The Institute talks

In this episode of The Institute talks, we talk about the exciting construction route review and the various areas that are being improved, including health and safety, sustainability and much more.

In this podcast, our host Neil Jones, is joined by route panel members Ruth Devine and Paul Skerry as well as two apprentices, Joe McGilley, a civil engineering apprentice and Shannon Maine,  bricklaying apprentice.

Ruth and Paul explore areas of the construction route review that are improving, and the vast apprenticeships available within the route. They focus on key areas, such as mental health and modern methods in construction, and how it will help the industry as well as apprentices.

The two apprentices, also share on how their apprenticeship experience has been, and ways they think the route can be better. Shannon also highlights her ambition to encourage more women to be apart of the industry.

Transcript

Neil Jones

Hello. I'm Neil Jones, senior product manager here at the Institute and your host today for this podcast about our recent construction review. I'm joined by two panel members, Ruth Devine and Paul Skerry, as well as two apprentices, Joe McGilley and Shannon Maine. Welcome, everybody, Would you like to introduce yourselves?

Ruth Devine

I'm Ruth Devine. I'm managing director of SJD Associates, electrical contractor based in Milton Keynes. I've been on the panel for five years now.

Paul Skerry

Hi I’m Paul Skerry, early years careers and professional development manager for BAM in the UK. I've been with the panel for about six months now.

Joe McGilly

I'm Joe McGilly. I'm an apprentice civil engineer working for ACORN, currently based out of Bedford. I've been in the industry for about four years now.

Shannon Maine

Hi, I'm on Shannon Maine, a bricklaying apprentice, and I started it last October.

Neil Jones

Thanks. I'm grateful you can all join me today. So to start with, a bit of background on the review. So, there are almost 100 apprenticeship standards in the construction route as well as technical qualifications. And the route review is basically an opportunity for us to take a strategic look across the route to ensure that our occupational map is correct, that the occupational standards on it remain relevant, and that the occupations and skills match the needs of employers both now and in the future. So, it's a bit of a stocktake and there are obvious benefits in doing so, but we also have a statutory obligation to do so at regular intervals around every three years or so. As part of the review, the Institute's Employer Panel for Construction developed a set of key principles and characteristics which we will talk about today that represent key concepts that employers are asked to consider for future inclusion in occupational standards. These are things like sustainability, digital skills, mental health, building safety, amongst others. So, without further ado, if I start with an open question for everybody, how do you think the review will benefit apprentices, employers and training providers in the future?

Ruth Devine

I think it's a good opportunity just to see where we are and what skills needed for the future. So, a lot's happened in the last five years and many of these standards were around before the institute existed. So, it's a good opportunity to see where are we? What's going on? The industry issues like the building safety agenda, competence, the EDI agenda, trying to make the industry fair or equal for all. And it's a good opportunity here to look at the content and make sure that the Apprentice of the future meet the needs of employers.

Paul Skerry

I think that's something that now we've moved through during very challenging times. The last two years in particular have been a particular challenge. The fact is, outside of the control of many within construction and we've learnt a lot from that, we've learnt to work in different ways but has had to face some things like mental health and a

In this episode of The Institute talks, we talk about the invaluable experience gained through a paramedic apprenticeship and the range of progression opportunities available.

In this podcast, our host Fariba Carr is joined by Justin Honey-Jones, a senior paramedic and a member of our Health and Science route panel. He is also an associate lecturer in Paramedic Science at Anglia Ruskin University.

Justin speaks about his own experience from routine calls to the bigger emergencies such as Grenfell Tower and how to decide if an apprenticeship is the best path and where to apply.

He also mentions how apprentices on average gain 1600 to 1500 hours of front-line clinical experience per year, whereas university students will have 750 hours per year of frontline experience. All that experience allows apprentices to see the whole system, and as Justin stated:

“The paramedic qualification is just the start of a wonderful journey, but it's a golden ticket and it's what you do with that ticket that kind of opens up your path and your aspirations.”

Transcript

Fariba Carr

Hello. I'm sorry, Fariba Carr, head of membership, communities and events at the Institute and your host for this podcast. Today for this Employer podcast. I’m delighted to be joined by Justin Honey Jones, a senior paramedic and a member of our Health and Science Route Panel. Welcome, Justin.

