New National Society of Apprentices Scotland Launch!

The Apprentice Conversation Scotland 

More than just a blether

On Sunday 23 March 2014, the brand new National Society of Apprentices Scotland will be launched at NUS Scotland Conference in Dundee. The National Society of Apprentices Scotland exists to represent apprentices in Scotland.

Apprentices from across Scotland are invited for the launch of the National Society of Apprentices Scotland.

The event will provide an opportunity for apprentices in Scotland to meet other apprentices, talk about their experiences of being an apprentice and to shape the work of the National Society of Apprentices in Scotland.

The interim leadership of the National Society of Apprentices in Scotland will also be chosen at the launch and apprentices in Scotland have the chance to volunteer to be part of the team that shapes the organisation.

Find out more about what to expect on the day here.

So if you are an apprentice in Scotland then come along to the launch of the National Society of Apprentices Scotland.

Where will it take place?

The launch of the National Society of Apprentices will take place at the Apex City Quay Hotel, Dundee from 12-4 on Sunday 23 March 2014. Lunch will be provided for those attending.

How to register?

For more information, or to register to attend please contact Ben Kinross, Apprentices Engagement Officer on ben.kinross@nus.org.uk

For our email disclaimer, please visit http://www.nus.org.uk/nus-email-disclaimer

Shannen is a trailblazer!

Shannen Scott (21) is the first young person in Scotland to complete an Apprenticeship in Enterprise and will receive her qualification at a ceremony in the European Commission on 18th March 2014. Shannen will also showcase her journey and social enterprise to the European Apprenticeships Alliance on the same day.

It’s all go! Shannen received the exciting news that she has been selected as a finalist for the Enterprise category in the Sunday Mail Young Scot Awards 2014. The awards ceremony will take place on 10th April in the SECC Clyde Auditorium in Glasgow.

To cap it all off, Shannen pitched her journey and the opportunity to Fife Council who have announced that they will support another 19 young people to follow in her footsteps and take on an Apprenticeship in Enterprise as part of their commitment to expanding and innovating youth opportunity provision and creating a culture of enterprise in Fife.

To find out more and keep up to date with Apprenticeships in Enterprise visit their website on www.apprenticeshipsinenterprise.com

If you want to chat with Shannen about her journey, contact her via email on Shannen@careerstudio.co.uk

#yearoftheapprentice #InternationalWomensDay

New Jobs Created as Charity Secures £1m

An educational charity based in Cupar has recently received nearly £1 million in funding to help expand its activities 

Character Scotland, a charity aiming to support the development of children and young people’s character and values by working with schools and partner organisations, has received significant funding to help contribute to projects. With a grant from the John Templeton Foundation, the Cupar-based charity has been able to employ six new recruits, two of whom are working towards an apprenticeship. The funding will also substantially support the Commonwealth-wide project “Global Citizens in the Making” which is already underway.

Chief Executive David Lorimer is excited about the opportunities the funding will provide: “It is a great chance for young people to get involved in our new programme through schools. Our current Olympic and Paralympic values programme has reached over 75,000 youngsters in the last three years, and we expect similar numbers to be involved in Global Citizens in the Making, which is focused on the tremendous opportunity provided by Glasgow 2014.” . Local MP Roderick Campbell has also shown his appreciation for the work accomplished by the charity encouraging youngsters having this to say; “The work of Character Scotland in Cupar has always been very positive and I am delighted to see that this significant investment has created jobs and helped to further increase employment in the area. Increasing youth employment is a key priority for the Scottish Government, and it is encouraging to see new opportunities being created in the town. I am certain that the new staff will complement those already in place and help the charity to achieve its ambitions”.

This year, children and young people have been asked to say who inspired them at London 2012. Top of the list are Jessica Ennis, Usain Bolt, Sir Chris Hoy, Mo Farah, Tom Daley and Ellie Simmonds. Former Olympics Minister Dame Tessa Jowell MP said of the current project: “It is hard to imagine a programme that captures more precisely the spirit of the Olympics than Inspire-Aspire. It was a privilege to present the awards and to be reminded of the extraordinary talent waiting to be unleashed in our young people.”

Alongside the work with schools, the charity is also forming a brand new Think Tank called the Character Development Partnership. This exciting, fresh and potentially game-changing initiative will bring key people and organisations together to share practice, debate and tackle some of the key challenges faced by children and young people in society. The members will represent a diverse range of disciplines and settings including education, youth work, academia, business, community-based, public and third sector.

