The ‘Apprenticeship Application’ Programme

In Year 13, all students undertake a 6 week Transition Support Programme which takes place every Wednesday from October Half Term to Christmas. This follows on from our initial Y12 Transition week which we run in July for all students. From October half term, our focus is very much on our student’s Post 18 options, with a variety of options available for students with University, Degree Apprenticeships, Apprenticeships, Employment and Gap years. We very much support all pathways for students and focus on the idea of students making an ‘informed choice’ for their future.

During these 6 weeks, students are giving targeted support for their applications and personal statements for University, with a further specific programme in place for those applying for Apprenticeships, Degree Apprenticeships and Employment. This is all delivered through our Employer Engagement programme which runs every Wednesday for all Key Stage 5 students. This programme allows us to deliver bespoke activities for students relevant to their identified career pathway, with opportunities to work with employers, experience pathways specific projects and undertake visits to business and HE providers.

The ‘Apprenticeship Application’ programme is heavily supported by Outsource Training and Development (OTD), a major apprenticeship provider for companies including Sky, British Airways Cargo, DHL, Bauer Media and DB Schenker. Working with Outsource, we have developed a practical programme that mirrors a real Apprenticeship application. In summary, students undertake:

• Apprenticeship research relevant to their career field
• Complete a ‘Mock’ application which is reviewed by OTD staff, who then provide individual feedback to students.
• Experience a ‘phone interview’ with a member of the OTD team.
• Experience a ‘testing centre’ run by OTD staff, where students have to complete tasks, exactly like they would in a real testing centre. This includes literacy and numeracy tests, group problem solving and individual / group interviews.
• Students then receive individual feedback from OTD, looking at how successful their application would have been, identifying areas of strengths and where improvements are needed.
• Students also have the opportunity to visit businesses who run these programmes and speak to current apprentices and see them in action.

Our aim is to ensure our students are more prepared for this application process they will encounter and we believe that by gaining experience with OTD, they are more likely to be successful when it is time to apply for ‘real’! With Degree Apprenticeships and Apprenticeships becoming an increasingly viable route for our students, this partnership with OTD is even more beneficial for us, allowing us to gain vital experience from the experts in this field.

Having completed a pilot programme with Outsource for our Year 13 students last year, we have found it was of great support for a number of our them when they then undertook applications for apprenticeships. In particular, the students below have commenced opportunities with:
Matias Masiero – Degree Apprenticeship with Visa.
Malkit Kapoor – Higher Apprenticeship with Canon.
Joshua Gharu –  International Freight Forwarding Apprenticeship with DB Schenker