 

Justin Honey Jones

Thanks for having me, Fariba.

 

Fariba Carr

So, give yourself a little bit of an introduction.

 

Justin Honey Jones

I'm Justin, I'm a senior paramedic with east of England Ambulance Service, and since the first of January this year, I started as a clinical educator with St John Ambulance. And also, I'm an associate lecturer in Paramedic Science at Anglia Ruskin University.

 

Fariba Carr

Thank you, I'm so glad that you could join me today. So, let's get started, and perhaps you could tell me a little bit about how you found your way to being a paramedic. What made you choose this profession?

 

Justin Honey Jones

To be honest, there's a few key events really throughout my life, and I've ever since a young child, it's all I ever wanted to do was to be a paramedic. I mean, there was no specific reason. But more more events that happened. I mean, 911 was a key event. I remember being the age of 15, I was doing my work experience and I was at the Fire Service Training College in South Wales. I remember literally over lunch seeing the tragic events that happened at 911. And it was the first experience of seeing quite a large-scale incident of firefighters, paramedics, police officers all working together. It was key public services and I had quite a significant impact and that was also linked with work I was doing as an army cadet at the time outside school. We were learning about first aid and developing first aid competitions and ultimately led to my sort of started my career really as an army reservist with the Royal Army Medical Corps, and I trained as a combat medical technician. That’s when I started having my first interactions with paramedics and nurses and doctors, and it kind of cemented my career. I knew that's what I wanted to do.

 

Fariba Carr

Thanks. That was really interesting to hear what inspired you. Do you feel that the career that you've had since then has lived up to what you thought you were going to be doing? Is it is it different in any ways?

 

Justin Honey Jones

You know, it's really interesting. If I think back when I was a child, you know, what you think of a paramedic was what you would see on casualty or E.R. or those type of medical programs. But it's nothing like the TV shows. To actually be a paramedic, you start to see that, you know, it's anything and everything in life. Colleagues and I will frequently say the job is about the circle of life. I remember one of my most significant shifts was when I started in the morning and we delivered this beautiful baby boy who came into the world at 7:00 in the morning, in the back of b

In this episode of The Institute talks, we talk about the new guidance created by our apprentice panel, ‘raising the standards’.

In the podcast, our host Jonathan Mitchell, Deputy Director at the Institute was joined by Jamilah Simpson, former digital marketing apprentice at Google, Dillion Jones, electrician apprentice at Derry Building Service.

Launched by the Institute’s apprentice panel, the ‘raising the stands’ guidance sets out what to expect during an apprenticeship, welfare and wellbeing considerations, and recommendations for how training programmes can be tailored to give apprentices the best possible experience. 

Transcript

Jonathan Mitchell

Hello, I'm Jonathan Mitchell. I'm a deputy director at the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education, and I'm your host for this podcast and today we're launching the raising the standards. Best practice guidance that's been written by The Apprentice panel for training providers and employers and also apprentices. To show them what really great looks like in apprenticeships and hopefully extend that really great practice that we've all seen in loads and loads of areas across the whole apprenticeship landscape. Today I'm joined by three members of the Institute's apprentice panel, they are Jamila Dillon and Amelia. So welcome Jamilah Dillon and Amelia. Would you like to introduce yourself?

Jamilah Simpson Sure. Hi everyone, I'm Jamilah. I'm a former Google Digital marketing apprentice. I'm now the programs associate at Multiverse, where we're building an outstanding alternative to university and corporate training through apprenticeships. My role aims to provide apprentices with opportunities that lie outside their apprenticeship qualification, and day-to-day roles for personal and professional development. I will soon be moving into the creative industry to become a graphic design freelancer. I've always wanted to pursue a career in the creative world. So I thought now was the time to make that change and try something new.

Jonathan MitchellThat sounds amazing Jamila thanks so much. And Dillon over to you. Tell us a bit about yourself and what apprenticeship you're doing, what you're doing at work at the moment.

Dillon JonesHi everyone, I'm Dillon. I completed a four-year Level 3 apprenticeship to become an electrician. Once I completed it, I got offered a position in the office to become an electrical design engineer. Where I have just recently completed my Level 4. I'm potentially moving on to my Level 5 soon.

