York celebrates National Apprenticeship Week

City of York Council is celebrating the value, benefits and opportunities apprenticeships bring to individuals and businesses during National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) this week [10-16 February].

NAW will highlight how apprenticeships are an excellent option to consider for young people wishing to start a career, for employees looking to progress in their current role or retrain for a new career, or for employers needing to fill skills gaps to help grow their business.

Numerous apprenticeship opportunities are available within York’s key and growth sectors including Hospitality, Engineering,  Health Care and Early Years.  

Councillor Pete Kilbane, Deputy Leader of the Council and Executive Member for Economy and Culture, including Skills and Apprenticeships, said: “Prioritising high quality skills and learning for all our residents is a key commitment of our Council Plan.

“National Apprenticeship Week provides an opportunity for us all to celebrate our amazing apprentices in the city, as well as highlighting the fantastic advantages apprenticeships can bring for employees and employers.”

City of York Council supports apprenticeships in York through its impartial Apprenticeship Hub, which offers information and advice to potential apprentices and local organisations, as well as through the Apprenticeship Levy Transfer scheme.

The national scheme enables apprenticeship levy-paying employers to use a percentage of their levy to fully fund the apprenticeship training and assessment costs, from entry level to master’s degree level, for small to medium sized businesses in their area, helping connect them to their future workforce or boost productivity by upskilling existing teams.

To date, the council has approved over £380,000 worth of apprenticeship levy transfer requests to support both new apprentice recruits and existing employees in York businesses to develop their skills.

For free, impartial information emailyork.apprenticeships@york.gov.uk or visit www.york.gov.uk/yorkapprenticeships.

For vacancies to go www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship and for information about T Levels got to tlevels.gov.uk