Apprenticeship Discount

HAP are investigating the possibility of getting all HAP Members (than means everyone who sits on the actual panel and all Apprentices that sign up to the forum) NUS Discount.
Former HAP Chair Chris Roberts stated “As Apprentices we do consider ourselves as still in full-time education even though in the majority of cases we work over 37 hours per week, grated we do get paid for working and learning however why shouldn’t Apprentices be entitled to NUS discount? Why can’t Apprentices get into student nights in nightclubs, get discount at certain high street stores?”
HAP consider themselves as a Student Union, and are looking into ways how they could become affiliated with the NUS to enable all Apprentices involved in HAP to gain access to NUS discount. Lucy Atkinson (HAP Vice-Chair and National Learner Panel Member) will be taking this to the next National Learner Panel (NLP) meeting to discuss this further with key member of the NUS who attend the NLP Meetings.
Further discussions are happening with NUS in the coming months, however if you are an Apprentice in the Humber sub-region try the following links as you maybe able to access discount through these sites.

More and more apprentices are now going on to study higher-level qualifications.

There are many opportunities for progression beyond your Advanced Apprenticeship:
Higher Level NVQ’sStudying for a higher level NVQ provides competences that involve the application of knowledge and skills in a broad range of complex, technical or professional work activities. There is a substantial degree of personal autonomy as well as responsibility for the work of others. The allocation of substantial resources features strongly, as do personal accountabilities for analysis and diagnosis, design, planning, execution and evaluation.
DegreesThere are various degrees available such as Bachelor Degrees, Foundation Degrees, Masters Degrees and Doctorates. For many industries a degree is necessary for example Law and Medicine. The majority of courses last three years but there are also four year sandwich courses where one year of study is spent in industry. Degrees can be studied full time or part time.
HNC/HNDA Higher National Certificate (HNC) or Diploma (HND) is available in everything from accounting to video production. HNC’s are often studied part time over two years ideal for those who also work. HND’s take two years full time to complete or longer part time. HNC’s can allow entry into the second year of an honours degree while HND’s allow entry into the second or third year.
Modes of study include:
Applicants for full time higher education will need to ensure that the Advanced Apprenticeship qualification is accepted by the university or college for the chosen subject. Full-time student will be able to get a student loan to assist with costs, such as the course fees and subsistence costs. More than 40% of students in higher education are studying on a part-time basis; students can continue to earn a wage, and non-repayable grants are now available to help with the costs of fees. The grants are means tested on the student’s own wage.

Advanced Apprenticeship Graduation Ceremony 2009

The third Advanced Apprenticeship Graduation Ceremony for young people in the Humber sub-region who had achieved their Advanced Apprenticeships took place on Tuesday 4 November 2008, at the Hull City Hall. Over 400 Advanced Apprentices from across the Humber sub-region achieved their Advanced Apprenticeship between January 2007 and June 2008 and were invited to attend the ceremony along with family, friends, employers and Work Based Learning providers.

This was the most successful ceremony to date with over 170 Advanced Apprentices graduating; the ceremony followed the success of the first two ceremonies in October 06 and October 07. The event is proving to be a great success amongst the Advanced Apprentices and is seen as a great way of celebrating the success of our local young people and raising the profile of Apprenticeships.
The ceremony would not have been possible without the support and contributions received and CfL would like to thank the sponsors of this prestigious event including Kingstown Works Ltd; Harris, Lacey and Swain; Yorkshire and Humber East Lifelong Learning Network and the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Learner Panel. CfL would also like to give thanks to those Apprenticeship providers who contributed to the event and gave support on the day.

Preparations for the 2009 Graduation Ceremony are now underway. Advanced Apprentices completing their Apprenticeship between June 2008 and June 2009 will be invited along with their employers and Apprenticeship provider to attend the ceremony.
HAP and CfL want to ensure we can continue celebrating the success of Apprentices in the Humber Sub-region through this high profile event. If you would like to find out more about this years ceremony or are interested in being involved please contact Carolyn Robins at CfL on 01482 641000 (Carolyn@consortiumforlearning.co.uk) and help us ensure Apprentices get the recognition they deserve.

