Diversity Pilots
*Please note these pilots are now complete and the evaluation report will be published in June 2012.
The Government is committed to increasing the number of Apprenticeship opportunities for everyone, with participation increasing significantly in the last decade. Apprenticeships should be open and accessible to all, regardless of gender, ethnicity, disability or learning difficulty. A great deal of work has already been done to improve access to Apprenticeships.
However, there are still issues surrounding unequal participation and the success rates across different groups. In particular, black and minority ethnic apprentices and those with disabilities and/or learning difficulties are under-represented within Apprenticeships; there is also a considerable gender segregation across particular vocational sectors.
To tackle these issues, the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) is working in partnership with the Skills Funding Agency to fund 16 pilots across the country that will deliver/test new delivery methods to engage more individuals from under represented groups. The pilots are designed to mainstream key learning and good practice in the longer term.
Examples of these pilots include Rathbone, who are working in Oldham, Leicester and Bradford to encourage more black, Asian and other minority groups to become apprentices. This is because nationally this group of young people makes up fewer that 10% of apprentices despite making up a much higher percentage of the population.
Zodiac Training in the North East and West Notts College in the East Midlands are both undertaking pilots looking at breaking down stereotypical issues – Zodiac concentrating on the under representation of men in the health and social care/child care sector and West Notts College looking at females into the Logistics and Passenger Transport sectors.
Bury College is seeking to increase the number of BME and LLDD applying for Apprenticeships, particularly 16-to-18-year-olds, in Greater Manchester.
The full list of all 16 diversity pilots, including an overview of each pilot, their focus and delivery area can be downloaded below.
Diversity in Apprenticeships Pilots (PDF 50kb) »
Last Updated: 23/05/2012