Make UK has seen a 41% increase in its intake of engineering apprentices, highlighting a ‘great appetite’ for apprenticeships amongst both young people and employers.
Make UK fulfils the role as a representative voice of UK manufacturing, representing 20,000 companies of all sizes across engineering, manufacturing, technology and the wider industrial sector. Some 5000 business are directly members of Make UK.
The organisation’s latest cohort of engineering apprentices at its Technology Hub in Aston, Birmingham totalled 170, and represented a 41% year-on-year increase in intake.
The apprentices, who will be studying a range of courses from Level 2 Welding Operator to Level 3 Engineering Technician, will spend the next 12 months with Make UK, learning the technical side of their chosen specialism, as well as other areas like health and safety and time management, before returning to their respective employers.
Stephen Mitchell, director of apprentices and technical training at Make UK, said, ‘It’s fantastic to accept the latest intake of apprentices and see a full return to face-to-face teaching.
‘The increase in numbers shows that there is a great appetite for apprenticeships amongst both young people and employers alike. It’s vital that we work together to help bridge the skills gap which manufacturing currently faces.’
Make UK is backing a new initiative by support platform Next Gen Makers – Engineering Apprenticeships: Best Practice Programme –, launched to help manufacturing and engineering employers retain apprenticeship talent and maximise their investment in young people. Make UK will help promote the initiative, designed to support firms to overcome skills challenges and build talent for future success.
