College of FE sees a 72% rise in first year apprentices
APPRENTICESHIP numbers at the Guernsey College of Further Education have reached new highs after a 72% increase in first year students from 2020 to 2021.
Chris Torode, the college’s director of apprenticeships, said that apprenticeships in the island were once again thriving. He was speaking at the start of National Apprenticeship Week, which starts today.
‘I think we’re changing the perception of people who can and should pursue apprenticeship programmes,’ he said.
‘They provide additional pathways to post-16 students and to more mature students looking to upskill or retrain. Apprenticeships are beneficial for both students, employers and the island because they blend on-the-job training with class work and they naturally match industry requirements with skilled labour.’
In September 2021, 346 apprentices were enrolled with the College, which is the largest number Mr Torode has seen in a number of years.
He said the pandemic was partially responsible for the sharp increase, but he confirmed that numbers had been steadily increasing year on year prior to Covid.
Although more than 50% of apprenticeships are in construction and building trades, he said a growing number of people are heading to new or re-branded courses for culinary skills and hospitality to fill the industry’s labour shortage.
‘There’s been a big labour demand post-Covid in the construction industry, and we’ve been working closely with representatives from that industry to fill their training needs, but those programmes have always been popular,’ he said.
‘Recently we’ve been working with the Guernsey Hospitality Association to create programmes to benefit students and the island.’
Mr Torode said a new hospitality management and marketing programme will be available from September to fill in the gaps of Guernsey’s hospitality industry. The culinary skills programme for 2021 has also attracted significantly more apprentices than in previous years.
‘Apprenticeships have been available through the College of FE for the last 73 years, and for our 70th anniversary, we had a big rebrand where we reduced the time frames of programmes, reviewed curriculum content, and started working more closely with Guernsey’s industries to take a partnership based approach to recruitment and training,’ he said.
‘Our goal was to make apprenticeships more than just a qualification, but to make it a whole experience.’
In total, the College of FE has 16 apprentice programmes, and Mr Torode’s team is working to build a self-sustaining and reliable cycle of apprentices who may return later return as teachers and mentors.
In the last three months, he said, three former apprentices had come back as teachers.
‘It’s a self-perpetuating cycle, and a natural progression,’ he said.
‘We’re building our stable, home-grown base with lots of connections to the industries and the island.’
Moving forward, Mr Torode said he was keen to go beyond working with students and industries and connect with the States of Guernsey to fulfil island-wide labour and skill needs in the long term.