The partnership aims to provide leadership for the Character Development agenda in Scotland, to influence practice and policy at the highest levels and to result in more character development opportunities for children and young people.

Together, the two strands of work of the charity aim to inspire children and young people and to transform their inspiration into aspiration.

Notes to Editor

Please contact Stephanie Powell, Trainee Communications Executive on 01334 844900, 0790 881 5259 or stephanie.powell@character-scotland.org.uk for more information.

Other High Resolution photo’s available on request.

Colin Dalrymple visits Apprenticeships in Scotland

The Apprenticeships in Scotland team welcomed Colin Dalrymple, Chief Executive of Scottish Training Federation to their office this week, where we spoke about youth unemployment and ways of developing Scotland’s young workforce, which is a key topic of the STF conference in September. Colin also met new members of the AiS team who are helping lead our in-house and client web and digital media services where we discussed some of the exciting new things that we have been working on, including our new soon to be launched website. Colin talked about partnerships that he has been developing and the conference that's happening this September which the AiS team will be attending.

Developing Scotland's Young Workforce is the theme for the 2013 STF conference, which was a huge success last year. Angela Constance, Youth Employment Minister for Scotland will be speaking at the event this year, along with John McLelland, current Chair of Skills Development Scotland.  The Apprenticeships in Scotland team are really looking forward to this conference, as it is a key event for networking with STF members.  We hope that by having all of these influential figures in one place and by strengthening relationships we can all help come up with the solution to youth unemployment.

If you haven’t already, click here to book a place at this year’s conference at Crieff Hydro in September 

Developing our expertise

As part of our on-going mission to develop our expertise in youth employment 'Apprenticeships in Scotland' apprentices, Shannen Scott, Rebekah Beaton and Mary Thomson, attended the "Apprenticeships and Training Conference 2013". The conference consisted of key speakers Angela Constance MSP, Minister for youth Employment, The Scottish Government and Paul McKelvie OBE, Scotland Commissioner, UK Commission for Employment and Skills.

The conference proved very useful for the Apprenticeships in Scotland team as they managed to get a great insight into what was happening within their sector and what the future plans were. They came away from the conference satisfied and more eager to help young Scots into employment!

For more information on other Holyrood events, click here

Enterprise Apprenticeship Recruitment

Scotland’s only dedicated national youth opportunities network ‘Apprenticeships in Scotland’ is recruiting for a new Business Enterprise apprentice to join their existing small team in Fife. The initiative helps young people to take a lead in their own labour market and  work in close partnership with employers and training providers .

The initiative in now in receipt of support from Fife Council as part of their culture of enterprise plans.

New Enterprise Apprentices are due to start in March after the second interviews have taken place in late February. Find out more about Enterprise Apprenticeships by clicking here.

Keep up to date with Apprenticeships in Scotland by signing up to our Network Update and/or our Friday Update which can be found on the homepage of our website.

Alternatively, call one of our apprentices to find out more! Contact details can be found on www.apprenticeshipsinscotland.com

Apprenticeships in Scotland Assist with Largest Youth Unemployment Fall Since 2006

The SNP has welcomed statistics showing youth unemployment has fallen by 28,000 over the last year – the largest annual fall since 2006.

The youth unemployment rate of 18.4% is now at its lowest since November to January 2011 and compares to the UK’s rate of 20.6%.

Scotland accounted for 13,000 of the UK’s 14,000 fall in headline unemployment over the quarter - with unemployment in Scotland now lower than the UK average.

Apprenticeships in Scotland are very pleased to be playing a part in the fall of youth unemployment! To read our January report, CLICK HERE

Shannen Lights Up Energy Apprenticeships in Scotland

Shannen from the Apprenticeships in Scotland team has been asked by Energy & Utility Skills (EU Skills) to present a case study of her Apprenticeship at a UK wide Employer and University forum event in England – the location is still to be decided. Shannen will be sharing her experiences of what it is like to be an apprentice and represent the youth labour market to potential employers.

Shannen has been contributing to EU Skills Information Advice and Guidance (IAG) strategy and working closely with employers in the sector to stimulate demand and provide candidate attraction to those employers recruiting young people.

