Generous grant funding backs Apprenticeship Talent Bridge pilot

The ERA Foundation and Ufi VocTech Trust support an employer-led test of defence’s “no wrong door” commitment for promising apprenticeship candidates.

The 5% Club has secured generous grant funding from the ERA Foundation and Ufi VocTech Trust to pilot the Apprenticeship Talent Bridge, a new route connecting capable apprenticeship candidates with employers that have vacancies.

The announcement follows the Defence Youth Participation and Employment Pledge, under which Government and industry have committed to widen young people’s access to work and training. Its “no wrong door” approach calls for suitable applicants to be considered, with their consent, for relevant opportunities elsewhere in the defence supply chain. The Apprenticeship Talent Bridge will test how that principle can work in practice.

Every year large employers identify more strong apprenticeship candidates than they are able to accommodate. At the same time, smaller businesses may have vacancies but struggle to fill them. This pilot will create a route between the two: connecting talented young people with employers that need them, while helping retain valuable skills and potential within the sector.

The approach will see those candidates who reach an agreed stage of a participating employer’s selection process but cannot be offered a place being invited to consider other opportunities. They will choose whether to take part and what agreed information is shared. Receiving employers will remain responsible for their own recruitment decisions.

The first phase will focus on a defined apprenticeship cohort in defence. It will test candidate consent, referrals, employer demand and the quality of opportunities offered, with first candidate referrals expected in spring 2027. The findings will inform decisions about wider adoption.

Mark Cameron OBE, Chief Executive of The 5% Club, said:

“The defence pledge recognises a problem employers see every year: a young person can show real potential but miss out because one organisation has run out of places, while another employer still has a vacancy.

“The Apprenticeship Talent Bridge is a practical test of the ‘no wrong door’ approach. With the candidate’s agreement, we want to help that potential reach another genuine opportunity. The generous support of the ERA Foundation and Ufi VocTech Trust gives us the means to learn from the first cohort and build an approach that could benefit more young people and smaller businesses.

Jane Holmes, Associate Director of Grants at Ufi VocTech Trust, said:

“Too often, young people miss out because systems struggle to connect potential to opportunity. The Apprenticeship Talent Bridge will test how technology can help match strong candidates with employers that need their skills, building evidence for a model that could be adopted across many sectors.”

Andrew Churchill OBE, Chair of The ERA Foundation, said:

“The UK’s engineering and manufacturing future depends on bringing new talent into the sector, including the smaller firms on which its supply chains rely. It makes little sense for a capable apprenticeship applicant to reach the end of one employer’s selection process when another employer still needs those skills. The ERA Foundation is pleased to support a practical, employer-led pilot that could open more routes into rewarding technical careers and strengthen the workforce our industries need.”

The 5% Club is convening the pilot with employers and a specialist delivery partner. Further details of participating employers and how smaller businesses can engage will be announced separately.