National Apprenticeship Week

The National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) this year is February 10 – 16 and the theme this year is ‘Skills for Life’.  This is the 18^th year that NAW has been running, after starting in 2007.

The week is to celebrate the new talent we have in our communities, and the positive impact that apprentices can make to individuals, businesses and ultimately, the wider economy.

Why become an apprentice?

There are many different opportunities to become an apprentice and a great way for anyone to get into the world of work. Aimed at people aged 16 or over, it combines working with studying.

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• It’s a great option for young people wanting to start a career
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• A way for employees to progress in their current role or retrain for a new career (apprentices
• can be new or current employees)
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• Apprentices can help to fill skill gaps in businesses
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How do businesses take on apprentices?

The apprenticeship must last at least a year but can also last up to 5 years.

As a business you have the responsibility to ensure:

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• The apprentice works with experienced staff
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• They learn job-specific skills
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• They get time off during their working week for their apprenticeship training.
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Once you choose your apprentice you have to find an organisation that offers the training with the right level of skills.

You have to create an apprenticeship agreement and training plan.

You may be eligible for government funding to train an apprentice.

3 Benefits of having apprentices

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3. Having someone young in your business, possibly starting work for the first time can
4. bring fresh perspectives and new ideas.
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• Because you are involved in training your apprentices, the employee working with them
• will also enhance their own skills as they pass on their knowledge and expertise.
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• Taking on apprentices can aid staff retention; surveys have shown that apprentices tend
• to be more loyal than non-apprentices.
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How can businesses get involved during NAW?

If you have apprentices in your business, take the opportunity of this week to share the good work that they do and celebrate their achievements:

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• Create posts for social media use the hashtag #NAW2025 when posting. 
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• Take photos of your apprentices working with the skill they’re training in, to share
• on social media
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• Do either video interviews, or short written interviews of them talking about what they
• enjoy about their work; how they got started, their apprenticeship journey etc.
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• If you run a larger company and have several apprentices, create your own apprentice
• celebration event.
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• Talk about what it’s like to have apprentices in your business and how they are helping
• to fill skill gaps.
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• There are opportunities to feature in a Department for Education case study, so if you
• are interested, there are links for forms in the NAW Toolkit.                     
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If you would like to talk to me about how I can help you with your PR, please contact me on: