Apprenticeship road show to visit Saffron Walden and Newport schools

YOUNG people in Saffron Walden and Newport will learn about the benefits of becoming an apprentice thanks to a road show currently touring the county.

Essex County Council launched the ‘Discover your Future’ apprenticeship road on Monday. It will be visiting 23 schools across the county throughout February and March highlighting the opportunities available in the energy, social care, creative & digital, science, technology, engineering and maths sectors.

It will showcase some of the current apprentice’s opinions on the scheme through case study videos. There will be council officers on hand to answer any questions that a young person might have, and encourage them to think about an apprenticeship as a viable career route.

The road show will be visiting Saffron Walden County High School on February 26 and Newport Free Grammar School on March 6.

Cllr Stephen Castle, ECC’s cabinet member for Education and Lifelong Learning, said: “I would encourage any young people that are unsure what to do when they leave school to consider an apprenticeship. It’s a chance to learn skills which will enable you to progress in a career and gain employment.

“An apprentice has the chance to earn money whilst learning. They will spend some time with a training provider and the rest working in an Essex based business.”

The road show has been developed following the success of the first phase of the apprenticeship scheme. Since 2009, over 2,000 young people have signed up to be an Essex apprentice. Throughout the first phase (July 2009 – March 2012) there was an 82 per cent increase in the number of young people in Essex that chose an apprenticeship. Of these, 70pc of them have secured employment and a further 19pc went onto further education.

The new road show aims to attract even more young people to applying for an apprenticeship.

For more information about the scheme and to hear about the latest vacancies, visit facebook.com/essexapprentice and like the page.