Ambition Realised at Scale: Empowering Everyone Through Apprenticeships 

As we celebrate National Apprenticeship Week, it’s important to remember the unique role of apprenticeships in enabling young people and businesses to realise each other’s ambitions. 

Young people are given the opportunities in business to become the workforce that plugs skills gaps, improves productivity and catalyses growth. 

Businesses equip young people with the skills to thrive, the means to become self-sufficient, and the confidence to grow. 

When this happens, it benefits the wider society, too, creating a positive momentum of growth, innovation, and employment that attracts investment, builds communities, and drives national progress. 

What Can We Do? 

We know that teachers have a huge influence on young people’s next steps and that they are interested in supporting young people in progressing to vocational pathways. We also know this can be more challenging when you don’t have personal lived experience of them. 

This is why, at The Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC), we want to celebrate the recent progress, across much collective effort, in building young people’s understanding of apprenticeships and go further in supporting teachers and parents in supporting young people’s transitions into technical pathways. 

What Does Success Look Like? 

One example of this vision in action is our partnership with global tech leader Salesforce, which has committed £1 million to a groundbreaking pilot to boost digital apprenticeships. This initiative seeks to break down barriers, develop critical skills, and open doors to careers in the ever-expanding digital sector. This collaboration harnesses the skills and needs of a growing and vital industry to meet the ambitions of young people. 

A Call to Action for Greater Engagement 

As awareness of apprenticeships continues to grow, we see the collective effort from the entire sector, including employers, educators, and policymakers, to harness their transformative potential. Across the country, stakeholders are working together to promote apprenticeships, with Careers Hubs, employers, and local organisations playing key roles. For instance, in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire, local partnerships act as a vital conduit, aligning young people’s aspirations with the needs of the labour market. These partnerships demonstrate that the impact is significant when resources and expertise come together to promote apprenticeships. 

Addressing Confidence Gaps 

Despite these strides, confidence gaps persist, particularly among disadvantaged groups. Findings from the largest-ever survey on work-readiness, involving 230,000 young participants, reveal that while awareness of apprenticeships is rising, young people from underserved communities often lack the confidence to pursue these opportunities. Addressing these disparities requires targeted support, robust careers education, and mentorship programmes to ensure that all young people see apprenticeships as a viable pathway. 

Looking Ahead 

By embracing apprenticeships as a cornerstone of our skills system, we can unlock untapped potential, empower young people to pursue their ambitions and ensure businesses and the country can thrive in a competitive global economy. 

The journey ahead requires shared effort but offers a shared reward. Young people are further encouraged to explore apprenticeship opportunities, more employers offering these transformative pathways, and policymakers continue to champion career education. 

Ambition realised, at scale, for everyone. 

Written by Andy Hall, Skills and Technical Education Senior Manager, The Careers & Enterprise Company