There has never been a better time to be an apprentice. That is true for school leavers, college leavers and even those already within the work place. Anyone can be an apprentice, anyone with a need for up skilling and knowledge development, that is. Employers are increasingly utilising their apprenticeship levy to not only develop and support new staff, but to develop the talent they already have. Because of this, Apprenticeships at Salford City College have seen a real need for the introduction of Higher Apprenticeships in Project Management.
The new Associate Project Manager Apprenticeship Standard, a level 5 management qualification, has now launched with Apprenticeships at Salford City College and Seddon. Apprenticeships at Salford City College are a leading provider of apprenticeships in the area. For the last three years they have been the number one college provider of apprenticeships in Greater Manchester and support around 1,200 apprentices and 400 employers across the city. Their success rates are also more than 10% above the national average.
Seddon too are known for their excellence when it comes to apprentices. In fact, they are leading the way in their sector when it comes to apprentice employment, often having around 80 apprentices employed at any one time. Furthermore, thanks to this new apprenticeship offer, Seddon have taken their investment in apprenticeships one step further, with a commitment to develop 40 of their key project staff in line with the new Project Management Apprenticeship Standard, to be delivered by Salford City College. This will see their staff achieve industry recognised project management qualifications, alongside the wider skills, knowledge and behaviours that the standards demands.
Training Manager at Seddon, Kat Healy, who has been instrumental in designing the programme with the management associates from the college said: ‘’The programme is ideal for our business. We want to drive organisational change, ensuring consistency and quality across all projects we are involved in. We have worked extremely hard with Apprenticeships at Salford City College to mould the Project Management Apprenticeship Standard in alignment to our own needs, and we couldn’t be more delighted with the final product.”
Allan Milne, Head of Apprenticeship and Business Development at Apprenticeships at Salford City College, said: “The Apprenticeship Reforms have ensured that there has been a wave of fantastic new apprenticeship programmes introduced and that are currently in development. The result of this is of course that an individual at any level within a business, in any function, can be an apprentice and better their career.”
The first cohort of project management apprentices have now embarked upon their training with Seddon, with other companies following the way in partnership with the college. If you would like to make the most out of your apprenticeship levy and develop your workforce at the same time, contact Apprenticeships at Salford City College on 0161 631 5555 or by emailing Apprenticeships@salfordcc.ac.uk
