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National Careers Week (NCW) is a celebration of careers guidance and free resources in education across the UK. The aim is to provide a focus for careers guidance activity at an important stage in the academic calendar to help support young people leaving education.

National Apprenticeship Week is an annual week-long celebration of apprenticeships across England and is a time to recognise and applaud apprenticeship success stories across the country.

Apprenticeship employers use the opportunity to promote the success of their apprentices and highlight the huge benefits to other employers, of all sizes, who are thinking of taking on an apprentice.

Apprentices across the country will also be celebrated throughout the week, with engagement and events in schools and colleges. Many current and former apprentices will go back to school to tell their story, attracting the next generation of apprentices, so they too can fire up their future career.

Throughout the 13 years, National Apprenticeship Week has brought together apprenticeship supporters from across the country, with MPs, ambassadors, apprentices, training providers and top employers involved in recognising the value and importance of apprenticeships.

Anne Milton, Minister for Apprenticeships and Skills said:

“I am thrilled that National Apprenticeship Week 2020 will take place during early February 2020. It’s a chance to celebrate apprentices and the brilliant work being done by schools, the FE sector and employers across the country to promote the huge benefits of apprenticeships.

“Apprenticeships offer people of all ages and backgrounds a high-quality route to skilled employment with the option to train at every level in a range of exciting professions like aerospace engineering, data science, teaching, law, nursing, and fashion. 

“This year we had over 1250 events and 1900 articles and features in publications from the Financial Times to Cosmopolitan. I would encourage employers, training providers, schools, apprentices and our ambassador networks to start considering how they will get involved in National Apprenticeship Week 2020.  We want next year to be even bigger and better reaching even more people and employers so they understand the advantages apprenticeships bring”.

The theme of National Apprenticeship Week 2020 is ‘Look Beyond’…

Co-ordinated by the National Apprenticeship Service, the ‘Look Beyond’ themed week will celebrate the diversity and value that apprenticeships bring to employers, apprentices and communities across England today. From highlighting the breadth of industries and roles available to the talent and energy apprentices bring into the workplace.

National Apprenticeship Week is a flagship moment in the calendar year for supporters and ambassadors of apprenticeships, uniting them and delivering consistent messages with strong collective impact. ‘Look Beyond’ will serve as a rallying cry for the apprenticeship community to showcase the true meaning of diversity within apprenticeships, including:

• calling on young people to look beyond traditional routes into employment and explore the diversity of career options and industries now available to them through apprenticeships;
• calling on employers to look beyond traditional hiring routes and shout about the value they already see from diversifying their workforce by employing apprentices
• calling on parents and teachers to look beyond old preconceptions around apprenticeships, building an understanding of the true value they bring, and sharing this with young people.

National Apprenticeship Week is a time to recognise and applaud apprenticeship success stories across the country, extending the message to communities and audiences that are less familiar with the value and return on investment they bring. Apprentice employers will use the opportunity to promote their successful apprenticeship programmes to potential apprentices, parents and other employers. Whilst many current and former apprentices will go back to school to tell their progression stories, attracting the next generation of apprentices, so they too can fire up their future career.

Keith Smith, Director, Apprenticeships Group, ESFA added:

“With National Apprenticeship Week now going into its thirteenth year, everyone behind and involved in it must also ‘Look Beyond’ and consider how and where we talk about apprenticeships, to ensure that we reach all corners and communities of the country with this important message.”

“Our ‘asks’ for the apprenticeship community this year will all reflect that ambition and we will share these ‘asks’ in due course. For now, I would like the many, many apprenticeship supporters – from ambassadors and apprentices to training providers and top employers – to get involved and start planning how they can help celebrate apprenticeships, during National Apprenticeship Week 2020.”

Keep up to date with National Apprenticeship Week news by following @Apprenticeships on Twitter and National Apprenticeship Service on LinkedIn.