World Youth Skills Day: Shining a Light on the Key Role of Pre-Apprenticeships in Building the Next Generation of Engineers

Taking place on July 15, World Youth Skills Day highlights the importance of equipping young people with the right skills for employment to enable them to succeed in their career.

There are a range of challenges young people face today when taking their first steps in their professional careers, amidst lack of opportunities, accessibility gaps, and issues with the acquisition of technical and vocational skills for employment.

The issues surrounding the upskilling of youth in the UK are also contributing to significant challenges with regards to talent acquisition in specific sectors, with one of these being STEM.

With an existing shortfall of around 59,000 engineers in the UK – a shortage that’s been ongoing for a number of years now – it is estimated this figure will grow to 1 million by 2030.

With such alarming statistics, it is clear that much more should be done to plug the skills gap by creating accessible avenues into the sector and reducing negative attitudes towards the profession amongst young people.

Multidisciplinary engineering firm adi Group is one of the businesses striving to generate positive change in the industry, having pioneered a highly successful pre-apprenticeship scheme in the UK.

The business launched the programme in 2016 with the aim to create a platform that provides young people with insights and effective training into a rewarding career within the engineering industry.

Each year, the scheme offers 12 students from years 10 and 11 the opportunity to develop their hands-on engineering skills through purpose-built workshops over a two-year span, spending half a day per week within the adi headquarters.

Offering students the opportunity to learn core skills such as drawing, measuring and filing, welding and control panel building from adi’s own in-house mentors, the self-funded programme provides valuable insight into a real-world engineering environment, inspiring young students from a young age.

The programme has already received praise by the likes of former Prime Minister Theresa May, former Chancellor Phillip Hammond, West Midlands Mayor Andy Street and local MP Andy Sambrook, who all visited the Birmingham workshops and saw the scheme in action.

Commenting on the success of the scheme to date, Alan Lusty, CEO, said: “We believe businesses have a vital role to play in supporting the growth and future of the engineering industry. This is why we worked to create a high-quality, easily accessible path into engineering that differs from traditional academic routes.

“Having started out as an apprentice myself, I am aware that traditional education such as university courses may not work for everyone, and that it’s essential to have other options available if we are to make a positive difference.

“And when it comes to engineering, offering a more practical as opposed to theory-based approach is particularly beneficial.”

adi Group’s pre-apprentices leave the programme with a formal Engineering and Learning (EAL) accredited qualification, as well as being in an ideal position to move into a full-time apprenticeship at the age of 16, fast-tracking their journey to a successful engineering career.

The programme offers an effective solution to help plug the national engineering skills gap by inspiring the next generation of young British engineers and offering a rewarding opportunity to build up vocational skills from a young age.

“One of the main objectives of the programme is to tackle the skills gap issue. But we are also aware that there are harmful myths surrounding engineering that are deterring young people from even considering joining the industry,“ Mr Lusty continued.

“We believe changing this is pivotal – that’s why have worked to link together industry and education in an innovative, highly efficient manner, allowing youngsters to learn more about engineering while sparking a long-lasting interest for a career in the industry.

“We are also striving to encourage and inspire like-minded businesses to implement similar approaches to our own. In its eight years, the scheme has enjoyed particular success, with over 96 students having joined since its inception, and 14 of them being full-time apprentices at adi Group.

“It is imperative that other businesses join us in creating accessible, effective pathways into engineering that are able to engage students and ignite a passion for what is an extremely prominent sector in our world, helping to safeguard its future.”

To learn more about adi Group’s award-winning pre-apprenticeship scheme, please visit: https://adiltd.co.uk/apprentice-academy