More than 700 employers will design 76 new apprenticeships in professions ranging from policing, the Armed Forces and TV production to welding and boat building, the Government has announced.
It will bring the total number of employers involved in designing apprenticeships as part of the Government’s trailblazers scheme to more than 1,000.
A Government spokesperson said the third wave of trailblazers would involve employers from across 37 more sectors designing “new apprenticeships to best meet the skills needs of their industries”.
Business Secretary Vince Cable said: “Across the country apprenticeships are a driving force behind getting young people the skills that employers want and the economy needs.
“Our reforms have empowered businesses large and small to design and deliver world-beating apprenticeships that offer a real route to a successful career.”
Employers including PwC, BAE Systems and Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue will work with organisations from across their industries to develop the new apprenticeships.
Employers involved in the earlier phases of the trailblazers scheme will develop a further 47 apprenticeships.
During a visit to Sky, one of 18 employers working together to design new apprenticeships in television production and broadcasting as part of the new phase of trailblazers, Skills Minister Nick Boles said: “There has never been a better time to do an apprenticeship. Apprenticeships give you the experience and top-quality training you need to get the career you want.
“I’m thrilled to be working with UK companies including Jaguar Land Rover and Grant Thornton to make our apprenticeship system the best it can be.”
Mr Boles also met with software developer apprentice Priscilla Ossai, a prominent figure in the Government’s newly launched Get In. Go Far campaign.
The campaign is working to change the perception of apprenticeships among young people, their parents and teachers by showcasing the variety and quality of apprenticeships on offer today in some of Britain’s biggest and brightest companies.
Graham McWilliam, Sky group director of corporate affairs, said: “At Sky we’re delighted to be supporting the trailblazer programmes. It forms part of our wider commitment to providing apprenticeships across our business — around 150 next year — as well as offering a huge range of other opportunities and training to young people across the UK.”
Steven Read, trainee programmes manager at UK Power Networks which delivers electricity supplies in London and were part of the Energy and Utilities trailblazer under the first phase of the scheme, said: “We are delighted to welcome our first 29 new recruits to the new power distribution craftspeople apprenticeship.
“The trailblazer initiative has allowed employers like us to introduce a common industry standard in the skills we teach to the dedicated men and women who keep Britain’s electricity distribution networks running.
“It is refreshing, as an employer, to be involved in designing and a developing the benchmark against which all our apprentices are trained.”
Trailblazers, which were launched in October last year, allow groups of leading employers within a sector to work together to develop new apprenticeship standards.
The initiative aims to ensure that every apprentice in England is enrolled on a scheme that has been designed and approved by employers.
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