 

Jonathan MitchellThanks Dillon and also Amelia, you've also joined us today. Would you like to introduce yourself and tell us a bit about yourself?

Amelia RussellYeah, sure, so my name is Amelia Russell and I'm a governance and external affairs officer at the Institute and also lead on the apprentice panel and also have recently completed a Level 3 business administration apprenticeship.

Jonathan MitchellTerrific thanks so much and welcome to all of all of you. So I've got a lot of questions which we'll try and share to help demystify the raising the standards guidance that you guys have been working on. Dillon, I'll turn to you first what? What's the apprentice panel responsible for?

Dillon JonesTo me, the apprentice panel is responsible for challenging in reviewing the boards decisions. They make some key decisions for apprentices or whole throughout every industry and two times a year we have to update the board on what we do. Another thing that we do is we voice the opinion of current and previous apprentices. This is what we were trying to achieve with our survey in 2020.

Jonathan MitchellFantastic. So, moving on, Jamilah can you tell us a bit what were the key findings that you that you found from the apprentice panel 2020 survey?

Jamilah Simpson And so we received over 1000 responses to our 2020 apprentice panel survey, and there were four key main findings that we got from it. The first was that 85% of respondents had signed a commitment

In this episode of The Institute talks, we talk about green apprenticeships. We are joined by Judy Ling Wong and Lee Stanford.

Judy Ling Wong is an artist, painter and environmentalist best known as the honorary president of Black Environment Network, who is proud to chair the panel.

Lee Sanford is the engineering training manager for National Express West Midlands looking at what can be done in terms of adding green apprenticeships and different technologies into the fleet.

Transcript

Helen Dalton

Hello, I’m Helen Dalton a relationship manager at the Institute and I also work on the green apprenticeships project, I’m your host for this podcast today. For this special green apprenticeships podcast I’m joined by Judy Ling Wong and Lee Sanford welcome both would you like to introduce yourselves, Judy?

Judy Ling Wong

I’m Judy Ling Wong I’m an artist, painter and environmentalist best known as the honorary president of Black Environment Network, I’m very proud to chair this panel.

Helen Dalton

and Lee.

Lee Sanford

Yeah, my name's Lee Sanford I’m the engineering training manager for National Express West Midlands looking at what we can do in terms of adding green apprenticeships and different technologies into our people and fleet.

Helen Dalton

 Thanks so much. I’m so glad you could both join me today. Let's get started, so Judy can you tell me more about the green apprenticeships advisory panel why is it set up and what does it do?

Judy Ling Wong

The context for the green apprenticeship advisory panel is that the government is planning to create two million good quality green jobs by 2030 and apprenticeships and wide and technical education can really lead the way in terms of training. So the government published a 10 point plan in November for green industrial revolution backed by 12 billion pounds of investing and we will plan to help implement this. The green apprenticeship advisory panel will ensure that apprenticeships play a central role in the national green led recovery and will be well placed to help the uk meet its net zero carbon emissions target. So we will advise when existing apprenticeships could be made greener and also identify gaps that could be filled by new green apprenticeships. The panel will also feed into the new green jobs task force and help to create the plan in general for the necessary green jobs and skills working through each sector in turn over the coming months.

Helen Dalton

Thanks Judy so speaking personally what made you want to join and be chair of the green apprenticeships advisory panel?

Judy Ling Wong

Well, you know the big thing that really attracts me about environmental participation is the joining up of people and nature and what more can you do than to give people green jobs to join up people in nature. If people really want to contribute to a green revolution having a green job is devoting your entire working hours to a green future and people should be very proud of this. We want to encourage people to think about dream jobs, we want to particularly encourage young people to learn about the range of new jobs which is not easy, some of these jobs are very complicated to understand. So, in the coming months we're very much hoping that colleges will help us local, community groups and businesses will help us, plus going to schools to talk about this and introduce the various facets of jobs in the sector that people can actually begin to imagine themselves in.

Helen Dalton

Thanks Judy. So, Lee you're a member of the green apprenticeship community so what do you do and how does that role link in with what the panel does?

