Whether you are an individual looking to do an apprenticeship in construction and building or you are a business who would like to offer someone an apprenticeship with your company you can view information here.

Apprenticeships are the ideal way for a young person to continue learning whilst gaining the practical skills of the real working world. Many companies are in a position where they would like to expand their business but cannot afford to recruit further full time experienced staff. Recruiting an apprentice is the perfect solution to this as it is more affordable but also the company gets the opportunity to train the apprentice in the skills they need to help make their business grow.

If you are 16 – 19 looking for new opportunities to learn construction skills, then look at doing a Construction Apprenticeship. For more information on apprenticeships please visit: www.apprenticeships.org.uk

• Prologis and North West Kent College has been delivering work-based training and qualifications to people aged 16 and over, for more than twenty years. Its excellent reputation for quality training is helped by its contacts with many local companies, which work closely with it to provide the support and opportunities needed to produce an efficient, confident workforce with the skills to compete in international markets.

• Join a Building Services Apprenticeship Programme

Do you want to achieve the BEST training and qualifications?

If you join an Building Services Apprenticeship programme, you will be employed with a wage. An Apprenticeship takes up to 24 months to complete and requires the achievement of NVQ level 2, a technical certificate level 2 and the appropriate key skills. You will develop excellent practical and technical skills, and gain valuable work experience. You also have the opportunity to progress to an Advanced Apprenticeship.

When you have completed your building apprenticeship you will be a craftsperson with the necessary skills to start a career in your chosen trade.

So, if you need the BEST apprentice for your business, with over 20 years experience, then talk to BEST – an established training provider and recruitment specialist for the building services engineering sector.

• It is a great pleasure that FENSA and the GGF can give their support to the UK Glazing Academy which will deliver apprentices to the whole of the UK Glazing Industry. The UK Glazing Academy can provide apprentices of varying age-groups to companies seeking to recruit who have already completed part of their qualification process. In order to finish their qualifications they will need to complete a practical placement at a company where they can learn the all-important hands-on aspect of the business. Jon Vanstone (Director of Registered Business FENSA) welcomed the project stating “Not only is this a cost-effective method of trialing qualified individuals with the potential for recruitment, but the UK Glazing Academy allows the industry to invest in the future and also combat disturbing levels of youth unemployment”. If you are interested in obtaining an apprentice, or if you already have a candidate in mind who would appreciate funded access to qualifications, please contact the UK Glazing Academy now for further information or to begin this process.

• UK stonemasonry colleges such as Weymouth College and the City of Bath College. Click here to read more information

• FeRFA members continue to demonstrate their commitment to training by supporting the apprenticeship scheme and, for the first time, we have been able to launch a second scheme in one year (2011).

The latest group, who took their first modules of the In Situ Resin course at Instarmac ‘s training facilities in Tamworth earlier this month, are:

Anthony Morris (Central Flooring), Andrew Featherstone and Joshua Hardy (Fresco), Will Abbott, Tim Steadman, Matthew Singleton and Charlie Stephenson (John Lord), David Malton and James Cousins (NIFL), Dean Myers (Polydeck), Byron Evans and Keiran Coburn (TPS360).

Apprenticeships are fully grant funded and available in In Situ Resin and Floor Preparation – both of which lead to an NVQ Diploma level 2 within two years. At this year’s AGM we will be honouring our apprentices who completed their NVQs this year.

December 2011
FeRFA’s Apprentices recently took Modules 4 and 5, which give an introduction to resin flooring and cover work practice and project planning, hosted by FeRFA manufacturer Mapei at their excellent training facilities in Halesowen.

• A group of apprentices enrolled on a horticulture apprenticeship scheme, delivered by Writtle College and Havering College, have been enjoying work life as skilled landscapers in the Olympic Park. The apprentices, who have been hired by three Olympic Park contractors, are helping to transform the Games site into London’s largest new urban park in more than a century. The project involves extensive landscaping plus the planting of thousands of trees and plants. Contact The British Association of Landscape Industries (BALI) for more information

• The Master Locksmiths Association are currently funding the development of a nationally recognised qualification in locksmithing along with a formal apprenticeship scheme for the industry, working with the sector skills body Skills for Security.