NPTC Group of Colleges has been shortlisted for the Insider Business and Education Partnerships Awards 2017.
More than 30 commercial projects, universities, colleges and individuals have been shortlisted for the Business & Education Partnerships Awards this year.
The Colleges’ work-based learning team ‘Pathways Training’ have partnered with ABMU to launch an apprenticeship scheme focused on giving recruits a first-hand look at all the career opportunities available within the NHS.
Successful recruits can take up posts in a variety of departments, including IT, business administration, customer service, pathology, engineering and clinical health, offered a fixed-term 12-month contract on apprentice pay rate while they worked towards a nationally recognised qualification. The apprenticeship scheme not only gives the chance to build up their CVs and experience but also provide a close-up look at the health service and the many career opportunities it offers.
Training is mainly delivered in the workplace with the Colleges’ highly experienced assessors on hand to guide them on top of enhancing essential skills including digital literacy, communication and application of number.
Since launching the scheme in 2016, the scheme has been so successful that it has seen over 40 apprentices recruited, held a number of hugely popular recruitment events, rolled out the scheme to a number of new areas of the NHS and also seen the vast majority of apprentices secure permanent employment positions across the NHS. The scheme has also helped to upskill existing staff through apprenticeships and a number of alternative training programmes.
Ian Jones, Head of Work-Based Learning, was delighted by the news and said:
“The success of the scheme has been phenomenal; the standard of applicants was fantastic and the progression into permanent roles for recruits is simply fantastic. As a forward-thinking College, we understand the need to recruit apprentices with the skill and attitude to progress in their chosen careers which directly aligns with a lot of businesses, especially the ABMU’s, need to create a long- term skilled workforce.”
Ruth Gates, Learning and Development Project Manager for the ABMU
“The ABMU Apprentice Academy has grown over the last 12 months thanks to the partnership with the Pathways Training Team at NPTC Group of Colleges. All the staff there have been invaluable and helped us to promote the new apprenticeship opportunities within our organisation leading to us recruiting over 50+ new apprentices in a wide range of departments. Our Apprentice Academy is still growing and we are working with the team to promote further opportunities for local applicants to work with us and develop them into the staff that we need for the future.
The next step for us is to continue the excellent working relationship with Pathways Training and offer apprenticeship qualifications to existing staff to improve their skills and gain qualifications to demonstrate their skills in a wide range of areas; this has been evident with a number of finance staff enrolling on the AAT qualification.”
The awards, organised by Insider, aim to celebrate and encourage partnerships between universities and colleges for mutual advantage and to boost the Welsh economy.
The winners will be revealed at the Business & Education Partnerships Awards dinner at Cardiff’s Marriott Hotel on the evening of Thursday 2 November.