Lee Sanford

I’m a fairly new member to the team being perfectly honest, however I can massively see the importance of what the advisory panel is trying to achieve and being a member will allow me to add in a different perspective when looking at other types of green technologies within apprenticeships; and where others may be able to benefit from my experience

This podcast was recorded for end-point assessment organisations (EPAOs) who must apply for Ofqual recognition by 1 July in support of external quality assurance (EQA) reforms.

Charlotte Bosworth, managing director of Innovate Awarding and chair of the Federation of Awarding Bodies’ (FAB) End Point Assessment Organisation Group, Jessica Lewis-Bell, senior strategic relationships manager at Ofqual, and our own chief operating officer Rob Nitsch answer questions and provide guidance and insights.

EQA monitors the end-point assessment that apprentices take at the end of their apprenticeship, to ensure that it is fair, consistent and robust across different apprenticeship standards and between different assessment organisations.

Transcript

Paul Offord

Hello I’m Paul Offord I work in communications at the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education and I’m your host for this podcast. Today we are going to be talking about external quality assurance transition with Charlotte Bosworth, Jessica Lewis-Bell and our own Rob Nitsch. Welcome all, would you like to introduce yourself?

Charlotte Bosworth

Hi I’m Charlotte Bosworth, the managing director of Innovate Awarding and the chair of the end-point assessment organisations group for the Federation of Awarding Bodies.

Jessica Lewis-Bell

Hi I’m Jessica Lewis-Bell, I’m a senior manager in strategic relationships at Ofqual.

Rob Nitsch

And hello everybody I’m Rob Nitsch I’m the chief operating officer at the Institute and within that I have accountability for both external quality assurance and end-point assessment.

Paul Offord

Great stuff I’m glad you can all join me. Right let's get started, jess can you briefly explain what external quality assurance is?

Jessica Lewis-Bell

yeah of course so external quality assurance or EQA as it's widely known. Monitors the end-point assessment that apprentices take at the end of their apprenticeship to ensure that it's fair consistent and robust across different apprenticeship standards and between different assessment organisations. So Ofqual’s role is as an EQA provider we regulate end-point assessment organisations to ensure that they work to a high standard and we also ensure that the end-point assessment is fit for purpose.

Paul Offord

Okay and rob what do we mean when we talking about the transition process?

Rob Nitsch

Yes thank you Paul. The institute announced plans to move to a new simplified system for eqa of apprenticeship endpoint assessment back in last august. these changes will see eqa delivered now by ofqual or the office for students for integrated degree apprenticeships. and that means that the institute will stop directly delivering eqa but will continue to oversee the system in line with our statutory responsibility and we've put in place a framework to do that. it also means that though those other organizations that deliver eqa will also be handing over responsibility to ofqual and the office to students and what this means in the first batch so that transition um of those for whom the institute provides a service for open awards is that there'll be a transition of over 260 apprenticeships over to ofqual and all related endpoint assessment organizations on the register will need to secure recognition from ofqual as part of that process.

Paul Offord

 i see and when do endpoint assessment organizations who currently have their eqa delivered by the institute need to apply for recognition by?

Rob Nitsch

well first of all i'd like to say that the institute ofqual and of course the agency understand the extraordinary challenges that covid-19 have brought to the sector and the impact of the lockdown and how that has affected end-point assessment organizations. but of course there's been a huge amount of pressure and uh you know we think that it's particularly important to listen, to show flexibility, to respond uh where we can. and we've listened to concerns about the previously uh announced timings around the eqa tr

As part of our apprentice panel podcasts, Joel Roach our apprentice panel host interviews new member Rhiannon Rees-Jones.

Rhiannon is a former level 3 business admin apprentice at Northamptonshire County Council.

In the podcast, Rhiannon talks about her diagnosis of Asperger’s in her late twenties and the challenges she has had to overcome and why she wanted to join the apprentice panel

On completion of her apprenticeship, Rhiannon achieved an overall grade of Distinction.

She also achieved two Northamptonshire Health and Care Partnership awards, the Apprenticeship Award for ‘Behind the Scenes’ in Adult Social Care and ‘Apprentice of the Year’ 2020.

Transcript

Joel Roach

Hi, i'm Joel roach an apprentice at Microsoft and i'm also an apprentice panel member and I'll be hosting today's podcast for the apprentice panel podcast today. I'm joined by Rhiannon rees-jones welcome Rhiannon would you like to introduce yourself.

