Giving people an opportunity to earn and learn, as well as filling skills gaps faced by many industries, it’s well-known that apprenticeships offer huge potential to transform both industries and lives.
However, despite their potential, apprenticeships suffer from high-non completion rates with nearly half of all apprentices dropping out before completing their programmes.
Over two-thirds of early leavers cite issues with training quality and support. The government has set out targets to address issue and to increase apprenticeship achievement rates to 67 percent by 2025, encouraging providers to analyse performance and boost retention. The St. Martin’s Group, in their Apprenticeship Outcomes and Destinations report and recently released Enabling Better Outcomes report, identified that direct support from providers and employers is vital for apprentices to succeed.
Supporting you to secure apprenticeship success at AAC
At City & Guilds, we believe that by working together we can secure apprenticeship success, and we are here to support you at every stage of the journey from onboarding through to end-point assessment (EPA).
We are looking forward to an action-packed two days of talks and workshops at AAC in Birmingham on Monday 26 and Tuesday 27 February 2024. We’ll be exploring topics including:
- Funding and policy updates – what’s happening with apprenticeships
- Driving learner success and preparing for EPA in Leadership & Management
- Closing the digital skills gap through apprenticeship delivery
- AI in Education: Navigating myths and realities for better apprenticeships
- Driving success and preparing for EPA within the engineering sector
Access the full schedule here.
Our team will also be at Stand A51 to answer all your questions about delivery support, policy, funding and the evolving landscape of apprenticeships. Whether you are a provider looking for further support to ensure your apprentices’ success, or an employer looking to optimise your apprenticeship programmes, please join us to gain valuable insights and new perspectives.
More apprenticeship support: Guidance and best practice for providers
To help you maximise the success of your apprenticeship outcomes from start to finish, we have also created an apprentice success guide aimed at providers. In the guide we identify some of the key challenges that contribute to apprentice withdrawal at different stages of the journey and share practical tips to help you and your teams overcome them.

The guide includes expert advice on:
- How to develop a clear onboarding plan and learning structure for your apprentices
- How to overcome common challenges on-programme and ensure your apprentices develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours to succeed
- How to help your apprentices prepare for end-point assessment
- Additional support resources to help you plan ahead at each stage of the apprenticeship journey
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