National Apprenticeship Week 2024
At OAS, we’re looking forward to celebrating National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) 2024! From 5th – 11th February 2024, we’re joining hundreds of organisations across the country to recognise the significant contribution apprenticeships make to our national workforce. This year’s NAW theme is ‘Skills for Life’, which focuses on how apprenticeships can support apprentices and their employers to get future ready.
Did you know that apprenticeships date back to 1563? This is when the first national apprenticeship system of training was introduced by the Statute of Artificers. Since then, apprenticeships have continued to underpin skills development in the UK for those who want to gain experience, upskill and earn while they learn from intermediate Level 2 to degree Level 7.
What is NAW 2024?
The week-long celebration is a platform that brings businesses and apprentices together to shine a light on the positive impact that apprenticeships make to individuals, businesses, and the wider economy.
While it highlights some of the most exciting apprenticeships opportunities, including in new technologies and sectors, NAW also aims to show potential learners how apprenticeship programmes develop the knowledge and skills they need to build a rewarding career. It’s clear that apprenticeships are fundamental in helping employers train their workforce and in turn, adapt their businesses for future success. This is key to supporting strong economic growth and creating UK jobs!
Why is NAW 2024 important to OAS?
At OAS, we’re proud to be developing the next generation of engineers who will play a crucial role in the future of industry. We work closely with our employer partners to develop pioneering programmes that exceed the knowledge, skills and behaviours that apprentices and their companies require, facilitating enrichment sessions and personal development activities to enable learners to flourish inside and outside the world of work.
Our apprentices are trained by industry experts in an environment at the cutting edge of technology innovation and industry development, which exposes our learners to the very latest equipment. This provides them with a strong foundation of skills which offer immediate and long-term value and impact to employers.
We’re passionate about the fantastic opportunities and benefits that apprenticeships offer to our apprentices and their employers, and we’re committed to raising awareness about why apprenticeships are such a brilliant way to kick-start any career, especially engineering where hands-on experience is key to success.
How is OAS celebrating NAW 2024?
This year, we’re excited to be promoting apprenticeships in different ways. This includes an insightful session with former apprentices, Graham Hoare (MTC Chief Executive Officer) and Heather Clarke (MTC Training Chair) so our learners can hear all about their learning journeys and how their apprenticeships springboarded their careers.
Keep an eye on our socials where we’ll be releasing fresh content in line with this year’s theme, #SkillsForLife, as well as daily themes including Apprenticeships for All, Employer Tuesday, and Apprentice Wednesday.
We’ll round off the week by telling you all about our apprenticeship awards. We’re planning two fabulous awards events at our Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre and Oxfordshire Advanced Skills training centre, where we’re celebrating our 2019 cohorts completing their apprenticeship programmes!
We know how important apprentices are to our communities, so we don’t limit our celebrations to NAW alone! Throughout the year, we visit local schools to inspire young people to explore a career in STEM, hold open days for the public to explore what our training centres have to offer and attend local events and career fairs to spread the word about apprenticeships.
If you’d like to talk to our friendly team of training experts about how an apprenticeship could be your next career move or how to find your next skilled employee, then please get in touch with us via OASPhase2@the-mtc.org.
Visit the Department for Education’s toolkit to find out how you can get involved and plan activities in support of NAW 2024!