HAP Meet with Ofsted - 14/10/2008

In October 2008, Ofsted hosted a seminar to talk to learners about how they can be involved more during future inspections. It was an opportunity to engage directly with learners and get their opinions. Inspection events, the consultation process and proposed report structures were all on the agenda and feedback was very positive and productive. The day was just one part of the consultative process and in November Ofsted launched its online consultation on the proposals for further education and skills inspections.

Learners were represented by a wide range of organisations. Humber Apprentice Panel facilitator, Dave Thompson, said, ‘The learner voice is essential to improve all aspects of learning for the better.’ He saw working with Ofsted as a way of making that voice heard. ‘It’s vital the Humber Apprentice Panel assist Ofsted in re-developing inspections for work-based learning providers. In the majority of cases apprentices are based miles away from their training provider and at the present moment Ofsted can only approach in-house apprentices,’ he commented. ‘We’re currently discussing how we can capture the apprentice voice, maybe by developing an Ofsted communication tool via the web although we have to consider apprentices who have no internet access.’

Chair of the same panel, Chris Roberts said, ‘It’s important we understand that Ofsted inspectors are there to support improvement for the provider and especially for the learner, and not to catch them out. I think we can make a difference to how Ofsted inspections are portrayed through promotions such as Ofsted’s posters. And look at the different ways in which we can capture the learner voice such as one-to-one confidential interviews with learners, maybe having learners show Ofsted inspectors around work-based providers, schools and colleges.’
Nick Hagan represented the Edge Learner Forum and said he felt that ‘Ofsted is making a concerted effort to come to terms with developments in the social and educational spectrum, particularly with regard to the learner voice, and the openness and transparency of the consultation was largely indicative of this. By working alongside bodies such as the Edge Learner Forum, Ofsted is taking a significant step towards inspections becoming more accessible to students, and towards the acknowledgment of young people’s own points of view being indispensable to the future of educational faculties.’
For Sue Hinde, who was a member of the National Learner Panel in 2007/08, ‘Ofsted is not just a talking shop about involving learners – I think they are involving learners. At the seminar we were encouraged and enabled to come up with our own ideas on inspection as well as providing a learner perspective on Ofsted’s ideas.’
HAP will continue to assist Ofsted by attending future learner voice seminars to continue to give the views of Apprentices in the Humber Sub Region. If you are an Apprentices from the Sub-Region who would like to input into any future Learner Voice Seminar, please contact Dave Thompson on (01482) 641000 or e-mail dave@consortiumforlearning.co.uk

Former Panel Members - Vicky Hunter

Vicky Hunter - I am currently undertaking the Advanced Apprenticeship in Business Administration with McArthur Dean Training. I could bring ideas to the panel about my experiences on the apprenticeship programme. I have finished my level 2 qualifications and have progressed onto my level 3. I am confident person and can project my opinions well. Vicky left HAP in October 2008 due to work commitments however Vicky still remotely shares ideas and her thoughts on Apprenticeship via e-mail and the forum.

Former Panel Members - Chris Roberts

Christopher Roberts - I am currently on an Advanced Apprenticeship course which consists of an NVQ level 3 IT Professional and a BTEC national award IT Practitioner, I attend both of these courses at Hull ITeC in Hull and I attend a day release once every two weeks. I currently work within a training organisation that deliver Apprenticeships and Advanced Apprenticeships in engineering and construction and would like to be able to offer advice to some of my fellow learners. I am already a part of a setup called the ITEC Voice in which I write updates for our monthly Equality and Diversity update. I have already been trained in Information, Advice and Guidance so these skills would be useful on the panel. Chris was originally Chair of HAP, due to completing his Apprenticeship and receiving promotion within his job role Chris was no longer available to continue his work with HAP. Chris still shares his thoughts on Apprenticeships through e-mail with HAP facilitator Dave Thompson.

Meet the Panel - Paula Kitching

Paula Kitching – I am currently undertaking an Apprenticeship in Customer Service with HYA Training. I could bring ideas to the panel about my experiences on the apprenticeship programme. I have finished my level 2 qualification in Business Administration and have progressed onto my level 2 Customer service. I am quite confident in working in a team and am able to voice my opinions. Whilst been on the panel I have actually found out a lot more information about apprenticeships that I did not know,
Whilst been on the panel I have become more confident and have met new people that are from different work areas to me. I now know of the different providers and what courses they do.

