Bath Building Society Staff with Ben King, apprentice, second from right
INVESTING IN APPRENTICES
Bath College is the largest apprenticeship provider in Bath and North East Somerset. Based across two campuses, one in the centre of Bath and one in Radstock, the College is able to focus on different sectors regionally to suit their students and business partners.
The College currently offers apprenticeships in a wide variety of vocational and technical areas including Accountancy, Business Administration, Catering, Customer Service, Hospitality and a range of Manufacturing Technology, Engineering( Plumbing, Electrotechnical, Refrigeration), Building and Construction. The College also delivers more specialist provision such as, Horticulture, Stonemasonry and Veterinary Nursing.
Programmes at the College have been created to support students develop the skills necessary to progress in their careers and / or onto higher education. This includes a combination of short and long qualifications with a wide range of technical and vocational pathways. The curriculum is aligned to the local and regional needs, as identified by Ofsted and the College’ s work with employers, resulting in essential commercial and industrial input into curriculum planning.
Ofsted reported that“ Teachers plan a good range of interesting, industry-related additional activities. As a result, learners develop high standards of professional behaviour and strong personal, social and employability skills. For example, performing arts learners benefit from a strong partnership with‘ The Egg’, which is part of the local theatre. Hair and beauty learners learn an advanced and diverse range of techniques from visiting guest practitioners which broaden their skills.”
Graded‘ good’ by Ofsted in January 2018, Bath College’ s provision continues to grow in strength and value, offering increasingly high quality opportunities to the young people and businesses in its local demographic.
Bath College has recently been recognised as one of the top 10 % of FE Colleges in England for employer satisfaction. This has been reinforced and acknowledged in the January Ofsted report:
“ Partners and local employers have much confidence in the College. They contribute effectively to developing the curriculum to reflect local and regional priorities such as construction, and the creative and digital industries. Learners benefit from these good partnerships by securing good work experience and placements.
Bath College has recently been recognised as one of the top 10 % of FE Colleges in England for employer satisfaction
“ As a result, they gain a better understanding of their future careers. For example, learners in catering experience the high expectations of their vocation when working alongside nationally renowned chefs.”
The College continues to improve apprenticeship achievement rates, which are now significantly above the national average.
Laurel Penrose, Principal and Chief Executive of Bath College explained that:“ We have learnt to be proactive rather than reactive, so have built our Business and Apprenticeship Hub and have a newly appointed Commercial Director to drive the employability and business agenda forward.
“ We are finding despite the confusion generated by the apprenticeship levy, partnerships with local businesses are continuing to grow with more young people choosing apprenticeships as a gateway into employment rather than university.
“ We have worked hard to ensure that the overall 61 % decline nationally in apprenticeships hasn’ t affected us.”
Partnerships with local businesses are continuing to grow for the College as more and more young people are choosing apprenticeships as a gateway into employment rather than university. Ben King, a Bath College student and apprentice at Bath Building Society says that“ For me, an apprenticeship is better than going into a job from uni as I’ m building my skillset now while I’ m at College.
“ I’ m in a business environment, answering phones, working in an office, learning the skills on the job”.
Over 130,000 companies offer apprentice places because they understand the benefits that apprentices bring to their business – increased productivity, improved competitiveness and a committed and competent work-force.
To find out more contact: Apprenticeships Manager Robert Aldous on( 01225) 312191 extension number 821 or 07791766161 or e-mail: Robert. Aldous @ bathcollege. ac. uk or Apprenticeships @ bathcollege. ac. uk
For more information: www. bathcollege. ac. uk enquiries @ bathcollege. ac. uk 01225 312191 ext. 720
16 THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2018