Over the years, apprenticeships have gained traction as a popular route into employment.
The structured training programmes give school leavers the chance to work towards a qualification, gain skills and knowledge and earn money at the same time. While there is a huge benefit to school leavers wanting to break into the employment world, employing apprentices can have huge benefits for employers too. Particularly in some sectors which are experiencing bigger challenges to find the right calibre of talent, apprenticeships are a good way of plugging the skills gap. This notion was corroborated by a 2018 report commissioned by The Open University which found that three in five business leaders (61%) agreed that the Apprenticeship Levy – a UK tax on employers which can be used to fund apprenticeship training – could help to reduce the skills shortage over the next five years.