More apprenticeship opportunities are desperately needed across the country, with a new report showing that almost half of young people in Middlesbrough would opt to take part in one if there were more available.
Research company ICM’s new report revealed that 47 per cent of young people would choose work-based learning, and are only being stopped in their quest by the lack of availability. The Evening Gazette and The Journal on Tyneside newspaper have as a result launched a new campaign which aims to encourage more young people to begin the hunt for an apprenticeship, and also to boost the number of employers and companies offering the opportunities.
The ‘Proud To Back Apprentices’ campaign is hoping to encourage people back into work in the area, and comes as further details from the ICM report are revealed, which show that, nationally, 56 per cent of young people who are studying at university would like to do an apprenticeship.
The ICM report also reported that 66 per cent of young people across the country who are already employed, but receiving no training, would also be keen to do an apprenticeship.
Skills Minister, Matthew Hancock told the Gazette Live: “Apprenticeships are fast becoming the norm for school leavers who want to earn while they learn and forge a successful career, as this data shows. We are introducing more than 40 new higher apprenticeships this year so young people can now enter areas as diverse as space engineering and law.”
Meanwhile, Sue Price, divisional director for the National Apprenticeship Service in the North, told the newspaper that she was extremely keen that more employers in Middlesbrough were able to “reap the benefits that apprenticeships have to offer by providing fantastic opportunities to young people.”