Skills and Employability

Apprenticeships

Apprenticeships are popular again as business leaders recognise that training staff on the job can increase productivity, encourage fresh thinking and provide skilled workers for the future.

The Dorset Local Economic Partnership is committed to boosting the number of apprenticeship places with employers.

For more information on how Apprenticeships are run and how to make contact with your local National Apprenticeship Service please visit  Apprenticeships.

Apprentices – Top tips for Employers

Think about the different ways you can use Apprenticeships to benefit your business – Apprenticeships aren’t just for organisations who are thinking of hiring a young person. Many businesses use Apprenticeships to re-train and up-skill existing staff. This can be a great way to increase productivity and motivate employees.

Explore the funding on offer – Apprenticeship funding is available for employers who wish to train existing employees or hire people via Apprenticeship training programmes. This varies depending on the age of the apprentice. For 16-18 year olds, 100% of training costs will be funded by the Government. Apprentices aged 19 or over will receive a proportion of the funding for their training. However, employers should be aware that they need to treat Apprentices like any other employee, paying them a wage and supporting them in their job role.

Find out about the range of Apprenticeships available –Apprenticeships aren’t just for people working in traditional trades. There are over 200 types of Apprenticeships in a variety of industry sectors from Accountancy to Engineering, Customer service to Logistics.

Find a training provider that works for you – Apprentices carry out most of their learning on the job, with the rest done through a training provider.

There are a number of organisations that run Apprenticeship training programmes. As such, there are different programmes on offer so speak to providers to find out more about the options they have available and their success rates. Your National Apprenticeship Service representative will help you find the right provider.

Learn from the experiences of other employers – Over 130,000 employers across the country train their staff through Apprenticeships and why not find out what some of them have to say about the scheme? You may know people through your own networks  or you can read testimonials on the National Apprenticeship Service Apprenticeships.

The Employment and Skills Board

The Dorset ESB was established in July 2010 as a private/ public partnership with membership drawn from the business communities across Dorset.  It also includes representatives from Further Education and Higher Education as well as a number of key public sector organisations. The Board is now aligned to the Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership and will provide the strategic oversight of the Skills Agenda.  The Board aims to provide a common focus for co-ordination, oversight and prioritisation of the following 4 priority areas:

The Board is committed to working collaboratively to raising employment, skills levels, health and well-being to increase the economic prosperity in Dorset.

  • Upskilling Dorset’s current and future workforce to meet the needs of employers and contribute to economic growth
  • Raising the aspirations, employability and entrepreneurial capability of Dorset’s young people
  • Supporting Welfare to Work Initiatives that aim to address unemployment, poverty and families with complex issues to reduce the number of economically inactive people
  • Creating an environment that supports successful enterprise start ups

The board is committed to working collaboratively to raising employment, skills levels, health and well-being to increase the economic prosperity in Dorset.