Elaine Fisher from EU Skills said; “Shannen is fantastic and a real asset to the sector. It is important we do what we can to give her a platform”.

Shannen has taken on the responsibility to become a dedicated Youth Opportunities Apprentice for the energy and utilities sector and will be your first point of contact should you need to discuss youth opportunities. Shannen’s contact details are as follows:

Tel: 01334 844 900
Email: Shannen@careerstudio.co.uk

Keep up to date with the latest activity with EU Skills today: http://www.euskills.co.uk/

Apprenticeship in Enterprise launched – A First for Scotland

Scotland's first Apprenticeship in Enterprise has been launched this week in Fife. The qualification is being piloted by Cupar business, the Career Studio.

Founder of the Career Studio and Careers Adviser, Ronnie Davidson, who hosted the launch commented:  “Enterprise apprenticeships are a great way for employers to bring young people into a business because the apprentices quickly develop an emotional investment in what they are doing. An enterprise apprenticeship is not just about going to work, it’s about learning how to develop new opportunities and influence the business you are working in.”

He added:  “As Scotland’s first and only SFEDI (Small Firms Enterprise Development Initiative) Awards Centre we are really excited to be developing the scheme and piloting with three young people in our own business. This would not have been possible without the support of our partners at Fife Council through the Culture of Enterprise Initiative.”

Councillor Kay Carrington, Fife Council’s executive member for Business, Enterprise, Economy & Planning welcomed the new apprenticeship and said:  “This is an excellent day for the Career Studio and a great milestone for Fife as a pilot Modern Apprenticeship is launched for Enterprise in Cupar. It’s wonderful to see such enthusiasm and commitment to take forward this new and significant qualification.”

Fife Council’s Enterprise, Planning and Protective Services, on behalf of the Fife Economy Partnership launched its Culture of Enterprise Framework back in May 2009.  The framework provides a blueprint for creating a vibrant enterprise culture in Fife and it’s recognised that to develop this culture requires the early engagement of young people.

Fife Council is particularly keen to engage with secondary schools and to find innovative ways of supporting and linking education and business to embed an enterprising culture across the wider Fife population.

Creating a vibrant enterprise culture in Fife will help address underlying enterprise weaknesses in Fife’s business base and encourage sustainable economic growth.

The partnership is actively embedding actions that will tie in with the overarching Culture of Enterprise Action Plan.  This plan strives to improve the achievement and attainment for young people, pupils, students and returning adults as well as improving enterprise and employability skills. 

Business Student with Gem of an Idea

Gaining HND business at Dundee College armed one Fife girl with the skills to go out and win an enterprise apprenticeship.

Since leaving college in the summer Shannen Scott has embraced the role of youth opportunities apprentice with Apprenticeships In Scotland, a non-profit company run by people aged between 16-24, designed to encourage entrepreneurship, match potential employees with organisations and demonstrate that young people can run a business effectively.

Since taking the role, the former Waid Academy pupil has attended conferences and seminars all over the country including the STF (Scottish Training Federation) conference at Crieff Hydro and the Youth Employment Conference in Holyrood.

Closer to home the Anstruther resident is looking forward to returning to her old school to help spread the entrepreneurial message.

“My team and I are working with Fife Council to deliver the Enterprise Game, a board game designed to inspire business thinking, within Fife High Schools,” said the 20-year-old.

“The idea behind it is to go back to our old high schools and teach young pupils the game and encourage enterprise. We will then be delivering the games to other High Schools within Fife on a larger scale.”

Shannen also finds time to run her own jewellery business, designing, making and selling her own bracelets, and pendants.

“As well as studying business at school I did art so I combined the two with Shannen’s Boutique,” explained the entrepreneur.

“It may have started out as a hobby but I take it very seriously now and am working with a web developer to create a website.”

Apprenticeships in Scotland Special Guest STF Conference

Apprenticeships in Scotland attended the STF Conference on the 25^th and 26^th September at the Crieff Hydro. The STF Conference is an annual conference which gives the chance for STF members to attend and network with each other to build relationships and better existing relationships.

It was a fantastic opportunity for the Apprenticeships in Scotland team to network with training providers and discusses ways in which they can use their resources to help tackle Youth Employment.

The conference as a whole was a success and the team gained a lot of knowledge over the two days they attended the conference. This would not have been possible without the help from Colin Dalrymple and his colleagues. The team can’t stress enough how beneficial this was to Apprenticeships in Scotland.

