Apprenticeships and T Levels can help develop a skilled local government workforce
National Apprenticeship Week 2023 (6-12 February) shines a light on the excellent opportunities technical education brings to young people embarking on a career in local government.
The theme for this year’s apprenticeship week is ‘Skills for Life’.
The week gives local government a chance to reflect on how apprenticeships and T Levels enable young people to develop the skills and knowledge required for a rewarding career and create a workforce fit for the future.
There has been a transformation in technical education over recent years.
Many councils have incorporated apprenticeships and T Levels into their workforce development strategy as a route for young people to begin their career in local government. Councils are using technical education programmes to diversify the age range of their employees, to increase workforce capacity, and to attract local talent with innovative ideas.
“Apprenticeships offer councils opportunities to invest in the workforce of the future”
Apprenticeships offer councils significant opportunities to invest in the local government workforce of the future.
Councils provide a wide range of services and apprenticeship standards, which match up with hundreds of our job roles, offering plenty of opportunities to ‘grow our own’.
Through the apprenticeship levy, councils have created more than 70,000 apprenticeships since 2017, in more than 200 fields, from IT to social care and cultural services to HR.
Rochdale Borough Council – named as one of the top 100 apprenticeship employers in England (2020) – has had 492 apprentices join its highly acclaimed programme over the past five years.
The council sees apprenticeships as an investment in developing the skills of a robust workforce for the future, with opportunities across a wide range of services such as education, horticulture, and finance.
T Levels were launched in 2020 and were developed in collaboration with employers and education providers. The qualification, equivalent to three A Levels, allows the student to develop their practical skills and knowledge, and apply it to a work setting through industry placements.
Despite the challenges brought by the pandemic, 92 per cent of the first cohort of T Level students achieved a pass or above before moving on to higher education, an apprenticeship or skilled employment.
Leicester City Council has embraced T Levels and apprenticeships as an entry to employment for young people at the start of a young person’s career.
The council’s T Level industry placements cover a wide range of subjects, from construction and engineering to digital and business administration.
The practical and technical skills developed through these industry placements can be later applied to a permanent post or a Level 4 apprenticeship.
This National Apprenticeship Week, let’s take a moment to appreciate the success of our apprentices and T Level students, and recognise the value they bring to each and every one of our councils.