Rhiannon Rees-Jones

thank you so my name is Rhiannon Rees-Jones I work as a business support officer for the learning disability team part of what is currently Northamptonshire county council but as of the first of April we're going to be splitting into two unitaries and I'll be part of the west Northamptonshire council.

Joel Roach

well thank you so much for joining me today we'll dive straight into it so I want to ask first of all a couple of questions about your apprenticeship so what is your apprenticeship? what level was it?

Rhiannon Rees-Jones

I recently completed the business administrator level 3 apprenticeship last November.. which was brilliant because it really expanded on my skill set.

Joel Roach

so how did you initially find out about the apprenticeship um and about the fact that there was an opportunity that was open to you?

Rhiannon Rees-Jones

I think the first time was coming across an email from the learning resource hub so they had an information day so I thought i'd wander down and see what all the stores were, saw the apprenticeships and business have been on there i think at first i kind of wandered past a bit and then got called over so i thought well i'll get the forms and then after a while i was still umming and ahhing so i wasn't sure whether i'd be able to handle what was involved and whether i'd be have the qualifications to actually apply for it and then i had another email come round from my line manager's manager with the same information and then i thought why not i might as well do it i'll pursue it and my line manager my colleagues actually encouraged me as well and i'm actually glad i did because it gave me the motivation i needed to excel in my current role as well

Joel Roach

no that's amazing to hear um it's great there was so many people around you that were encouraging you to do this as well

Rhiannon Rees-Jones

yeah i think how a good support network is vital

Joel Roach

now you came into your apprenticeship um having already been established in your career for a few years um so how did you find being a more mature apprentice um how was that experience for you?

Rhiannon Rees-Jones

 it actually went a lot easier than i thought it was going to be of course i went in thinking they're all going to be younger than me and i'm probably going to be the only one that's older but then i thought well if you can go to university as a mature student why can't you do the same for an apprenticeship and then when it rather it was age restricted before that kind of put me down having the age limit lifted makes it so much easier as well it's never too late to start a career put it that way

Joel Roach

no absolutely that's a yeah that's a great message to put out there um you sort of mentioned there were lots of you know you weren't the only mature apprentice on the uh on the course um did you have a sort of special network with them did you have a chance to sort of share ideas and perspectives with them

Rhiannon Rees-Jones

 i had the chance to share perspectives with everyone because

In this episode of The Insitute talks, we talk about women in apprenticeships.

In the podcast, we are joined by Anna West, Deputy Director for apprenticeship approvals and funding, Helen Douglas, Director of apprenticeships at Cisco and digital route panel member, and Stacey Dunne, Telecoms apprentice at Virgin Media and an apprentice panel member.

We ask the questions ‘what has your experience been like as women in apprenticeships’ and ‘what are the barriers for women’.

The overall proportion of women on apprenticeships remains at around 50%. At the Institute, we want to see far more women taking STEM apprenticeships and know that employers feel the same.

However, there are lots of great opportunities out there for women in STEM apprenticeships right up to degree level. At Cisco, Helen talks about all the new initiatives she’s set up to encourage more women into the digital sector, resulting in 49% of their apprentices being women!

At the Institute, we are continuing to look at diversity and inclusion within our organisation and in our provision of technical education and apprenticeships. In the podcast, we discuss ways we can have more diverse representation on our panels, and how diversity and inclusion is at the heart of everything we do.

You can subscribe to The Institute talks podcast on Amazon Music, Apple podcast, Spotify and all other major podcast platforms.

Transcript

Sarah

Hello, I’m Sarah a former apprentice and a social media manager at the Institute and your host for this podcast today. For this special podcast about women in apprenticeships, I’m joined by Anna West, Helen Douglas and Stacy Dunne. So, welcome all would you like to introduce yourselves. 

Anna

Hi everyone, I’m Anna West. I’m the deputy director for apprenticeship approvals and funding at the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education

Helen

Hi, my name is Helen Douglas, I lead apprenticeships for Cisco in the UK, and also have the honour of sitting on the digital route panel.

Stacey

Hello my name's Stacey I’m based in Hertfordshire and I’m currently a network apprentice for Virgin Media and I’m also on the apprentice panel for the Institute of Apprentices as well.