Apprenticeships in Scotland especially enjoyed John Park, Ewart Keep and Damien Yates’ enthusiasm during their speeches about ways in which we could all participate to tackle Youth Employment.

The Apprenticeships in Scotland Team would like to thank all of the people that made this happen as the STF conference would not have been possible without you.

AiS Team get the word out at The Scottish Learning Festival 2012

The Apprenticeships in Scotland team enjoyed their opportunity to attend the Scottish Learning Festival at the Glasgow SECC on the 20^th September. We went along to learn as much as we could about the new developments in Scotland’s education and to grow our network with the variety of agencies and education representatives exhibiting, and to also let them know about us!  It was filled with wonderful innovative ideas for learning and encouraging creativity within schools.

The festival consisted of many stimulating learning tools that will motivate and enrich young people’s education. The Apprenticeships in Scotland team especially enjoyed the RNIB stall that support blind and partially sighted people. They had a fantastic mascot called Haggeye, it was so great they had to get a picture with him!

The Apprenticeships in Scotland team all thought the LGBTYouth Scotland stall was engaging and inspirational. We feel that the team that were at the Scottish Learning Festival were very passionate about what they do and we believe this is what people need to succeed.

The list can go on explaining all of the great people we spoke to at the Scottish Learning Festival. We are very thankful we had the opportunity to do this and speak with everyone.

The Apprenticeships in Scotland team have gathered a lot of information from this event and are currently combining resources to try and come up with new fantastic ideas that will help young people in Scotland.

Watch this space!

Youth Employment Conference 2012 - Turning talking into action

The Apprenticeships in Scotland team attended the Youth Employment Conference2012 on Thursday 6th September in Edinburgh. Overall the event was a success and it was a fantastic opportunity to network and see how we could best use our resources to help tackle youth unemployment.

The conference consisted of many inspirational speeches with Jim Duffy from Entrepreneurial Spark really standing out. Another inspirational speech was by Paul McKelvie for UKCES. We felt that his speech truly conveyed the issues at hand and came up with solutions that could really work for youth employment.

The Apprenticeships in Scotland Team all thought that the Modern Apprenticeship panel did especially well, and represented young people in Scotland accurately.

The main message attendees should take from this conference is to take action. Youth Employment can be tackled together through action, following through on solutions and by listening to young people in Scotland. 

A special thank you to Karen Todd who helped the Apprenticeships in Scotland team to attend the conference, it wouldn’t have been possible without her help.

Enterprise Business Challenge 2012

Finding the Entrepreneur within!

Apprenticeships in Scotland’s Youth Opportunities Apprentice Shannen Scott (19) was selected for the Enterprise Business Challenge 2012 at Aberfoyle organised by Enterprise North East Trust. Shannen was one of nine young people form Fife who were able to go under Fife Council’s Culture for Enterprise initiative. The weekend consisted of a range of mental and physical challenges that were designed to test and develop business talent.

Reflecting on the weekends activities Shannen said “overall the business challenge was a success. It really challenged my boundaries and many others that participated. Each task had business lessons behind them and I feel many young entrepreneurs would benefit from this experience. I felt that it would be a good activity for any existing team – for example in a workplace – to participate in and face personal fears and challenges together. I’m glad I got to go on this adventure packed weekend – even though the midges were horrendous!”

This is the second year that the programme has been running and hopefully won’t be the last. According to Shannen, “the value of the weekend speaks for itself. Every participant learned the benefits of going for it and really created bonds and relationships they wouldn’t usually have done in a different environment. The weekend utilised everyone’s team building skills and promoted innovative ways of thinking. It is a great exercise definitely promotes entrepreneurial thinking.”

Get ready for work trainee joins Apprenticeships in Scotland

The get ready for work programme is a step towards becoming an apprentice or becoming employed.

Apprenticeships in Scotland have decided to add to the team with a get ready for work trainee. Stuart joined the team on Tuesday 17th July to gain experience in a working environment. 

Stuart came from Rathbone in Glenrothes, he worked there to build his core skills and confidence during a health and safety course. Stuart also built up his general life skills with Rathbone, before moving to get ready for work and is hopefully going to get closer to getting into work after this programme.

Apprenticeships in Scotland have taken on Stuart to help contribute to the youth labour market and help young people become more employable.

