New guide launched to address parent confusion over apprenticeships
Association for Project Management
With the government struggling to make the numbers needed to hit its pledge to create 3 million apprenticeships by 2020, a new guide by the Association for Project Management to support apprenticeship conversations might be the answer.
As National Apprenticeship Week 2018 approaches, organisations such as the National Apprenticeship Service and the Careers and Enterprise Company continue to run student-focused events to promote apprenticeships.
The Apprenticeships and Skills Minister Anne Milton explained at the launch of the Five Cities project, “Apprenticeships are a great route into skilled employment and allow people to earn while they learn. We want it to be as easy as possible to get on an apprenticeship, so that everyone can benefit from the excellent career prospects that apprenticeships offer.”
Yet parents, one of the key decision makers in a young person’s life, remain confused about apprenticeships; they rarely get to see the success stories for themselves and the education landscape has changed multiple times since parents were themselves at school or college.
Indeed, research has shown that 37 per cent of parents are scared of giving the wrong careers advice to their child; and half are worried that their lack of understanding of the careers landscape could hinder their child’s future.
The Association for Project Management (APM), Europe’s largest professional body for project professionals, is delighted to launch an apprenticeship guide for parents. Written with busy parents and carers in mind, it includes case studies of apprentices from different backgrounds in a range of companies and simple comparisons between apprenticeship and university pathways to make those careers conversations easier to have.
“The word ‘degree’ holds tremendous value to parents and carers, who want the best for their children,” said Caspar Bartington, APM’s Education Manager, “and the steady growth of degree apprenticeships since their launch in 2015 is an excellent opportunity for employer-funded academic and professional development. Yet low levels of awareness of degree apprenticeships persist among parents – just 20% according to a recent survey.”
“The Project Manager integrated degree apprenticeship will launch later in 2018. This apprenticeship has been developed by employers as diverse as Sellafield, the BBC, Rolls Royce, William Grant & Sons Distillers, British Airways and Lloyds Banking Group. Employer appetite for this apprenticeship is high, and reflects the increased take-up of project management apprenticeships which has bucked the trend – the overall figures show a 26 per cent drop across all sectors.”
“With such an exciting opportunity upon us, we need to ensure that parents are able to help their children make informed career choices. The APM guide will help them do just that.”
APM has also updated its employer guidance on apprenticeships, taking in to account the implementation of the apprenticeship levy and the way in which some employers are focusing on spending their levy on upskilling existing members of staff.
For more information on APM’s guidance contact apprenticeships@apm.org.uk
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