Today marks the start of National Apprenticeship Week 2012 (Monday 6 February – Friday 10 February). Back for its fifth year and run by the National Apprenticeship Service, it is hoped 2012 will be bigger and better than ever with people across the country getting involved.

It’s the one week of the year that all eyes are on apprenticeships, and it offers a great platform for employers, training providers, awarding organisations, government bodies and politicians to talk about apprenticeships and the value they can add to businesses and the economy, as well as giving vocationally talented people of all ages the opportunity to develop their skills in the workplace.

There are so many ways that apprenticeships add value: for the employer, they deliver well trained staff that can contribute to future growth; for learners, apprenticeships offer an excellent way to earn and learn and move up the career ladder; and for the UK economy, apprenticeships are vital for filling current skills gaps and helping businesses compete in a global environment.

However, just one in 10 employers hires apprentices, despite growing demand. So the challenge for business and government is to support the creation of more apprenticeship places. And careers information, advice and guidance is still not robust enough to fully inform young people of the opportunities apprenticeships can offer. That’s why National Apprenticeship Week is so important – it’s a brilliant opportunity to highlight the benefits apprenticeships can deliver to all parties.

One organisation that will be highly active during National Apprenticeship Week is City & Guilds, the UK’s leading vocational education organisation and apprenticeship provider. Last year, City & Guilds launched Million Extra – their commitment to work with NAS, the government, employers, training providers and learners to help ensure one million new apprenticeship starts by summer 2013.

This year City & Guilds is focusing on highlighting the value of apprenticeships and continuing to help stakeholders navigate the system. For this reason, they commissioned a comprehensive research report with economic research body SQW to understand the economic value of apprenticeships. The research shows how, if a million extra apprenticeships were created by 2013, UK businesses would be boosted by £459 million per annum, totalling £4.37 billion by 2020. An additional £1.2 billion in tax revenues would also be generated in the same time period.

It is clear that our economy relies on the vocational skills of millions of people up and down the country, so giving people the opportunities to progress through vocational routes will be key to our future economic success. City & Guilds will be celebrating the importance of apprenticeships this week at a parliamentary reception which will bring together politicians and employers from across the UK. Up for discussion are not only the report findings, but the value apprenticeships can add to business. Skills minister John Hayes will be speaking alongside shadow skills minister Gordon Marsden, City & Guilds CEO Chris Jones, and Costain’s corporate development director Alex Vaughan.

National Apprenticeship Week events will be run by many different organisations across the country this week, which is great news for apprenticeships; such involvement and participation is key if help more people reap the very real benefits apprenticeships can deliver.

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Kate Shoesmith is head of policy and corporate affairs at City & Guilds

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Photo: apprenticeships.org.uk