During his time here, Stuart will be learning about film and media, sales and marketing and general working day activities. It is important for young people to get this chance to enter into an organisation and shadow current employees. It is also important for the company to take on young people, not only for the economy, but for their business as well.

Employing a young person in your business is a great way to generate new ideas and enthusiasm; it could change your company’s future.

Apprenticeships in Scotland recommends a get ready for work trainee, let’s help boost employment in Scotland!

Enterprising Fife apprentices lead the way to growth

Daniel Harkness and Shaun Moore with their certificates Rebekah Beaton and Shannen Scott - the new recruits

‘Apprenticeships in Scotland’ is a social enterprise start-up run by young people to help other young people find jobs. In just over twelve months the project has helped over two thousand young people to find an apprenticeship. Now two of the founding members of the scheme have completed their own modern apprenticeship.

Daniel Harkness and Shaun Moore are the project’s first graduates having completed their qualification while they were growing the new enterprise. Ronnie Davidson, a careers adviser from Fife who founded the project said "I am really proud of what they have achieved. It has been really tough for them because they have not had much support yet still they managed to make a massive impact in the youth labour market by getting out there and being positive. Thousands of young people in Scotland have found new opportunities through this project. This is a great success story which I hope will go on to get the support it deserves".

The project has just introduced some new faces to the team. Rebekah Beaton and Shannen Scott have just started and with the support of Fife Council, the project will now pilot a brand new apprenticeship framework in Business Enterprise over the next year.

According to Ronnie "What makes this scheme so special is that young people are employed in roles to develop new products or services and help to grow an existing business. With support and commitment from employers we hope this scheme can be a success in other businesses."

The Minister for Youth Employment, Angela Constance MSP visited the scheme in February and is said to be impressed by what is being achieved.

National Career Guidance Show

The National Career Guidance Show!

This career professional event has been helpful in many ways.

We benefited greatly by speaking to hundreds of career professionals from all over the country and hearing how they use ApprenticeshipsinScotland.com or how they are now planning to use it!

We were able to visit different interesting seminars and workshops focusing on careers.

We also had the chance to speak to employers to understand how we can help them with recruitment.

We highly recommend this event to anyone involved in careers, skills and training. 


We also would urge any schools, colleges or any indivdual looking for an apprenticeship or training to sign up to ApprentcieshipsinScotland.com.

For more information about The National Career Guidance Show CLICK HERE

Meeting the Minister for Youth Employment

Today was an important day for us at 'Apprenticeships in Scotland.com'. Angela Constance (The Minister for Youth Employment in Scotland) met with us to discuss what we have been doing so far in our journey and what we are planning to do in the future.

We are really keen to work with the Scottish Government and other partners to make it easier for employers to set up apprenticeship schemes. We are devoted to making sure that Modern Apprenticeships are easy to find and accessible to any young person.

The Minister has been meeting lots of employers and young people throughout Scotland since her appointment as Minister for Youth Employment in December. She has been doing this to find better, more innovative ways to get more young people into the world of work. This is her primary focus.

Click here to find out more information in the Youth Employment strategy.

Enterprise Apprenticeship in Business Development

Apprenticeships in Scotland.com is a free web-based service which brings together employers and young people.  It has fast become Scotland’s national vacancy handling service for youth opportunities. What makes Apprenticeships in Scotland truly unique is that it is a social enterprise run by young people.

This is an opportunity to join our journey as we are now recruiting for an Apprentice in Business Development. Whilst learning on the job and taking on new responsibilities every week you will also follow a tailored SVQ in Business. This is an exciting opportunity.

For more information click here.

IT Apprenticeship Awards

We were at Microsoft's office in Edinburgh yesterday and I must say it was pretty snazzy. We were there to support the graduation and awards ceremony for the QA/Microsoft IT Modern Apprenticeship Programme. The awards ceremony was for the young people who are currently graduating from their apprenticeship.

We were there to photograph and film a short video which we are going to be producing in the next couple of weeks. The day kicked off with a speech from Jonathan Warner, Apprenticeship Manager for Scotland. He then handed over to Derrick McCourt the Regional Director, Microsoft Scotland. Ben Pike, the Director for the QA Apprenticeships then announced how they are hoping to continuously grow and expand the number of apprentices which they recruit and train. Congratulations to all who graduated this week!