Gateshead Get Up and Go Event - February 2010
Gateshead Skills Academy hosted a two day awareness raising event for opportunities in Apprenticeships and work-based learning organised by the Gateshead Collective in partnership with Connexions Gateshead, the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) and Gateshead MBC Raising Achievement Service. Over two days the event attracted Year 10 to Year 13 pupils, college students, parents and guardians who spoke with, and gathered information from a range of work-based learning providers.
Suzanne Evans, ITEC’s Business Development Consultant is pictured with Blaydon’s MP Dave Anderson and pupils from Lord Lawson School in Birtley, as she explains the range of Apprenticeships currently available to school leavers.
Completed evaluation forms indicate visitors found the event useful and 65% stated they were interested in finding out more about Apprenticeships.
Welcome
ITEC North East is delighted to have been awarded £40,000 funding for its ‘Roam with a View’ project following a successful submission to the Association of Learning Providers (ALP).
Our submission outlined plans to draw together ITEC’s learners, staff and employers into a cohesive learning community with the addition of netbooks and point of view cameras. With these additional resources, the time our assessors spend with learners and employers will be much more effectively used to record exactly what is relevant to progress each learner’s training and considerably reduce the amount of paperwork currently generated.
It is hoped to introduce the new cameras and netbooks early in 2010.
Apprentice wages
From 1st August 2009, the minimum wage for all employed apprentices in England was increased to a minimun of £95 per week. With effect from 1st October 2010 Apprenticeship employers must make sure all their apprentices are being paid at least £2.50 per hour for all the time they are on their Apprenticeships. This includes time working plus the time spent training both on and off the job (such as time at college).The change will apply to all new and existing apprentices aged 16 to 18 and those aged 19 or over in the first year of their Apprenticeship.
Apprentices aged 19 or over who have already spent a year on their Apprenticeship must be paid at least the full National Minimum Wage rate appropriate to their age. However, recent research found that apprentices earn an average of £170 net pay per week.