Remember earlier this summer when BT received more applicants for the 221 places on its apprenticeship scheme than the total applications to Oxford University?
Well, it seems the interest in vocational training didn't end there. City & Guilds, which runs vocational qualifications, said interest this summer was up 20% from last year — and it was a similar story at the National Apprenticeship Service, with online applications nearly doubling from 22,550 in April to 41,940 in July.
Along with a surge of interest in a more vocational way of learning, even jobs once the preserve of graduates have opened up to apprentices — MP Rob Halfon recently welcomed 20-year-old Andy Huckle to assist him in the Commons — he'll also be working towards a level 3 apprenticeship in business administration one day a week at Harlow college.
So, inspired by the number of people seeking a vocation route into their career, we've assembled a panel of experts to answer your questions about how such training is valued in the job market. We'll also be looking at vocational routes available to both school leavers and those at different stages in their career — after all, the government has pledged to create 50,000 more adult apprenticeships over the coming months — so join us on 8 November at 1pm.
Our panel:
Emma Bowers is an adviser with Next Step, the adult careers service. Emma is a professionally qualified adviser who has been delivering careers advice for the past eight years.
Gareth Griffiths is head of curriculum and qualifications policy at the Young People's Learning Agency. Gareth has worked on policy and practice to close the attainment gap and improve outcomes for disadvantaged young learners. He has been closely involved with providing advice and guidance to young people for more than 25 years.
Sue Hill is UK commercial director at City & Guilds. Sue is responsible managing sales and customer relations.
Ginny Lunn is director of policy and development at youth charity The Prince's Trust.
James Price is deputy business development manager at the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT), a qualification and membership body for accounting staff. James manages the business relationships between AAT and employers training and developing their staff with AAT qualifications.
Matthew Poyiadgi is vice president international for CompTIA, the global IT trade body which represents the industry around the world. Part of CompTIA's role in advancing the industry is to identify skills gaps and develop industry-recognised certifications to fill them.
Richard Marsh manages the Employer Services team at the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS). He is responsible for the quality of service offered by NAS to employers that have, or wish to have, apprentices.
Tom Lee is director of vocational product management at Pearson UK. Education and information company Pearson is responsible for the BTEC qualification. We'll also be joined by Harry Smith, a former BTEC student of Graphic Design and Jenna Bailey, who is also a former BTEC student and curriculum leader for beauty therapy at Ashton Community Science College.
