This week is Apprenticeship Week and to mark the occasion a collection of providers from the fashion industry came together to discuss the reality of Apprenticeships and how to move forward.

Skillfast-UK is the Sector Skills Council for fashion and textiles.

1.  Develop and broker a "Sector Skills Agreement" – a "deal" which brings employers together with funding agencies and learning providers to break down the key barriers to improving skills and training

2.  Transform learning supply, by helping the mainstream education system to understand employers' needs, and by developing constructive relationships between employers and institutions

3.  Ensure qualifications are fit-for-purpose.  If we are to use qualifications as basis for training, then qualifications should reflect the way the industry works, and the skills employers need.  We intend to revise qualifications that are not fit-for-purpose, develop new qualifications where they are needed, and "delist" qualifications that are no longer relevant to the industry's needs.

The event began with Jamie Petrie, Development Director, of The National Skills Academy, providing an overview of the fashion and textiles sector. He discussed rationalisation of qualifications, Skillfast-UK's business plan and targets and college opportunities to provide training skills.

Work experience in fashion and textiles: lessons from recent research with designer makers

Points discussed:

Why is this research important?

Work experience placements are known to add value

Evidence suggests their quality is variable

Graduates internships are now part of government thinking

Designer-makers are a growing source of placements

Skillfast-UK is proposing a work experience ‘blueprint'

Exchange of ideas, knowledge and technical skills

Understanding of how a business is run

Meeting people, making contacts

Active involvement

Not a dogsbody

Work shadowing but opportunity to work on own initiative

Enjoyable experience

Relevant addition to CV

In-kind payment – advice, support, access to resources

Meaningful contribution to the business

What does the business require from the student?

Personal attributes

Basic employability

Initiative

Business ethics

Awareness of health and safety

Employer is realistic about existing skills and experience

Business and marketing skills

CAD knowledge

Demand for placements outstrips supply

Many applications are poor/lack professionalism

Prefer a direct approach from student but referrals help

Looking for CV, covering letter, portfolio, ideas for the work placement, understanding of the business

Assess through face-to-face meeting or even pre-placement project

 
What are the constraints on offering placements?

Lack of space

Health and safety

Financial and travel

Academic schedule

Time / effort of employer

Hassel of in-depth placement report

Risk of unsuitable candidate

Intellectual property

 
Conclusions

In a group discussion after the presentation it was decided that a ‘blueprint' for employees would be extremely beneficial when offering work placements.

Some key lessons:

Students can improve their mindset and their approach to the employer – statement of responsibility

Institutions can consider way in which work placements are structured and advice they provide to students

Businesses can ensure that they adopt best practice when offering / delivering a placement.

Chris Hall, Development Manager of Newham College then discussed ‘Apprenticeships, the reality'

What is an Apprenticeship?

A National Vocational Qualification (NVQ at level 2 or 3)

A technical certificate

Key Skills

Increasing Participation

Apprenticeships are a key area in Government strategic planning to increase productivity and economic growth.

Starting point has been Lord Leitch's aspirations for 400,000 Apprenticeships in England by 2020

Entitlement to an Apprenticeship place for each suitably qualified young person from 2013

Aiming for significant growth in Apprenticeships for those aged 25 or over – with additional funding

What has been the experience of learners?

All learners are very positive (once you have outlined the learner journey)

All learners are employed status which helps

Working on low assessor/learner ratio (average 1:20) increases involvement of the both the assessor and trained mentors within the companies

Enjoy the total involvement of the industry centred around the Technical Certificate

Celebration of achievement

How much value is placed on an Apprenticeship?

This depend largely on the company providing the apprenticeships and the aspirations of the learner

The relationship between the company and the provider is extremely important to ensure that the apprenticeship is well structured and well controlled in terms of enhancing the opportunities for both

 
Apprenticeships – Affect on the business

In the early stages the programme can take a lot of management time to ensure a success. Young people, first job, lack of understanding of work ethic etc

Considerable support needed

On a positive note – once the apprenticeships ‘Settle in' there is a fantastic opportunity to implement a learning environment within the company if it does not already exist

Succession planning

Strategic Development

Ensure the balance and support is right within the company in terms of encouragement

 
Do's and Don'ts

Don't think it's a quick and easy way to increase your bottom line

Don't under estimate the time and cost to jump through hoops

Do make sure you have all the resources necessary to run a successful programme

Do make sure you have industry competent staff who can work with both the apprentices and the management/supervisors within the companies

Do enjoy the process of learning with the workers

Do enhoy seeing the satisfaction of achievement at awards events

Do enjoy the thanks of the management within the companies for the work you carry out.

FashionCapital would like to thank Skillfast-UK and all the guest speakers for a very informative event and fantastic networking opportunity.