current surge in uptake of apprenticeships will, therefore, be a wasted opportunity if employers and skills bodies don’t make sure that their training programmes are to the highest possible standards, and are clearly shown to offer paths to successful careers in industry.