North East Ambition Archives - North East Local Enterprise Partnership

Careers leaders and other professionals working in careers guidance from across the seven North East local authorities gathered in Newcastle upon Tyne last week to discuss making careers education and guidance in our region fit for the future.

Organised by the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (North East LEP), the North East Ambition Regional Careers Conference focused on changes to education and the labour market, new technologies, and helping young people develop the skills to be successful in this future world. It also addressed the role that careers guidance plays in catalysing economic growth in the North East.

Matt Joyce, Regional Lead: North East Ambition, from the North East LEP, said: “This is the only event of its kind in the region that brings together careers leaders and other key stakeholders from across the seven North East local authorities to focus on how we can support young people prepare for their future.

“It’s an important forum to share knowledge and best practice, look at careers provision on a pan-regional scale, and to make sure that the careers education and guidance young people are receiving is setting them – and our region – up for a successful future.”

Attended by careers leaders from schools, colleges and SEND schools, as well as stakeholders such as employers, governors and local authorities, the event included keynote presentations on the role of AI in education, the importance of personal guidance and the future of the jobs market in the North East. There were also updates on national policy and on practice within the North East.

Practical workshops on a diverse range of topics also shared best practice and equipped careers leaders with the tools and resources they need to deliver high quality careers education and help develop young people’s knowledge and understanding of the opportunities open to them and the skills they will need.

Ronald Burn, Head of Careers Education and Student Progress at Newcastle College, who attended the event, said: “These events provide an essential networking opportunity for careers professionals to get together and share best practice and build collaborative progression awareness of opportunities for our young people across the region.”

And Gareth McQuillan, School Improvement Adviser, North Tyneside Council, said: “It was great to see just how much is happening in the North East around careers and employer engagement.”

Matt Joyce added: “Top quality careers provision for young people is essential in helping them make decisions about their future, understand what opportunities are available in different sectors, and the range of routes into them.”

“And it’s essential that careers leaders and others working with young people are given what they need to support young people in their important decision-making. This is what will help us make sure our region has a pipeline of skilled and ambitious young people to take us forward.”

The North East LEP is supporting all schools and colleges in the North East to achieve the Gatsby Good Career Guidance Benchmarks by 2024 through its North East Ambition programme that provides year-round training, resources, updates as well as bespoke support for Careers Leaders, teachers, head teachers and governors.

Find out more about the North East LEP’s work to raise the standards of careers guidance in the region at www.NorthEastAmbition.co.uk.

A ground-breaking pilot has demonstrated the importance of targeted and personalised Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) in improving post-16 destinations for young people.

The two-year pilot project, led by the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), was part of the Department for Education’s (DfE) Opportunity North East programme and commitment to improve education and boost productivity in the North East.

Overall, 28 schools were involved – 16 in the North East LEP area. Each school identified up to 30 pupils identified as having an increased risk of becoming NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training).

Many of the pupils involved were from a disadvantaged background or had special educational needs, both indicators of being at higher risk of becoming NEET at the end of Year 11.

The LEP developed and commissioned an intensive and targeted offer of personalised advice and guidance for young people in each ONE Vision school to help them to make the best of their strengths, interests and aspirations, aiming to improve the destinations of these young people at the end of Year 11.

At the end of the project, the young people involved knew more about how to find a good career; they had a greater focus on their chosen sectors; and they had clear plans on how to achieve their goals.

The project saw a 113% average improvement across the 12 key areas of underpinning careers-based knowledge, while the percentage of students with no “vision” of their future career sector fell from 13% to 6%.

An increase in the number of pupils with a post- 16 plan increased from 75% to 98% and some 97% of students are predicted to be in education, employment or training.

In addition, an overwhelming majority of the young people involved in the project reported being happy in their chosen post-16 destination.

Neil Willis, Regional Lead for Education Challenge at the North East LEP, said: “One of our underlying aims was to show that CEIAG needs to be targeted and personalised which is particularly important for pupils that are associated with being at risk of becoming NEET. Pressures on the current system can make this approach challenging in schools.

“For many students, if they don’t get on the right footing at the end of Year 11, it can impact on their progress in future life so ONE Vison enabled us to test an approach to address this.

“We have demonstrated that regular contact with a careers adviser, coupled with accurate data recording and highly-personalised interventions, leads to significant increases in a student’s capacity to make the informed decisions needed to secure a good career pathway.

