Encouraging apprenticeship starts
Semta, the skills council leading in science, engineering and manufacturing technologies, has approached agencies with a brief to support the Government’s apprenticeship drive by encouraging apprenticeships at any of its 132,000 companies.
Agency sources implied that the brief outlines how apprenticeships should be seen as equal to a university degree. Recent government research has shown a yearly increase of 13.9% in apprenticeship starts. 2011/12 saw 520,600 people begin apprenticeships in the UK. The Government aims to raise awareness of apprenticeships and boost careers in the engineering sector.