The Apprenticeships all-party group met on Tuesday to discuss
apprenticeships and lifelong learning.
For many years, apprenticeships have been considered a pathway
for school leavers and young people, but in reality, they can
also be a viable and attractive option for older workers. Almost
half of all apprentices in 2018 were between 19 and 24 years old,
with 12% aged between 45 and 54, and 3% over 55 years old.
The agenda for the session was to examine the current pathways to
Degree Apprenticeships and how to boost them for older workers,
as well as highlighting successful apprenticeship programmes and
hearing from older apprentices. The group also considers the
current skills provision on offer for older workers and how
effectively apprenticeships fit within the wider skills
eco-system.
The minutes for the meeting will be sent when they are available,
but the following is a read-out of the discussion:
- The panel discussed the position of teachers who were used to
working with students aged 18-24. Older workers had a different
style of working/learning and so this needs to be built into
delivery.
- Being able to offer later learning opportunities had enabled
businesses to remain agile to the changing skills landscape.
- It was agreed that prejudices towards older apprentices had
certainly shifted in recent years as uptake had increased.
- There was a discussion on the Government’s levelling up
agenda and agreement that apprenticeships plugged a huge gap
here, enabling people to access opportunities in their areas.
- The panel agreed that apprenticeships were a great success
story but to make them even stronger, they needed to be improved
for SME’s.
