How collaboration with business is critical for successful Apprenticeship programmes

As National Apprenticeship Week 2022 (#NAW2022) “Build the Future” gets underway, FE News hears from the Assistant Principal of an award-winning North West college (@BurnleyCollege) on how collaboration with business is critical for successful Apprenticeship programmes.

Looking towards the future is the key to running successful Apprenticeship programmes, says one of Britain’s leading colleges.

Neil Burrows is Assistant Principal at Burnley College, where he heads up Apprenticeships and Adult Learning, and is Director of Themis, their apprenticeship training arm.

Neil, who has been at the College since 2016, has been instrumental in driving their highly successful apprenticeship programmes, and their latest Themis careers event brought in 35 employers from across the region to meet 400 young people and their parents.

Burnley College has also announced that 2022 will be their Year of the Themis Apprentice, thanks to their determination to support outstanding young people to find their place in industry.

Ambitious learners are progressing through apprenticeships across a wide variety of sectors, including engineering, construction, business, finance and health at the Lancashire college.

Neil has just been appointed to the North West Regional Council of the CBI, a prestigious invitation that endorses the strong link he and his team have created between education and industry. 

Neil said: “We look towards the future, as the calibre of our Apprentices – past and present – shows.

“I love National Apprenticeship Week, and we have a lot of events scheduled here at College and within the community. But we can’t include everything we want to do in just one week, that’s why this is our Year of the Themis Apprentice.

“We are constantly in talks with businesses to find out what technological advances are coming, and how we can ensure our Apprentices are exposed to, and learning all, the necessary skills to secure their own, successful future in industry.

“During Lockdown, we had Apprentices on furlough from their work, just like there were nationwide. But we never stopped engaging with them and supporting them and we never stopped talking to employers.

“Carrying on with our regular industry advisory boards – where our Tutors and Trainers meet with employers in specific sectors – through the pandemic meant we could ensure our Apprentices were well prepared for the moment they could return to the workplace.

 “By having strategic talks with industry leaders and other key stakeholders, we could ascertain what their current and future skills needs were, and change our curricula accordingly.

“I feel that close collaboration with businesses is critical for successful Apprenticeship programmes, because they’re always looking towards the future – so, as trainers and educators, we should, too.

Neil Burrows is Assistant Principal at Burnley College