Championing Engagement in the “New Normal”
Kenneth Barker joined EY in September 2019 and writes about his experiences as an apprentice Representative Engagement Champion while remote working for National Apprenticeship Week 2021.
'Build the Future' is the theme for NAW2021, taking place between 8 and 14 February 2021, aiming to encourage everyone to consider how apprenticeships help individuals to build the skills and knowledge required for a rewarding career.
National Apprenticeship Week 2021 is the 14th annual celebration of the positive impact of apprenticeships, and the role they play in ensuring the future workforce is equipped with the skills it needs. The themes of the week always encourage the UK to get fired up about apprenticeships—to be vocal about all the benefits they bring—and we at techUK are certainly feel the heat!
The tech sector has always been an enthusiastic advocate and user of apprenticeships, and with Government committing to level up on skills, it is now time to make sure that apprenticeships work for everyone. Although the number of apprenticeships starts may be down, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies and ICT apprenticeships continue to remain in the top six sector areas of apprenticeship starts in England.
Employer surveys and input provided to IFATE by Tech Partnership Degrees, a company that recently merged with techUK earlier in the year, found that the proportion of starts on the digital degree apprenticeship that are under the age of 25 is massively higher than other apprenticeship starts. The digital degree apprenticeship also has almost twice the proportion of those from ethnic minority backgrounds as all apprentices.
As part of techUK’s National Apprenticeship Week campaign, we’ll be showcasing the brilliant apprentices within our member organisations and speaking to those who hire them on our website.
This week remains a fantastic way to showcase different routes into the tech sector, and throughout, we’ll be posting insights, videos and interviews, where apprentices tell the inspiring stories of driving their career forward.
Get involved with the conversation using #NAW2021 and #BuildTheFuture on twitter.
Kenneth Barker joined EY in September 2019 and writes about his experiences as an apprentice Representative Engagement Champion while remote working for National Apprenticeship Week 2021.
Louis Field, Marketing Apprentice at Cloud Gateway reflects on his time as an apprentice at an award-winning tech start-up helping businesses to keep up with the pace of change in technology.
Jenna Griffin, Policy Programme Manager at BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT writes about the increased capabilities to deliver on mass since National Apprenticeship Week 2020.
Josie Hedges, PwC's Tax Apprentice explores her life as an apprentice.
Kealey Meldrum, Cross Functional Degree Apprentice, looks at the her career journey to and within Cisco.
George Bridgman, Tax Apprentice at PwC discusses his reasons for choosing an apprenticeship and why he would recommend people to consider applying for one.
Read about why Microsoft business apprentices chose this path to kick-start their careers.
Daniel Bolarinwa, Technology Apprentice at Accenture writes about his learnings since joining the apprenticeship programme virtually in September 2020.
Guest blog for National Apprenticeship Week by Wipro IT Consultancy Apprentice, Maryum Khanum Mirza exploring her apprenticeship journey.
This National Apprenticeship Week, James Reilly, IT Support Apprentice at M247 provides an insight into how he balances work with studying.
More than 850 apprenticeships and 400 graduate roles are available, the highest number it has ever recruited in a single year, despite the ongoing pandemic. Around 75% of apprenticeships are based in the North of England.
The new recruits are expected to start in September 2021 and will support the telecom’s scheme to build and extend the UK’s 5G coverage, as well as gain experience in a number of areas, from engineering and customer service to applied research and cyber security.
Chizara Ogbonna, second-year Software Development apprentice at Accenture writes about her decision to do an apprenticeship and what led her to Accenture.
Guest Blog: Kyle Edwards, Apprentice Project Manager for Atos UK&I, looks back at his reasoning behind choosing an apprenticeship over a degree and why you should consider it too.
Dylan Morrison, Modern Apprentice & Senior Sales Assistant has written about his experiences going from work experience to apprentice at Dell Technologies.
Abu Bakr Ghulam Quadir reflects on how he became a Cisconian.
Gillian Bink, Senior Category Manager, Surface at Microsoft writes about how managers can deliver a pathway to a great career via apprenticeships.
Wipro's Sebastian Aleksander Biegala, IT Consultancy Apprentice (Project Engineer) writes about his decision to do a degree apprenticeship and plans post-degree.
Hannah Whelan is an Early Careers Recruitment Advisor at Fujitsu who is also a former Business and Administration Apprentice. Read her story.
Nicola Anderson, Head of Apprenticeship Development, Thales explores why she excited to celebrate the variety of apprenticeships available within Thales.
National Apprenticeship Week blog: Alice Neil, HR Administration Apprentice at BAE Systems Applied Intelligence provides insight into her typical day in her role.
Abi Stokes provides an insight into the role as an Apprentice Software Developer at Capgemini.
Policy Manager, Skills, Talent and Diversity, techUK
Nimmi Patel is the Policy Manager for Skills, Talent and Diversity at techUK.
She works on all things skills policy, focusing on upskilling and retrain. She is committed to embedding diversity in the UK tech pipeline from classroom to boardroom working with partners such as the Tech Talent Charter and the WISE Campaign. Nimmi also leads techUK’s immigration work, collaborating with techUK members and stakeholders to create an environment that attracts the best talent to the UK.
Prior to joining the team, she worked for the UK Labour Party and New Zealand Labour Party and holds a BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of Manchester and is currently studying MA Strategic Communications at King’s College London.