Sarah

Wonderful, thank you. So I’m really glad you can all join me today. So well, let's get started into the podcast then. So, this will be a discussion, so let's start off with the first kind of topic and question we've got for you. So as women working in apprenticeships or as an apprentice Stacey, what has your experience been like?

Stacey

It's been really, really positive.  Obviously, I’m an engineer and that is mostly kind of male-based. So there is quite a high number of males compared to females doing this role. But I have met many females on this during my apprenticeship, but also within the job as well. I actually joined Virgin Media with a specific all-women wanted kind of recruitment drive. So, there was a bunch of women and that I knew from my local area, and we all kind of joined together, and it was really nice to have that support from other women there. But to be fair, the all the guys that work here are beyond supportive, and you're treated like everybody else. They will absolutely rip you if you do something stupid. So, I’ve just found it a really positive experience. But having that female support as well, which was unexpected, I didn't expect to have other women with me to be honest. I thought it was a kind of individual recruitment basis. But having that kind of women's support as well was really nice. Not required, but it was a definite cherry on the cake. So it's been so, so positive for me, I’ve really enjoyed myself so far.

Sarah

That sounds really good. It sounds really interesting that you had like it was a specific drive for women but you're just like a normal person there, and everyone treats you exactly the same.

Stacey

You're expected to you know, do everything that everybody else does, and I find that the gender really doesn't matter

In this episode of The Insitute talks, we talk to Havant and South Downs College all about T Levels.

In the podcast, we are joined by Daisy, an education and childcare T Level student and Ashley, Assistant Principal Vocational Curriculum. They talk about their experiences over the last 6 months and how the coronavirus pandemic has affected them.

You can subscribe to The Institute talks podcast on Amazon Music, Apple podcast, Spotify and all other major podcast platforms.

Transcript

To follow.

Part of our apprentice panel podcasts, Jamilah Simpson our apprentice panel host interviews apprentice panel lead, Amelia Russell.

Amelia, 23, is currently completing her level 3 business administration apprenticeship at The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education.

Transcript

Jamilah Simpson:

Hi, I'm Jamilah Simpson the Multiverse community programs and networks associate. I joined Multiverse early last year after completing my digital marketing qualification as an apprentice at Google. I'm also an apprentice panel member and your host for this podcast. Today we're joined by Amelia, Amelia did you want to quickly introduce yourself before we get started.

Amelia Russell:

My name is Amelia Russell, and I’m doing a business administration apprenticeship and I'm currently coming up to my end-point assessment, and I work at the Institute for Apprenticeships as a Governance and external affairs officer.

Jamilah Simpson:

So, Amelia, I was luckily able to finish my apprenticeship before COVID and lockdown hit. So I was able to stay in the office and do my EPA and finish all the coursework with the other apprentices who were also in my company. But I guess it's a little bit different for you because you're continuing to do your apprenticeship and we're still in a national lockdown. How has that whole process been, and has it affected in the approach to your EPA?

Amelia Russell:

It's been definitely challenging, because receiving that text message from work saying we were no longer allowed in the office, it was a bit of a shock. I thought it would only last about three weeks so. Since March 2020 I've had to do a lot of online learning myself, and having to meet virtually and not having the workshops. I did actually have a break in learning because I live with my nan, so I wanted to make sure that I was around to support her in the first few months of being in a lockdown. Having to do a lot of apprenticeship work, and trying to still get that on the job training and learning, and trying to shadow with the teams and work with other people. It's definitely been a challenge, but if you really want it to work, you know, you really got to put the effort in and make sure it works. Which is what I've tried to do, and I am leading up to my EPA, and I've been so excited, just to, you know, finish my apprenticeship, and to say, you know, I've finished it, and I did it. Even after a year in a pandemic and lockdown, and it's been a real struggle. But yeah, I would say I'm just going to keep pushing on with it, and fingers crossed I aim for that distinction.

Jamilah Simpson:

Yeah, like completely hats off to you. Because I like I'm in a full-time role not doing an apprenticeship as well, but I really struggled working from home. Especially when it first started, but the fact that you're doing your full-time role, plus your apprenticeship and now in the approach to your EPA, it's like I commend you.

