Apprentices at The Sheffield College championed in new campaign

Apprentices and employers training the next generation of talent are being championed by The Sheffield College’s Apprenticeships+ service this week.

National Apprenticeship Week celebrates the positive impact of apprenticeships on learners and employers as well as local communities and economies.

During the week, the college is highlighting the support that it offers to young people and adults, as well as employers, through its Apprenticeships+ service.

Running from 5th to 11th February 2024, the theme for this year’s National Apprenticeship Week campaign is ‘Skills for Life’.

Daniele Palacios, Vice Principal, Apprenticeships and Work Based Learning, The Sheffield College, said: “Apprenticeships offer exciting career opportunities.

“Employers in many different sectors are keen to recruit and train apprentice talent in Sheffield and beyond to address skills gaps and help their businesses to grow.

“We would urge more young people and adults, and employers, to get in touch and find out how they can benefit from choosing an apprenticeship.”

Apprenticeships enable young people and adults to earn as they learn, study a qualification and go further in a career. Currently, the college has apprenticeship vacancies in roles including accounting, business administration, communications and engineering administration.

One learner who is benefitting from starting an apprenticeship is gas apprentice Carrington Monroe, 20. Carrington is training with Force Contracts Ltd, based in Sheffield, a family run business of 40-years-plus that specialises in heating, air conditioning and gas engineering.

Carrington said: “I think it’s the best way to learn. You get real work experience and learning whilst earning a wage. At Force, I am paid an enhanced wage not just the apprenticeship minimum,” added Carrington, whose ambition is to become a fully qualified gas engineer.

“I’m getting on well, I enjoy working with everyone and learning new skills. I am getting to work on a wide variety of jobs and it’s all good experience.”

Victoria Roberts, Commercial Manager, Force Contracts Ltd, said: “We have a history of taking on local young people and putting them through their apprenticeship and qualifications so they become heating engineers. In this difficult recruitment market, apprenticeships are a fabulous way to identify potential great employees and help them grow their career within your organisation.

“We like taking on people who are keen to learn and who want to try new things and become multi-skilled qualified engineers in various disciplines. Training apprentices to our skills needs helps our company to grow. Apprenticeships are the best way for us.

“We identified Carrington early on as a potential engineer as he came through the Force Contracts employer skills academy at the college. He impressed us with his participation and curiosity so when he applied at the end of his Level 3 plumbing qualification, we were delighted to employ him.

“We have also taken on another apprentice, an Operations Administrator, Jack, who has achieved distinctions across the board. Jack is vital to the operations department and supports our Operations Director with our major restaurant accounts like Nando’s and Wagamama.”

Force Contacts Ltd is involved in the college’s award-winning employer skills academies programme which enables employers to mould talent to skills needs. Employers co-design the curriculum to simulate real-life work and provide masterclasses, projects, workplace or industry relevant visits and placements to enhance students’ employability skills.

Victoria added: “The college approached us to have a Force Contracts employer skills academy which has helped spur on our apprenticeship recruitment and given us an opportunity to give back to the next generation of plumbers and gas engineers.”

The Sheffield College is one of largest apprenticeships providers in the region and its provision is Ofsted graded ‘good’. During the last academic year 2022/23, around 1,890 number of apprentices were training with the college involving more than 890 employers.

Visit Apprenticeships+ to find out more. Follow @SheffCol @ShefcolAppsPlus #NAW2024 #SkillsForLife

Pictured: Carrington Monroe, 20, is an apprentice at Force Contracts Ltd.