Avalon
Member Extraordinaire
I’ll try and avoid the political side of things, but it’s safe to say that despite various headlines from a range of people we often didn’t vote for, further education outside of the ‘normal’ paths such as 6th Form and College is simply not a viable or realistic option for most.
My son sat his GCSE’s this year, he’s awaiting results, decent predicted grades and should achieve them, but he preferred to earn and learn rather than spend another two years in a classroom being treated like a child. He has his own transport, he just wants to get on in life and despite an offer to work for a national government organisation part time while studying, he wanted to get an apprenticeship, so we supported his choice. With regular sound bites from government over the last few years, you get the impression that apprenticeships are actually a priority and being actively encouraged as a valid path, right? Wrong.
We scoured the internet, including the -admittedly useful - government site, my son wanted to do something mechanical, and we tried to steer him to aeronautical engineering, but he quickly decided planes weren’t for him, despite getting offered a place subject to his grades at a local specialist site operated by a college. We live in Washington, we have Nissan and a fair chunk of its supply chain on the doorstep, my cousins husband designed the line expansion, his godfather has literally been with them since day one, family friends own/run engineering/fabrication and service business’ etc. etc. so we asked the question about if any of them either have apprenticeships or were they aware of any related companies doing so? No was invariably the answer, or they take on 1 or 2 a year. It turns out locally that the grand total of FOUR apprenticeships were listed in the broad spectrum of engineering, maintenance, service and repair, that wasn’t just automotive, but plant/site as well. Son applied for all four, Komatsu, Arnold Clarke, Unipress and FedEx.
Komatsu he was the youngest by about 4-5 years in his words, he made it past the paper sift and was informed they weren’t progressing him after first round interviews. No feedback given.
Arnold Clarke went down to the final stage where he was one of three, was told he interviewed well, but they went with another candidate, no other feedback given.
FedEx he aced the online technical assessment (don’t ask), and despite forgetting what a Torque Wrench was in his interview, described its function and use perfectly. They normally hire older apprentices, but decided to take a chance on a 16 y/o, and not only offered him the job, but put him on 6 weeks early to learn the ropes before he starts proper training, and will also put him through his HGV licence when he hits age. He started yesterday and is loving it
While this story has a happy outcome, it got me thinking, you have 300 kids in his year at his school, that’s one of many, if after all the talk we only have four opportunities for people to get an apprenticeship in what amounts to a busy manufacturing area with tens of thousands of people employed by a large international car manufacturer and its supply chain, is it any wonder that people don’t end up in apprenticeships and have to stick at 6th form or college? In my day you had YTS, followed by ‘modern apprenticeships’. It’s like we just stopped recognising apprenticeships as a valid option, when for some they are absolutely the best option.
Irony: News today was about tackling youth unemployment and alternative career paths for 16-18’s. I wish them luck.
My son sat his GCSE’s this year, he’s awaiting results, decent predicted grades and should achieve them, but he preferred to earn and learn rather than spend another two years in a classroom being treated like a child. He has his own transport, he just wants to get on in life and despite an offer to work for a national government organisation part time while studying, he wanted to get an apprenticeship, so we supported his choice. With regular sound bites from government over the last few years, you get the impression that apprenticeships are actually a priority and being actively encouraged as a valid path, right? Wrong.
We scoured the internet, including the -admittedly useful - government site, my son wanted to do something mechanical, and we tried to steer him to aeronautical engineering, but he quickly decided planes weren’t for him, despite getting offered a place subject to his grades at a local specialist site operated by a college. We live in Washington, we have Nissan and a fair chunk of its supply chain on the doorstep, my cousins husband designed the line expansion, his godfather has literally been with them since day one, family friends own/run engineering/fabrication and service business’ etc. etc. so we asked the question about if any of them either have apprenticeships or were they aware of any related companies doing so? No was invariably the answer, or they take on 1 or 2 a year. It turns out locally that the grand total of FOUR apprenticeships were listed in the broad spectrum of engineering, maintenance, service and repair, that wasn’t just automotive, but plant/site as well. Son applied for all four, Komatsu, Arnold Clarke, Unipress and FedEx.
Komatsu he was the youngest by about 4-5 years in his words, he made it past the paper sift and was informed they weren’t progressing him after first round interviews. No feedback given.
Arnold Clarke went down to the final stage where he was one of three, was told he interviewed well, but they went with another candidate, no other feedback given.
FedEx he aced the online technical assessment (don’t ask), and despite forgetting what a Torque Wrench was in his interview, described its function and use perfectly. They normally hire older apprentices, but decided to take a chance on a 16 y/o, and not only offered him the job, but put him on 6 weeks early to learn the ropes before he starts proper training, and will also put him through his HGV licence when he hits age. He started yesterday and is loving it
While this story has a happy outcome, it got me thinking, you have 300 kids in his year at his school, that’s one of many, if after all the talk we only have four opportunities for people to get an apprenticeship in what amounts to a busy manufacturing area with tens of thousands of people employed by a large international car manufacturer and its supply chain, is it any wonder that people don’t end up in apprenticeships and have to stick at 6th form or college? In my day you had YTS, followed by ‘modern apprenticeships’. It’s like we just stopped recognising apprenticeships as a valid option, when for some they are absolutely the best option.
Irony: News today was about tackling youth unemployment and alternative career paths for 16-18’s. I wish them luck.