“As well as improving destinations for young people, this also delivers considerable wider economic and social benefits.”

Nationally, young people who become NEET are likely to experience a range of other negative outcomes, triggering wider economic costs over £77,000 each in direct lifetime costs to public finances and over £144,000 in wider lifetime costs to the economy and wider community.

Every percentage point reduction in NEET pupils across the 15 ONE Vision secondary schools has the potential to save public finances £1.85million and over £3.46million in wider lifetime costs to the economy and community.

The findings of the pilot, which was supported by the Oxford University Careers Service, will be shared with the DfE, local authorities and careers education leaders.

The Opportunity North East report can be viewed here.

When a college and local business share a common goal, they can build a special working relationship that achieves exceptional results. The close partnership between AkzoNobel and Northumberland College has developed a whole-college approach to high quality careers guidance and a successful pathway into local employment.

A global manufacturer of paints and coatings, AkzoNobel opened a new factory in Ashington five years ago. Despite its international profile, the company recognised its responsibility to tackle the local challenge of long-term high unemployment in rural Northumberland. It identified a strategic objective to enhance careers education and ensure a future local workforce.

The North East LEP played a key role in establishing and cultivating the partnership between AkzoNobel and Northumberland College. Enterprise Co-ordinator Lucy Johnson laid the groundwork with an understanding of the needs and ambitions of both organisations. This ensured a positive and sustained match. The LEP facilitated discussions, fostering a mutual understanding of each other’s agendas, terminology and organisational structures. All sides recognised the immense benefits of a whole-college approach, with the full support of Vice Principal Vikkie Morton and with AkzoNobel joining the board of governors.

This unique partnership gave Director of Student Services Ruth Magnus and AkzoNobel Enterprise Adviser Alex Wardle the autonomy and scope to deliver an ambitious strategic careers plan. Ruth introduced Alex to the college’s relevant curriculum departments and student communities. A whole-college approach, says Ruth, provides learners with the best guidance and employer encounters, “from their first course of study through to their next steps into employment, apprenticeships or higher education.”

Working closely with Curriculum Director Robert Stewart, they identified areas where AkzoNobel could make positive interventions. For example, AkzoNobel used its industry knowledge, technical expertise and focus on lean techniques to introduce practical problem solving methodologies and theories on personality types into pastoral lessons.

Alex is an enthusiastic and engaged Enterprise Adviser who has devoted time to thoroughly understand how the college works. This dedication has given AkzoNobel insight into how they can best add value in preparing students for the world of work. “The right frame of mind is key”, says Alex. Students need to be encouraged to start thinking early about their career progression and to understand the behaviours and attributes employers are looking for.

The college is piloting a Reward and Recognition Scheme to emphasise employability skills. Over the year, AkzoNobel will run three masterclasses for Engineering and Construction students. The college will award students with a certificate based on their attendance and progression, as well as volunteering in the community. This certificate will be recognised by AkzoNobel and guarantee them an interview, demonstrating their readiness for the world of work.

Alex expects this scheme to expand into other curriculum areas, and Ruth would like to see it replicated across the Education Partnership North East, building similar relationships between Sunderland College and Hartlepool Sixth Form and local employers.

AkzoNobel also supports the college with workshops, one-to-one sessions and mock interviews, as well as site visits and work experience placements. Last month, Northumberland College held a successful career fair for National Careers Week, where students learned more about opportunities with AkzoNobel and other local employers.

Alex is a driving force in the expanding and deepening cooperation between the college and local business. She has been instrumental in bringing more employers and colleges together through her work with the Enterprise Adviser Network. By working collaboratively across colleges, this group of advisers has been able to share and promote best practice.

AkzoNobel now has former college students working at its Ashington site and sees more leavers applying. The partnership also contributes to job satisfaction and wellbeing at AkzoNobel. “Going into college and delivering a masterclass is not part of the normal job,” explains Alex, but it has led to greater engagement in the team. For example, when a new operator came for an interview, he remembered the site manager from a college visit. “It’s lovely for the employees to know they can have an impact, even if it is a couple of years down the line.”

Ruth reports significant improvement in soft skills at the college, including attendance. In addition, students have a more positive attitude on campus and are more engaged with their studies. This strong performance has followed through into work experience, with fewer placements breaking down due to attendance or attitude. Employer feedback also shows greater satisfaction with students.

