The Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS), which was formed to drive improvement in the further education and skills sector, has recently taken on nine new apprentices.

They will join three other apprentices LSIS already employ in a number of roles including IT, marketing and communications, finance and human resources.

Lizzie Stubbington, 18,  from Stivichall, Coventry works for LSIS’s Skills for Life and Employment team after deciding she was not suited to her degree course.

She said: “I carefully considered my options before leaving university and decided an apprenticeship would be best for me I feel at home in a working environment and I don’t feel like an apprentice, I feel like a member of staff.”

The organisation also plans to offer two further opportunities, which will bring its total to 14 out of 130 members of staff.

By employing these young people, LSIS is demonstrating its own commitment to supporting apprenticeships.

Rob Wye, chief executive of LSIS, explained: “As record numbers of young people are unemployed we are proud to be able to provide opportunities to learn on the job, to earn a competitive wage and to attend college on day release to study for a relevant, vocational qualification such as an NVQ.”

Sarah Jeffery