Amelia Russell:

Thank you, it's very hard because usually in the office you just turn around and say, oh by the way how do I do this, and all I have is my bedroom door to turn around too. So, it's a very different environment to be learning in, and working in, so yeah it's a challenge, but we'll all get through it.

Jamilah Simpson:

Yeah. Well we have each other to get through it all we do

Amelia Russell:

We do

Jamilah Simpson:

I’m sure you will do amazingly. So I want to talk about apprenticeships for a little bit. So Amelia, you and I both know that apprenticeships aren't really the conventional route after finishing GCSE’s or A-levels. Why did you decide to do an apprenticeship?

Amelia Russell:

So, my journey from school to being an apprentice has been a real challenge. Especially being a care leaver, and I knew I wanted to do an apprenticeship as I could get experience then a qualification, as well as earning a wage. After searching for such a long time, I found an apprenticeship come up at the Institute for Apprenticeships, an

Part of our apprentice panel podcasts, Jamilah Simpson our apprentice panel host interviews member, Joel Roach.

Joel, 20, Is currently completing his chartered manager's degree apprenticeship at Microsoft.

Deciding that university wasn’t for him, Joel came across degree apprenticeships as a way of gaining the experience of the workplace but getting the degree at the same time.

Transcript

Jamilah Simpson

Hi, I'm Jamilah Simpson, the Multiverse community programmes and networks associate. I joined Multiverse early last year after completing my digital marketing qualification as an apprentice at Google. I'm also an apprentice panel member and your host for this podcast. Today we're joined by Joel. Joel, did you want to quickly intro yourself?

 

Joel Roach

Sure, hiya, I'm Joel. I'm doing a chartered managers degree apprenticeship at Microsoft's been doing it for a couple of years now and yeah like Jamilah I've been a member of the apprentice panel for about a year now.

 

Jamilah Simpson

Cool, so I think we joined around the same time on the panel. I joined around March, April last year.

 

Joel Roach

 Yeah, I think that sounds about right for me as well.

 

Jamilah Simpson

So your apprenticeship sounds really interesting. What made you decide to do a degree apprenticeship?

 

Joel Roach

Well before doing my apprenticeship I was at university so doing the apprenticeship was much more honestly as much more about leaving university than anything else. You know, I decided that uni wasn't for me. I wanted to get into work and sort of. Started getting on with, you know, gaining some skills and getting some experience. The degree of apprenticeship thing came about as sort of I was just exploring and seeing what was out there. Came across Microsoft's degree apprenticeship and it seemed like a great option to take that degree box whilst I was getting all my other experience.

 

Jamilah Simpson

Amazing and you briefly mentioned that you went to university for a year before. What made you change your mind and go down the apprenticeship route instead?

 

Joel Roach

Yeah so for me university wasn't like an amazing experience. You know it was an OK time. It was fun. Don't get me wrong. And I wanted to, you know, get a job afterwards and do real work, not study the subject for the rest of my life. So it didn't seem like I was getting much out of it, so I found it come across an apprenticeship and it just seemed like such a better option. Like by the time I sort of decided to do it, it just seems like such a no brainer really. You know, I wanted to be working. I wanted to be gaining real skills and applying the stuff I land in the real world. So yeah, it just seems like such an obvious decision to me by the time it got around to doing it.

 

Jamilah Simpson

Yeah, I'm the same. I didn't really want to like sit and listen to a lecturer for hours and hours on end. I kind of just wanted to get into working and even though I didn't really, I never had a job before my apprenticeship. I just knew that I wanted to get into the workplace, so it seems like we have similar like ways of thinking about why we choose an apprenticeship. Yeah, an Microsoft is a pretty big deal with global massive company. Did you always want to work at a company like Microsoft?

 

Joel Roach

So Microsoft came onto my radar because it was close to the town I was doing university and it was quite important to me that I sort of held onto those university friends and can sort of keep that life going without having to completely restart in the city, so that's sort of what brought onto my radar in the first place. In doing that, I was looking at graduate schemes and all sorts of things I could do after my degree, and then I came across the apprenticeship scheme and it was sort of like OK, why, why, wouldn't? Why wouldn't I start right now and then you know from that I start digging into Microsoft as a company a little bit more and exploring what those options were, and I was just