JTL ambassadors seek to get message through to school leavers

  Posted by: electime      19th October 2017

Less than 1 in 12 students (8 per cent) aged 15 to 18 in school or college in 2016/2017 are being advised to seek a work-based apprenticeship afterwards, according to new YouGov survey findings commissioned by the leading work-based learning provider JTL, the Electrical Contractors Association and the Joint Industry Board.

In contrast, some 85 per cent of students are instead encouraged to go into further or higher education, such as university study, after finishing at school or college. Just 3 per cent were advised to seek a job.

In addition, over one-quarter of students (28 per cent) said they had never even been spoken to about work-based apprenticeships by their school or college.

These findings came as students found themselves needing to make decisions about their future career paths. It’s unlikely to equip them with the information they need to make a serious decision about their futures. It appears the information they are getting is not offering a balanced range of options to allow them to make an informed decision about what might be best for them and their futures.

Liam Sammon, Commercial Director of leading apprenticeship training organisation JTL, said: “There are some fantastic opportunities out there for young people to start an apprenticeship and embark on a career in a highly skilled and well paid job. However, schools need to do more to highlight the benefits of apprenticeships, and we look forward to working with them on this agenda.”

JTL currently works with more than 6,000 young men and women across England and Wales who have chosen to pursue an electrical or plumbing apprenticeship rather than stay within a traditional academic environment. Advanced apprenticeships are no longer a second-fiddle option to continuing classroom-based learning – they’re rigorous and challenging and they lead to a whole raft of amazing career opportunities. Plenty of JTL’s students complete their four-year apprenticeship and go on to study for a university degree with the support of their employer, meaning they can achieve the qualification without the currently estimated £45,000 total student debt that often goes hand in hand with further education. Others move quickly into management positions and some set up their own businesses.

’A’ Levels and university are the perfect choice for many young people – but JTL has plenty of bright and practically-minded young people joining its programmes with a whole host of qualifications. Staying in education is not an inevitable step. JTL would urge students to think carefully about what they really want in the medium to long term.

There are many different routes to a career and those who don’t get the grades they had hoped for this past August, shouldn’t see an apprenticeship as a second-rate option. Anyone who’s unsure about their next step but thinks they’d like to train as a plumber or electrician, or in more specialised areas such as heating and ventilating, can call JTL and chat about the courses available.

Roughly 35,000 young people have completed JTL apprenticeships over the past 26 years or so, and almost one in two of all electricians in England and Wales achieve their qualifications through JTL. The organisation is a not-for-profit training provider and reinvests its resources for the benefit of the industry’s apprentices and employers.

As one way of spreading the news about the apprenticeship option to young people in schools, JTL has set up a pioneering Ambassador programme that sees young women and apprentices from the BAME – black, Asian and minority ethnic – communities going into schools to talk to students about the apprenticeship option they have decided to take. With a varied range of skills and interests, the Ambassadors are inspiring role models. Many are still completing apprenticeships, whilst others have qualified and gone on to management roles, set up their own businesses or taken on supervisory roles on large building sites.

Women and those from the Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities are currently enormously under-represented in the sector – for example, currently less than one per cent of new electrical apprentices in the UK are women. JTL’s experience demonstrates very clearly that young females can – and do – achieve great things in this industry.

JTL’s aim is, quite simply, to educate young people about the career opportunities that exist for them in building services. The best way for girls currently at school or college to hear our message is via other young women, and the same for those in the Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, so back in 2013 JTL brought together a fantastic group of intelligent and enthusiastic advocates to help spread the word.

They do a fantastic job – speaking in schools, relating their experiences, answering questions, offering advice and dispelling the odd myth or two. What better way for JTL’s message to be relayed

The positive response to JTL’s first 10 female Ambassadors prompted the charitable training provider, to recruit an additional 12 girls in 2014 so that the Ambassadors were spread across all regions. The Ambassadors team has since grown to around 30 young people. This latest expansion of the scheme comes following further feedback about the level of inspiration they bring within their local schools and communities.

Young people, parents, schools and careers advisers or employers who want to find out more about apprenticeships in the building services sector or keen to invite an Ambassador into their school can visit www.jtltraining.com or ring 0800 0852 308 for advice and literature.