“Education feeds industry”, says Alex, and “it’s absolutely the right thing for business to support the college and in the past, we have let that relationship drift apart.” Ruth agrees: “Our courses need scrutiny from business to keep them relevant and up-to-date.” This engagement is essential to ensure students have the values and skills for a successful career. “It is necessary,” says Alex, “if businesses want to be sustainable, with a future ready workforce. It is the only answer.”

Find our more about the North East LEP’s Enterprise Adviser Network, and how your business can support careers education in the region.

The North East LEP has recently begun a collaborative project with Newcastle University called Realising North East Ambition. Here, Dr Louise Kempton at the Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies and LEP Enterprise and Education Lead Kim Smith talk about this important new research.

How did this project come about?

Louise: Ensuring our research has impact beyond the University is fundamental to the work we do at the Centre for Urban and Regional Development. We developed this project in collaboration with the LEP to design research that can directly benefit policy interventions in the North East.

In recognition of the value of this collaboration, the University and the LEP secured funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The research council’s Local Acceleration Fund (LAF) aims to strengthen policy makers’ access to research, data and academic expertise.

Kim: The LEP is always looking for ways to develop a robust and practical evidence base to develop our programming.

Our North East Ambition programme brings educators and businesses together to support young people with the careers guidance they need to succeed in the labour market. This improves the supply of a skilled workforce, ready and prepared for the world of work, ensuring that the North East has a pipeline of talented employees.

So we are excited to be collaborating with Newcastle University to deepen our evidence base and assess what works in careers intervention.

What is the main aim of the research?

Louise: Realising North East Ambition will study the barriers and drivers for young people’s employment and career progression. It will combine innovative social science with the LEP’s extensive local knowledge to provide new insights into the career destinations of young people and the policy design needed to drive positive change.

Kim: Working together will allow the project team to carry out new research on the formation and initiation of career pathways of young people. We will talk to colleges, schools and students, as well as charities and other voluntary organisations supporting young people’s employment and career progression in the sector.

What will the research involve?

Kim: We know the importance of excellent career advice and guidance, including high-quality work experience, knowledge of the labour market and understanding routes into work. But we still have so much to learn about how to design the best programmes to support our young people.

Louise: The team will study the journey from college student’s initial aspirations and careers guidance through to choices, training and destination. This will help us understand the barriers preventing young people from securing and retaining better jobs. It will also allow us to identify the drivers that promote a pipeline to skilled jobs with good career progressions.

Our research will delve into what works in careers education and guidance. It will go beyond formal barriers to examine the informal influence of parents, teachers, peers and role models. It will allow future interventions to focus on the most important factors affecting young people’s career choices .

And what outcomes can we expect to see from the research?

Louise: Over the next few months, the team will hold several events, workshops and roundtables with employers, educators and young people. Information about these events will be shared on our twitter account and across social media.

Our research will bring together regional partners to share data and analysis. It will deepen collaboration between Newcastle University, the North East LEP and its partners. And it will build a productive relationship and enhance a community of practice, based around local intelligence and high-quality academic research.

Kim: A full report will be published this summer, including co-produced policy recommendations that will be actionable for colleges. It will provide the North East LEP and its partners with critical insights to inform both current programmes and future interventions. This will contribute to North East Ambition’s goal to deliver outstanding and tailored careers guidance so each and every young person in the region can realise their ambitions.

A programme designed to improve careers guidance in North East schools has been such a huge success, the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) is expanding it to support businesses and ensure a skills pipeline for the future.

North East Ambition was launched in 2017 to ensure all North East schools and colleges achieve the Gatsby Good Career Guidance benchmarks by 2024.

Use of the Benchmarks has been proven to lead to better student outcomes and raise aspirations among pupils, so much so they were adopted by Government and feature in its national education strategy.

Now North East Ambition will work with businesses to assess their future skills requirements and open up opportunities to develop and upskill their workforce, partnering with the Education Development Trust to deliver the programme.

Dedicated skills facilitators will work directly with businesses to identify their long-term needs and develop a bespoke plan to support them in addressing current and future skills gaps.

Information for businesses will also be added to the North East Ambition portal, alongside a Data Hub to provide the latest labour market information.

