What is a Modern Apprenticeship?

It’s a job where you train part-time towards a recognised qualification. In most cases the qualification will be the Scottish Vocational Qualification (SVQ) Level 3. This is roughly equivalent to Highers.

Unlike ‘old-fashioned’ apprenticeships you can train in over eighty different jobs from accounting technician to playworker. But, it still includes traditional craft apprenticeships in the building, engineering and garage industries.

The training includes all five core skills: communication, numeracy, information and communication technology, problem solving and working with others.

What’s in it for me?

• A job (around 89% of apprentices who finished their training in 2007 stayed on with the employer who trained them).
• A decent wage (the average wage varies between £80 and £125 a week in the first year, depending on the type of Modern Apprenticeship you do).
• The chance to get a recognised qualification without taking out a student loan (SVQ Levels 3 or 4).
• The chance to learn by getting practical experience (which suits some people better than academic study).
• The chance to move on to more advanced qualifications (some apprentices move on to SVQ Level 4 or study part-time towards Higher National Certificates (HNCs) or Higher National Diplomas (HNDs). A small number will eventually go on to study for degree level qualifications. 

What about the money?

You’re an employee right from day one of your training and you get either the going rate, or a percentage of the going rate, for the job. The wage varies according to the type of training you do. For example, a first year plumbing apprentice gets £110.25 a week. A fourth year plumbing apprentice gets £256.50 a week. Your training comes free as part of the package.

What about the training?

Most apprentices are in training for between two and four years. Your training usually has three parts: 

• part-time study or training (at a college or training centre)
• work-based assessments
• practical experience on-the-job.

You normally work towards an SVQ Level 3, but in some types of work you start by working towards an SVQ Level 2 before moving on to Level 3. Some ‘technician’ level apprentices work towards an SVQ Level 4.

Together with your employer and training provider you’ll develop a Training Plan, and your progress will be looked at on a regular basis. A training provider can be a college, a privately run training company or an industry-based organization (such as ConstructionSkills, the building industry's sector skills association).

What do I need to get into a Modern Apprenticeship?

The minimum age for entry into a Modern Apprenticeship is 16 years of age. Although there isn’t an upper age limit for Modern Apprenticeships most apprentices start between sixteen and eighteen years of age.

The qualifications you’ll need to get in will depend on the type of Modern Apprenticeship you do. Although many don’t require formal qualifications, some do. For example, engineering apprenticeships usually require a good group of Standard grades, including English, maths and a science subject.

You might be asked to sit a selection test. This is typical for construction and garage-related apprenticeships. 

You can visit the MappIT website at www.mappit.org.uk to check out what you’d need for different types of Modern Apprenticeship.

How do I get one?

First of all, a warning! Not all types of Modern Apprenticeship are available in all areas. For example, you’ll not find one in Forestry in Glasgow.

You can apply:

• by contacting employers or training providers directly
• through the MappIT website (see above)
• through Jobcentre Plus - although many employers advertise in local newspapers or recruit by word of mouth
• by asking an existing employer if you can become a Modern Apprentice.

How do I know if it’s the right choice for me?

Now this is the sixty-four-thousand-dollar-question! It’s all a matter of choice, your choice.

A Modern Apprenticeship is only one of the options open to you when you are sixteen. You need to weight up the advantages and disadvantages of each option before making a decision. Why not start by finding out the answers to a few basic questions.

• What sorts of career am I interested in?
• What are the different ways to get into these careers?
• Is a modern apprenticeship one of the routes I can take?
• How does it compare with the other ways of getting into the job?
• Would it suit me better? (Would I prefer to study full-time?)
• What can it lead to?

What are the main types of Modern Apprenticeship?

There are almost 29,000 Modern Apprentices in Scotland. The top ten Scottish Modern Apprenticeship frameworks, in terms of the number of apprentices in the industry, are:

Where to get more information

For information and advice contact Careers Scotland on 0845 8502 502.

The following websites have useful information:

http://www.mappit.org.uk

http://www.mascot.uk.com

http://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/training-opportunities.aspx#ModernApprenticeships  

http://www.ssascot.org.uk