Meet the Panel - Victoria Mercer

Vicky Mercer – My name is Vicky Mercer and I am 20 years old. I have previously studied Media at Wyke College for 2 years. Currently I am doing an Apprenticeship in IT at Level 2 through Hull ITeC. I am a Receptionist employed by a company called Consortium for Learning, who works with work based learning providers throughout the Humber sub region.

Meet the Panel - Vice Chair - Lucy Atkinson

Lucy Atkinson (Vice Chair)- I am 18 years old and I am currently working towards my ICT Practitioners Apprenticeship at the Hull ITeC and have been doing so since the end of April. I speak confidently in groups and feel this could be at my advantage with this opportunity. I am also very driven, meaning I will ensure I put my all into the panel. I also run my own website and forum which now has over 100 members from all over the world. I spend a lot of time updating and moderating the site and I am now also slowly working with a reptile rescue centre to help prevent animal cruelty. I also enjoy reading and my favourite genre is crime and thrillers. I spend a lot of time communicating with family who live far away via the internet and enjoy learning about new software or sites available on there. Lucy is also sits on the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Learner Panel and the National Learner Panel.

Meet the Panel - Chairman Luke Jackson

Luke Jackson (Chair)– I am 22 years old and am currently undertaking an Advanced Apprenticeship at Corus in Electrical Maintenance. Before being taken on as a full time apprentice i was a N.L.E.E.A.S. (North Lincolnshire Engineers Employers Apprenticeship Scheme) bursary student which involved me undertaking NVQ Levels 1 & 2 in Performing Engineering Operations. Before the bursary scheme i completed AS Levels in Electronics, Physics and Maths and an A Level in English Language. I am in my first year (of two) of ONC and have completed one year (of three) of a HNC. As a panel member i wish to be involved in the ideas that will improve apprenticeships as well as joining in discussions and giving my opinion on topis we discuss. I also hope for this to be a learning experience for myself and that i can pass on knowledge to apprentices here at Corus.

Denham and Balls announce increase to minimum apprenticeship earnings

The minimum weekly earnings for all apprentices in England will be increased from £80 to £95 a week next year, Skills Secretary, John Denham and Children's Secretary Ed Balls announced today.
The increase follows a review by DIUS and DCSF of apprentice pay carried out this year. The average net earnings of an apprentice each week is £170 but the Government wants to ensure that the earnings of all apprentices are fair and that they should reflect the support given to young people pursuing other qualifications.
The new £95 minimum, to start from August 2009, will benefit an estimated 26,000 (about 10 percent) apprentices mostly those in traditional less well paid sectors such as hair dressing and social care - of whom 90 per cent are women.
In a speech today Mr Denham will tell the Trades Union Congress:
"We have rescued apprenticeships. We have trebled the number of people taking them up since 1997. Over 60% of people now complete their apprenticeships compared to just over 20% a few years ago.
"We will go on to make sure that they are a mainstream option for all young people and for adults in England. Within the next decade 1 in 5 young people will be able to take up an apprenticeship."
Mr Denham will continue:
"Last year we referred the exemption of apprentices from the National Minimum Wage to the Low Pay Commission. Today the average apprentice is paid over £170 a week. Without prejudicing the work of the Low Pay Commission, I am announcing today that in England, minimum apprenticeship pay will rise from £80 to £95 per week during next year.
"It will be young women - apprentices like those in hairdressing and care - who will benefit most."
Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, said:
"Our radical plan to raise the education leaving age to 18 means we will need to create 150,000 more apprenticeships by 2013 for 16 and 17 year olds who want to follow a vocational path into the world of work. That's 50,000 more young people starting apprenticeships every year. And it is only fair that while people are working and training they are paid a decent wage. .
"Over the past decade we have seen the number of apprenticeship places double and we will see those numbers continue to increase year by year - because there is real demand for them. It is vital for the future success of this country that we develop everyone's skills to the full and apprenticeships are key to doing this.
"Through apprenticeships, the new Diploma and established qualifications like A Levels and GCSEs, we are offering choice to young people across the spectrum, to ensure their talents are fulfilled, wherever they lie."
Colin Wildman, Federation of Small Businesses' Education and Skills Chairman, said:
"We are pleased that the government has acceded to our calls for fairer pay for apprenticeships. The FSB believes in apprenticeships and their value to the economy. A recent survey of our members showed over 80% support an increase in the minimum earnings of apprentices. Raising the minimum wage will create better parity between apprentices and full time staff and help increase training completion rates."
Peter Lambert, Deputy Chief Executive, Business in the Community:
"Apprenticeships enable young people to get the practical training they need to help business meet the skills gap, as well develop young people's talents. We welcome the fact that increasing the minimum wage for apprentices is likely to benefit those in less well paid sectors, such as hairdressing and social care. These sectors typically train more women apprentices."
The Government has more than doubled the number of apprentices over the past ten years and wants to see many more young people and adults taking them up and has committed to increase spending to over £1 billion by 2010/11.
In August John Denham announced that he would cut the red tape around apprenticeships to make it easier for employers to take new apprentices on. He announced that unnecessary bureaucracy such as demands to store paperwork for up to six years, multiple inspection visits and monthly reporting requirements will be ditched at the earliest possible opportunity.