Michelle Rainbow, Skills Director at the North East LEP said: “The expansion of North East Ambition is a great way to continue to build upon the fantastic work that has been done so far.

“We know the labour market is facing rapid change with increased digitisation and new technologies and businesses will need to prepare for and adapt to that.

“By harnessing the success of North East Ambition, we can engage with businesses and facilitate the collaboration needed to allow employers to invest in the right skills and future-proof their workforce.”

Elaine Inglis, Assistant Director, Careers, at Education Development Trust commented: “We are very excited to be building on the excellent work undertaken by the North East LEP in establishing the North East Ambition programme.

“Having employees with the right skills will play a key role in helping local employers recover from the effects that COVID19 has had on the economy. We know that for many SMEs it can be challenging to understand what skills development and training options are available and how to access these, which is where we can provide support.”

A key part of the North East LEP’s strategic economic plan, North East Ambition built on the hugely successful Good Career Guidance benchmarks pilot, which saw sixteen schools and colleges in the North East LEP area successfully implement the benchmarks identified by Sir John Holman and the Gatsby Foundation. The North East Ambition programme is part-funded by the European Social Fund.

An independent report recently praised the Pilot for its transformational effect on careers guidance in the region.

For more information, visit www.northeastambition.co.uk/business.

An independent evaluation of the Gatsby Benchmarks of Good Career Guidance Pilot has been released. The North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) played a central role in the Pilot and Skills Director Michelle Rainbow reflects on this and how even after the Pilot was completed, the Benchmarks have remained at the heart of the North East Ambition programme.

I was so proud when I read the evaluation – to hear the Pilot described as transformational and to know that the North East played such a pivotal role has been a real honour.

We’ve always believed that the right careers education can have lifelong rewards for young people and to see that recognised independently today is fantastic.

We started with 12 schools, three colleges and one pupil referral unit taking part in the Pilot, which ran across two academic years (2015/2016 and 2016/2017).

The Pilot was designed to support those schools and colleges to implement the eight Gatsby Benchmarks of Good Career Guidance, evaluate how they were implemented, and identify what impacts might result from this. Today’s report notes the “observable and positive impact on learners, especially those who are most disadvantaged” – demonstrating the value that the Benchmarks can bring.

The North East Strategic Economic Plan is our blueprint for growth in the North East. We know that skills and people are central to successful economies and through our work with the Pilot we’ve defined a programme with careers at its core. Our approach was bolstered by government integrating the Benchmarks into the national careers strategy, which requires every secondary school to adopt the Benchmarks and North East Ambition is here to support them to do that.

North East Ambition’s key principle is “each and every”, making sure that every single student has the opportunity to access good careers guidance and recognise what their pathway could be. Why? Because we too believe it can be transformational.

We have secured £3.1m European and match funding to support our North East Ambition programme that sees us working with 170 secondary schools and all nine of our FE colleges and two 6th form centres. This is a clear demonstration of our commitment to our pledge to work with each and every pupil in our region so that no one is left behind.

We have also launched a new Pilot to adapt and translate the Benchmarks for primary aged pupils. There’s increasing evidence to show that children begin to form ideas about their futures when they’re as young as five or six. And by the age of 10, many young people have already made career limiting decisions, which are fixed by the time they’re 14. Imagine how we could change that trajectory if we could embed Benchmarks that related to primary aged pupils. We are one year in and our results are extremely encouraging.

We haven’t let the impact of COVID-19 slow us down either. The trusted relationships we have built with the schools and colleges through over the past five years gave us the established network and routes into schools and colleges that we needed to continue to support young learners at the most challenging time.

One of the things we have been incredibly keen to keep going is helping young people experience the world of work even during COVID-19 where they can’t physically get into workplaces. This is why, in response to requests from Careers Leaders, we have developed a Work Experience Framework, which will be launched next week. As an online resource, the site will support students and employers to facilitate virtual work experience

The Gatsby Benchmarks of Good Career Guidance Pilot was an incredible success and we are grateful that our partnership with the Gatsby Foundation enabled us to play such a critical role in it. But the work is not over – this is just the start as we continue to lead the way in showing our young people there is a world of opportunity available to them and anything is possible.

The world of work today is very different to the one I first joined. It’s estimated young people can expect to change careers between five and seven times, and at least two of those will not be of their choosing. Looking back with what may be rose-tinted glasses, it seemed easier to move around and experience different jobs when I began my career.

