Many businesses couldn't tell you the benefits of taking on an apprentice vs a T Level student. Our myth busting guides clearly lay out which option could suit your business.
According to the Open University, most businesses in the UK (91%) have struggled to find workers with the right skills over the past 12 months.
To help combat the national skills shortage, earlier this year the government introduced reforms set out in the Skills for Jobs White Paper designed to address and reduce this skills gap.
At Business West, we are delivering the Workforce for the Future programme which will help you understand your business’ skills gaps and support you to create a plan using available government schemes. You can find out more here.
So, what programmes are available to help your business grow with the right skills?
T-Levels: Inspiring the next generation
T-Levels are two-year courses equivalent to three A-levels. The student’s time is split between 80% classroom learning and 20% industry placement.
Providing 315 hours of work experience in your business, taking on a T-Level student can give you an insight into the level of talent coming into your industry, helping you improve innovation and increase your organisation’s productivity.
T-Levels focus on key subject areas aimed towards educational and trade-based subjects. You can find out more about T-Levels and when the courses will be rolled out in our guide.
If your organisation wants to get involved and is looking for talent in the specific subject and skills areas offered by the T-Level placements, you can start now by offering industry placements in partnership with local colleges and schools.
Business West can provide impartial workforce development planning through the Workforce for the Future programme which will help you plan industry placements as part of your business strategy.
Barry Tugwood, Skills Adviser for Business West said:
“It’s clear that many industry sectors suffer from widening skills gaps and T-Levels offer an important step in enthusing young people into key roles that we could lose when the existing workforce retire or move on.
“These students will already be interested in your chosen field and with the support of their college or school’s 6th form teaching staff can begin to enter into a chosen career pathway that closes those skills gaps.”
To find out more contact our expert team today at skills@businesswest.co.uk or contact the T-Level Industry Placements Hotline on 08000 150 600 (option 4).
Work experience and apprenticeships
A recent survey showed that two thirds of employers look for graduates with relevant work experience. So, not only does taking on a work experience student benefit your business by providing you with a fresh perspective and extra pair of hands, but it also prepares young people for succeeding in the workplace.
Taking on work experience students also gives your existing employees the chance to develop their own skills through mentorship while allowing you to identify which areas of the business need more support and development.
In the last year, young people have not been able to access the same work experience opportunities as many firms have switched to remote working. However, this does not mean that these opportunities are shut off to young people and employers are already seeing the benefits of ‘online delivery’ as they can reach a wider audience.
Julia Gurr, Business Skills Adviser at Business West said:
“There is a real lack of capacity to focus on work preparedness from schools, so we need employers to support students with experiences of work like talks and placements to help expose them to work situations. Then they can learn about business and understand what work is and what employers require.”
You can check out our guide to taking on a work experience student and if you think your company would benefit from workforce development planning, do not hesitate to contact our Skills team.
Apprenticeships
Apprenticeships can help companies compete in the marketplace. Research has shown that 77 % of employers agreed that having an apprentice helped to make their organisations more competitive.
Whether you are planning to take on a new recruit with new skills and fresh ideas and perspectives, or if you want to train an existing staff member, Business West can help you develop a plan and make an apprenticeship program a fully embedded training route for your company.
Your business will receive support from a Training Provider who will take care of all the administration surrounding onboarding your apprentice, while providing the academic part of the course. Find out more about apprenticeships and how we can help by reading our guide.
Internships
An internship is a paid period of work experience in a business which lasts for a fixed amount of time from anywhere between a week to 12 months.
The benefits to an employer include allowing the company to find future employees, increasing productivity of the work force, and creating an opportunity for existing staff to develop their leadership and mentoring skills.
Many universities will offer Internship schemes to students that offer full or part funding to cover the cost of the intern’s wages.
You can find out more about internships and how Business West can help support your company to take on an intern in our guide.
How your business can get started with upskilling your workforce
Whether you’re looking to upskill your current staff, recruit new employees or find out more about government funded programmes such as Kickstart and apprenticeships, our Skills team can help. Visit this page or call 0330 124 4446 or email skills@businesswest.co.uk to hear how we can help you fill skills gaps in your workplace.
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