Protecting Apprenticeships

I myself started my career as an apprentice with The Juice Academy – the UK’s first industry led social media and digital marketing apprenticeship.

After completing the scheme and going on to support others on the course, the general topic of apprenticeships has become something I’m very passionate about. It must then come as no surprise that a recent change in law around apprenticeships caught my eye.

The UK Government announced plans to give apprenticeships legal protection, making unauthorised use of the term illegal. Not only does this prevent people abusing the term, it also puts it on an equal level as the university term ‘degree’ – at last a step towards equality!

The plans, which sit under the Enterprise Bill, will mean that for a business to legally describe training as an apprenticeship, they will have to provide at least one year of training as well as meeting an array of requirements. In turn, the Government will have the authority to take action if the term is misused as a way of promoting low-quality courses.

As well as helping to reach the goal of three million apprentices by 2020, the new legislation will put training schemes on an equal level as university courses. In fact, skills minster Nick Boles commented: “If university graduates have their moment in the sun, so should people who undertake apprenticeships. Businesses know their value so it’s high time they were recognised both by the public and in law as being equal to degrees.”

I couldn’t agree more with this statement, especially after seeing for myself the calibre of people choosing to do apprenticeships across the North West alone. I, along with the many other ambassadors, will continue to keep striving forward, putting apprenticeships at the forefront of people’s minds.

You can read more about the legislation here.