I think if I was looking to offer some general advice to young people today it would be to keep your career options open. Don’t close them down before you have to and focus on one specific area.

It’s a positive thing to sample different work environments. I’ve worked for a multinational company, the government, a regional development agency, and for a number of years I ran my own marketing consultancy, which allowed me to work with a range of businesses and clients.

It’s not always about what you do, but the environment that you work in. If you’re happy and comfortable in your chosen environment you feel like you belong, and that gives you the best chance of a fulfilling and rewarding career.

It always strikes me as sad when some people are stuck in jobs they don’t like. You spend more time at work – in normal circumstances – with your work colleagues than you do at home. Why then would you do something you don’t enjoy?

When I was at school, I didn’t really benefit from any specific careers advice; there certainly wasn’t a sustained programme to recognise talent. Someone would come to the school for half a day and ask what you liked doing. I do remember someone saying they wanted to travel and they were advised to be a bus driver.

It was also quite common at the time to choose between arts-based or science-based subjects. Now, people don’t necessarily have to do the classic trio of subjects – maths, physics and chemistry. People can choose to study a mix of subjects that gives them a breadth of knowledge.

It’s really important to introduce people to the world of work from an early stage and that’s something we try to do in the centre’s visitor attraction, Life Science Centre. We offer an informal learning environment and we want to inspire people when they visit, ignite their curiosity and get them thinking in different ways. We encourage people to think creatively and imaginatively. Those skills are important in the world of work, particularly in science.

We have a mantra at Life Science Centre, which is ‘hands on, minds on, hearts on’. I firmly believe people learn better when they’re actively engaged in something that interests them.

It’s also important to say it’s okay to not know what you want to do in the future; people shouldn’t be worried or ashamed about that. Take your time and get it right.

We often talk about change in the workplace, and we’re currently seeing that at an unprecedented rate. That’s why I think young people should be flexible and not take themselves down a route they’re not sure of.

Parents have an important role to play in that, too. Young people often find they move unconsciously down a career path prompted by their parents.

Sadly, stereotypes still prevail in the science and technology sector, and some of that can come from parents, especially those without an interest in the area. That can discourage young people from pursuing STEM subjects, so we need to help students and their parents understand how science qualifications can stand them in good stead across many different careers.

In the gaming sector, for example, a large majority of people have qualifications in maths and physics. Unfortunately, young people don’t often make the connection between those exciting, emerging jobs and science subjects.

I’m often asked about my role within the science sector, and what skills and qualifications it takes to become a chief executive.

The first skill is to learn from your mistakes. We all make them, but it’s how you learn from the experience that’s important. I think it also benefits your staff to see someone in a senior leadership position make a mistake and own up to it. It gives them the courage to do the same.

Something that’s always been, and will continue to be important, is communication. It’s essential to be able to explain to people not just what, but why they’re doing something. When people don’t know what’s happening, they fill in the gaps themselves. Communications is something I feel I have a particular strength in, as I worked in the industry for a long time. I believe communications should be frequent, honest and simple.

Developing effective relationships is vital, too. I think a lot of people forget when you have a relationship with an organisation, it’s with the people within it.

Whilst it might sound obvious, listening skills are very important. If you think about our current situation, senior leaders need to understand how it’s impacting staff, their families and their lives. You only get that from listening.

You also need to take risks, and that’s something we’re very good at in Life. As a not-for-profit independent trust, we have a lot of autonomy and entrepreneurial spirit. We used that to adapt during the coronavirus pandemic to become an NHS large vaccination centre.

Taking risks fits with my next attribute, which is thinking outside the box. Despite being a not-for-profit, we think commercially at Life. By making a profit we can improve and expand the job we do – and do it better. That’s why it’s key to learn from other sectors and other businesses.

If I wasn’t chief executive of Life, I’d like to be either a wildly successful criminal barrister, or a wildly successful crime fiction writer. I’m always told only a small handful of people become successful criminal barristers. I’d definitely want to be one of the rich ones.

Linda Conlon is Chief Executive of the International Centre for Life, which opened in May 2000, with the purpose of inspiring everyone in North East England to explore and enjoy science and to discover its relevance to their own lives.

Linda is the first woman from Europe to be elected as Chair of the Association of Science and Technology Centres (ASTC), a body which represents more than 600 centres from over 50 countries. Linda is also a former board member of Ecsite, the European network of science centres and museums, and former Chair of its UK equivalent.

