Quality not quantity

As the General Election looms and May 7^th draws ever nearer, two things are inevitable: cheesy politicians and party political broadcasts are going to be clogging up the TV channels and false promises will be made by the bucket load.

Not surprisingly, apprenticeships feature highly on the agenda and recently, Labour leader Ed Miliband said his party would guarantee apprenticeships for every school leaver who ‘gets the grades’ by 2020. This basically equates to young people who gain Level 3 qualifications which is equivalent to two A Levels. Those with two A Levels would qualify – those with just GCSEs wouldn’t.

In the blue corner Tory MP Grant Shapps says his party has pledged to cap benefits to fund three million apprenticeships. It’s a crucial vote winner for all parties, but political jockeying aside, we all know how important it is to bridge the skills gap and ensure that the UK has an engineering and manufacturing future for decades to come.

In a recent speech at the JLR factory in Wolverhampton, our Ed commented: “It is about time to match the aspirations of our young people with the high quality apprenticeships they deserve.”

I’m glad apprenticeships are getting the recognition they deserve and the priority the UK desperately craves but the emphasis here needs to be on quality rather than quantity. High quality advanced apprenticeships are what we need and companies (within reason) should be able to tailor the apprenticeship to suit their specific needs.

Personally I believe that two years is probably too short for an apprenticeship to be of any value – I did four years; my Dad did five. An apprenticeship is a serious undertaking between a company and an individual for the mutual benefit of both. They should never be seen as a quick fix to a labour shortage or a means of massaging government figures. My Dad had to countersign my indentures – this is serious stuff.

John Longworth, director general of the British Chamber of Commerce observed: “Mr Miliband is right to focus on the importance of high quality apprenticeships and collectively we can work harder to deliver more of them. We also favour giving employers more control over funding so that companies can train apprentices with the skills to suit their needs.”

Peter Finegold, head of education at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers echoed the sentiment: “We broadly support the principles outlined in Ed Miliband’s speech for an Apprenticeship Guarantee, but would urge all political parties to resist the temptation to offer ambitious targets at the expense of quality.”

We’re seeing a welcome emphasis shift from simply backing apprenticeships per se towards advocating advanced and quality apprenticeships that offer real value. Irrespective of what political party wins the election – our future depends on it.