As many of us working in the north have been saying for a long time, government would be just as well served looking at what the UK’s devolved regions can do, as it is trying to wrangle with the wider economic world.
Yorkshire has a major role to play in Britain’s economic future, of that there is no doubt, but we need to understand the challenges we face if we want to seize the opportunity. Economic growth in our part of the world is particularly reliant on high-skilled jobs, and having people available to fill those jobs.
This week is National Apprenticeship Week, and at Hallam we are one of the largest apprenticeship providers in the country, as well as being home to the National Centre of Excellence for Degree Apprenticeships.
We believe that apprenticeships and degree apprenticeships – in which apprentices study for a degree, while working and earning a salary at the same time – have a massive role to play, both regionally and nationally. Research from the Chartered Management Institution in 2022 found that apprentices add £700m to the national coffers each year. They cut across everything the government is trying to do, and tie directly into growth by training people to do the high-skilled jobs which are at the heart of a flourishing modern economy.
Missions: Entirely Possible
Economic growth is clearly at the top of Labour’s to do list. It is the first of its five core missions for government, and the one which binds the others together.
Putting more police on the streets, revitalising the NHS, becoming a clean energy powerhouse, and increasing social mobility are those additional priorities, and it’s no exaggeration to say that apprenticeships are a common link to them too.
The public sector is one of the main focuses for our degree apprenticeship provision at Hallam, and in particular healthcare. We work with NHS and private healthcare partners across the region to provide degree apprenticeship courses for new nurses, physiotherapists, radiographers and more to provide skilled workers to the health service.
We also work directly with South Yorkshire Police to train new officers and provide them with degree-level qualifications as well as experience working on the force.
As far as clean energy is concerned, new technologies mean new jobs and new skills, and training people to do those jobs means applied learning and apprenticeships.
Social mobility meanwhile is ingrained in degree apprenticeships, which provide a route into higher education for those who wouldn’t feel able to study for a degree without earning a salary at the same time. Anecdotally, many of our apprentices are the first in their families to attend higher education, something we’re incredibly proud of.
Embrace Apprenticeships for Growth
Our message to government is a simple one: each and every one of these missions are reliant on skilled workforces, and all can be well served by higher level apprenticeships.
Through Skills England – the government’s new dedicated skills body – we want to see degree apprenticeships high on the priority list for advanced training and higher education.
National Apprenticeship Week is an opportunity to beat the drum for apprenticeships, and that’s exactly what we’re doing. Too many people still wrongly see them as being for certain people, in a select set of industries. In fact, they are one of the best ways to learn while you earn, to train a highly skilled workforce, and to get Yorkshire’s – and the UK’s – economy booming.
Originally published by the Yorkshire Post on 10 February 2025.