In recognition of her outstanding service to science and science education in North East England, she was awarded an MBE in January 2016.

www.life.org.uk

Abigail Cook joined NEL Fund Managers in 2017 as a Level 2 Administration Apprentice. On completion of her Level 2, Abigail immediately progressed to Level 4, which she successfully completed during the coronavirus pandemic.

Yvonne Gale, Chief Executive Officer of NEL Fund Managers, and Abigail Cook, Investment Associate at NEL Fund Managers, discuss the impact COVID-19 has had on apprenticeships, and how organisations have adapted to ensure apprentices and employers continue to benefit from this important route to employment.

Yvonne Gale, Chief Executive Officer

What immediate impact did the coronavirus pandemic have on the delivery of Abigail’s apprenticeship?

At the time when the coronavirus pandemic began, Abigail was right at the end of her Level 4 apprenticeship. At that stage there’s a final completion assessment that includes observation in the workplace.

Obviously that couldn’t happen, so the main disruption was the timescale for moving Abigail onto her Level 7 apprenticeship. We couldn’t get the paperwork signed off on Level 4, so we couldn’t get her enrolled for Level 7.

We were also in the process of moving to a new specialist training provider who could deliver Level 7. The new provider was unable to enroll Abigail onto the new apprenticeship programme until they had official sign off the Level 4 NVQ, and that was on a backlog of around six-eight weeks.

It was just unlucky timing as that was in March/April 2020.

Did NEL Fund Managers benefit from continuing the apprenticeship during the coronavirus pandemic?

Abigail is currently in a developmental role and we know it’s really important that she keeps getting opportunities to learn so putting her apprenticeship on hold could have affected its momentum and her motivation. We were keen COVID-19 didn’t disrupt that and that we could keep it moving forward.

I actually spent a lot of time working with the new training provider, Kaplan, to make sure it could continue. During the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic everything was temporarily disrupted and for people in a developmental role it’s important they don’t feel like they’re going to be left on the sidelines. Apprenticeships could have been something that was easily left on the shelf but we didn’t want to do that; we felt it was really important to keep pushing to make sure it continued.

Why has NEL Fund Managers chosen to invest in apprenticeships?

There are multiple reasons. NEL Fund Managers does a lot of technical work and we need technical skills. Whilst the Level 4 apprenticeship has given Abigail a good grounding we spotted an opportunity for her to move from an administration role to a technical role.

Although we do a lot of learning in the workplace, I think it’s really important people have external learning as well. People in a developmental role will bring improvements to processes as they go, so if they’re only learning in the workplace, where are they going to get that knowledge? We really want people to experience that cross-pollination from training in the workplace in addition to the external perspectives offered through an apprenticeship.

Another reason is that NEL Fund Managers focuses a lot of emphasis on staff retention; over 50% of our staff has been with us for ten years or more. You can’t just assume people will stay, you have to offer them progression and the best way to do that is through training. We’ve got a very long history of that at NEL Fund Managers; everyone in the business has done a lot of training. We’re keen to support people who want to continue to learn and develop because we want to keep those members of staff and we want to keep their skills too.

The other benefit is that apprenticeships offer a structured programme and for small businesses, it’s quite difficult to deliver a three-year structured training programme. Going onto a planned apprenticeship means someone takes on the care of that structured programme for us, and makes sure it happens.

Abigail’s apprenticeship is in accounting and we have several accountants here in the business and that have all learnt through the apprenticeship route. We know it works and there’s tradition there. Because we benefitted from it, we want the next generation to benefit from it too.

Abigail Cook, Investment Associate

What changes did you have to adapt to in order to complete your Level 4 during lockdown?

Towards the end of my Level 4 there was a series of final observations that had to be done. My assessor, Olivia, couldn’t come and visit in person so we had to think of new ways to get the observations done, and that was mainly through Zoom and Microsoft Teams. We had professional discussions that were then recorded and uploaded to the portal that stores evidence of all my work.

I redid one module for my technical certificate and found I actually had more time to do research as I had fewer personal commitments because of lockdown.

Did you find it challenging to move to a home learning / working model?

