With Apprenticeship Week Wales underway (Feb 7-13), Welsh businesses are being urged to rethink existing recruitment strategies to best manage future workforces.
Mark Jones, Principal of Gower College Swansea and Vaughan Gething, the Minister for the Economy, are asking Welsh businesses to consider recruiting apprentices in a bid to fill vacancies.
Following the UK Government and Welsh Government approval of the Swansea Bay City Deal’s Skills and Talent programme, Minister Davies met students at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David and Gower College Swansea to hear how it will benefit young people across Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, County of Swansea, and Neath Port Talbot.
Gower College Swansea has been awarded the coveted titles of ‘UK Digital Apprenticeship Provider of the Year’ and ‘UK Engineering and Manufacturing Apprenticeship Provider of the Year’ at the FE Week and AELP AAC National Apprenticeship Awards. The College was the only Welsh provider to win an award and the only provider in the UK to secure two awards at the event.
Gower College Swansea won Apprenticeship Programme of the Year at the annual Tes FE Awards, which recognises the best further education organisations supporting learners across the UK. Tes, formerly known as the Times Educational Supplement, is one of the leading media outlets for the education sector.
The first fashion and textile apprentices in Wales successfully qualified at Gower College Swansea last year, with more set to follow this year. The College is the only pan-Wales, Welsh Government approved provider for Fashion and Textiles Apprenticeships levels 2-4, and has recently become the first educational partner of the UK Fashion & Textile Association (UKFT) in Wales.
To celebrate Apprenticeship Week Wales 2021, Gower College Swansea has organised a week-long programme of virtual events and activities from live chat rooms and information sessions to free webinars and YouTube tutorials.
One very important element of the College’s celebrations is the Virtual Apprenticeship Awards, held across Twitter and LinkedIn this week, and designed to highlight the very best of the best apprentices, employers and assessors.
Apprenticeship Week Wales aims to shine a light on the amazing work being done by employers and apprentices across the country.
This year, Apprenticeship Week Wales will take place between Monday 8 February and Sunday 14 February.
The annual celebration showcases how apprenticeships have helped both businesses and individuals from an employment and skills development perspective.
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Due to Covid-19 many planned events, like open days, that had been scheduled have now been cancelled.
We know how important open days can be in helping you to make up your mind about your next steps, so we’re working with the Welsh Government to bring our open day to you.
Gower College Swansea has held a special awards ceremony for apprentices and employers.
The event, hosted by BBC Wales Scrum V Live’s Ross Harries, was held to honour the outstanding commitment and dedication of the ‘best of the best’.
Among the award winners were learners who have completed apprenticeships in a range of disciplines from Level 2 right through to Level 5. Indeed, one of the evening’s winners – Cory Allen – is the first learner to begin a degree apprenticeship at the College.
Gower College Swansea scooped two awards at the recent AAC Apprenticeship Awards in Birmingham.
This is an incredible achievement, as more than 350 entries were submitted in total from UK colleges, training providers and employers for this prestigious event, which was organised by FE Week and the Association of Education and Learning Providers.
Gower College Swansea - the only Welsh finalist – was shortlisted in two categories, and took home both titles.