Traineeships set to deliver for more young people
16 May 2014 03:49 PM
New guidance has been
published today (16 May 2014) to expand traineeships and make them more
accessible to young people.
Building on the success of the
first year of the Traineeships programme, new
guidance has today (16 May 2014) been published to expand traineeships
and make them more accessible to young people. The changes will introduce
greater flexibility to help learning providers and employers develop quality
programmes.
Launched in August 2013,
Traineeships are an education and training programme offered to young people,
including those who are unemployed. Trainees benefit from work experience,
support with maths and English and work preparation training to improve their
chances of gaining an Apprenticeship or other job.
Skills and Enterprise Minister
Matthew Hancock also called on more employers to get involved by offering work
experience to help trainees get ready for the world of work.
He said:
Traineeships have had a
successful first year and thousands of young people have benefited from the
chance to get the skills and work experience they need for an apprenticeship or
other job. But there is more to do. We need more employers to offer traineeship
places; I want more young people to have the opportunity to embark on a
traineeship and take the first step in working towards a successful
career.
The guidance published today
highlights further improvements to the programme based on feedback from those
delivering and undertaking traineeships. This will enable the programme to be
expanded and allow more young people to benefit from traineeships, whilst
maintaining a strong focus on quality.
The publication of the new
guidance reflects recent changes which make traineeships accessible to more
young people, and introduces greater flexibility to help learning providers and
employers develop quality programmes. From August 2014, Traineeships will be
available to young people aged between 16 and 24, whereas previously, the cut
off age was 23. There is also greater flexibility in the rules for benefit
claimants meaning they can train for longer each week and no longer have to do
their work experience in a block of up to 8 consecutive weeks.
In the first 6 months of the
programme, more than 3,300 traineeships were recorded, supported by hundreds of
large and small national and local employers. Recently, with the support of
government funding, National Grid, Everton Football Club, Rogers Restorations
and Costain pledged to create a total of 5,000 traineeships in their
organisations and the communities they work in over the next 3
years.
Denise Barrett-Baxendale, Chief
Executive Officer for Everton In The Community said:
The benefits that a traineeship
offers are invaluable and give young people from across our community the vital
skills to help them take their first step onto the career ladder. Our programme
offers access to both qualifications and employment and really will make such a
positive impact on so many lives.
Notes to
editors
-
For more information on
traineeships, visit the National
Apprenticeship Service website
-
The Framework for Delivery can
be downloaded here ‘Framework
for Delivery for 2014/15’.
-
The government’s long-term
plan is to build a strong, more competitive economy and a fairer society.
Industrial
Strategy gives impetus to the plan for growth by providing businesses,
investors and the public with clarity about the long-term direction in which
the government wants the economy to travel.
The first achievements and future priorities of the industrial strategy
have been published and can be found herehttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/industrial-strategy-early-succ
esses-and-future-priorities.