HAP Meet with National Learner Panel - 10/01/2008

On 10th January 2008, the Humber Apprentices Panel (HAP) joined with members of the National Learner Panel and a member of the Yorkshire & Humber Regional Learner Panel to share their progress as a panel to date and to input into the DIUS Apprenticeship review. DIUS was keen to work with panel members to identify how this expansion might best be achieved. Through a combination of presentation and discussion, participants highlighted the key concerns that they had regarding the current apprenticeship situation, and identified a set of recommendations for improvement going forward. The apprentices' concerns and recommendations are outlined below. As apprentices ourselves, we are concerned about the following issues with the current apprenticeship situation: We believe that the status and poor image of apprenticeships is a major stumbling block in encouraging more people to take them up. The image of apprenticeship as a ‘second-best' option to college and other academic forms of education is largely to do with lack of information about the benefits of this way of learning, such as the opportunity to: • earn while you learn • work your way up with hands-on experience • experience the best of both worlds • get the job you want in future • improve your standard of life • broaden your future opportunities • experience a sense of achievement • work at your own pace • Achieve a range of qualifications, offers more than many college courses whilst being a full time employee The public perception that apprenticeship is for ‘less capable' people becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy when accompanied by the intense peer-pressure to join college. We also experience the ambiguity of whether as apprentices we are students or workers. It is easy for us to feel a sense of isolation as a result, and consequently we don't automatically affiliate ourselves with either work-related representative organisations (such as Unison) or student-based ones (such as the National Union of Students). We're not clear on whether we're entitled to join the student-based organisations or to have student discounts cards etc. On a practical level, discount cards would clearly be of use to us as we are on such low wages. But, just as importantly, on a ‘social' level, confusion about whether we're even entitled to these can exacerbate our sense of feeling isolated from students in more academic kinds of learning. In our experience, a good quality apprenticeship depends to a great extent on a good quality employer. Sadly, in addition to the poor perception held by schools and the general public, many employers only have a limited awareness of the benefits of offering apprenticeships. Too few employers appreciate the benefit of employing us as young, motivated and committed learners, who will offer our time and continually developing skills for less than the cost of existing employees, or expectations from newly qualified recruits. An additional incentive for good employers is the opportunity for them to inform our skills development to meet the current and future needs of the businesses. The question of seeking parity with the minimum wage is a hotly debated issue amongst the members of the panel. All of us are in agreement that a minimum of £80 a week is not adequate by any standards and feel very strongly that the issue of low wages needs to be addressed if more people are to be encouraged to take up apprenticeships. However, whilst we are all in agreement that in principle it would be ideal for us to be paid at least the minimum wage, some of us are concerned that in practice making the minimum wage mandatory would discourage employers from offering apprenticeships because of the limited awareness of many employers.
The funding opportunities for apprenticeships decrease sharply for those who are above the age of 19. This discrepancy in the funding regime has an adverse effect on widening the net of apprenticeships as the costs for acquiring training become prohibitive. This issue is affected again by poor employer awareness of the benefits in terms of engaging, committing and contributing to the cost of Apprenticeships. A further factor impacting is the increasing number of young people seeking Apprenticeships at a later stage (often after 2 years at sixth form or FE) which leads onto the panel point about poor information, advice and guidance. Information, advice and guidance about apprenticeships is poor – they are not promoted as widely or systematically as academic options when young people are looking at the next steps during and after leaving school. Many of us only found out about apprenticeship opportunities via word of mouth or by randomly happening upon an advert in the local paper. We received no proper IAG on apprenticeships from either school or Connexions.