It wasn’t necessarily challenging, just very different. I’m mainly office based unless I’m attending meetings, and my bedroom has turned into a home office, which is working well now. There were some challenges at the beginning with parents and younger siblings all working/studying from home, and we invested in some new WIFI.

A lot of the work we do at NEL Fund Managers, such as getting wet signatures on documents and having investment files signed off, had to be adapted to be digitised, and that took a lot of work initially. But since then it’s a case of pressing a button and sending it off via email to someone. It was challenging at first but we’ve all adapted to the new processes we’ve developed.

Doing some of the technical learning at home has been hard as normally you might want to sit with someone to go through it. When we are doing revision sharing now it’s about sharing screens on Teams. As a learner I’d prefer to do some of that in person.

The Zoom sessions we’ve been doing have been really interactive but it’s not quite the same as being sat in a classroom being able to ask your peers questions.

Yvonne Gale – We actually picked Kaplan as they were the only training provider that could offer us classroom learning in Newcastle. It’s a three-year programme so I’m hopeful we can go back to a classroom model. Abigail, and our other accounting apprentice, Mike, actually requested classroom learning when we were looking at providers so it’s a shame we’re not able to offer people their preferred method of learning at the moment.

Why did you choose to complete an apprenticeship over another route to employment?

I originally went to sixth form after doing my GCSEs to study AS levels but after my first year I questioned why I was doing them. At the time I also had a part time job and was enjoying the work ethic, as oppose to full-time study.

I saw the Level 2 apprenticeship advertised at NEL Fund Managers and even though it was a very different environment, after my interview I thought ‘yes, I’d like to work here’. Thankfully Yvonne and Suzanne took me on, which was great.

An apprenticeship allows me work and earn whilst I’m studying. Being in secure employment – as opposed to a university experience with a part time job and a lot of debt – seemed really attractive to me.

It was also encouraging to learn other people in NEL Fund Managers have been apprentices as well. That showed me there is a lot of scope for development here and NEL Fund Managers – as an employer – are very encouraging.

Yvonne Gale – Abigail has gone from working part time in hospitality to doing a postgraduate qualification in four years – and she’s skipped all the student debt.

The apprenticeship system really works for us as an employer too. The course she’s currently doing – had we been paying that ourselves – would cost £20k. For a small business that’s a huge amount of money. Because of the apprenticeship system we’ve been able to get that for 5% of the cost – so it costs us £1k for a £20k piece of training.

And Abigail is getting £20k worth of training, and she’s not having to pay for it.

What are your career aspirations moving forward?

Ideally I’d like to move into more of an investment executive role, managing my own investment opportunities and working with yet more growing local businesses. I’m definitely getting the skills I need through my apprenticeship. The amount I’ve learned is really helping me develop in my current role.

I’d like to finish the current apprenticeship in the next three years and move into a permanent investment executive role. In the long term I’d like to continue at NEL Fund Managers and see what other progression opportunities there are.

Find information and guidance for businesses on hiring an apprentice on the North East Growth Hub Apprenticeship Toolkit.

The North East LEP welcomes the Skills for Jobs: lifelong learning for opportunity and growth white paper published by the Department for Education today [Thursday 21 January 2021].

The white paper sets out reforms to post-16 technical education and training to support people to develop the skills needed to get good jobs and improve national productivity.

Michelle Rainbow, Skills Director at the North East LEP, said: “We are particularly pleased to see that the reforms take into consideration some of those recommended from the Independent Commission for the Future of Colleges. It’s crucial that employers are given a pivotal role in working with general further education colleges, other training providers and local stakeholders to meet local and regional skill needs, and ultimately achieve our ambition of more and better jobs.

“This, together with the spotlight on technical education and announcement of a flexible lifetime skills guarantee enables us to continue to build upon existing partnerships in the North East LEP area. We are well placed to support and drive this agenda owing to our Chair of Board, Lucy Winskell and Skills Advisory Panel Chair, Ellen Thinnesen, being local and national leaders in the Higher and Further Education sectors respectively. It also enables us to build upon our investment into the region’s first Institute of Technology.”

Kim Smith, College Hub Facilitator, added: “Engagement between education and enterprise is a key strength across employer stakeholders and educational partners in the North East LEP area and we look forward to hearing more about the trailblazer opportunities for piloting local skills improvement plans and establishing College Business Centres.”

For more information, and to read the Skills for jobs white paper in full, visit gov.uk.

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