Apprenticeships will benefit from paucity of IT qualifications

Experts argue that employers will recoup their money within six months

Apprenticeship schemes more likely to be taken up

Widespread reluctance to follow traditional academic routes into IT careers could signal a warming to IT apprenticeships as an alternative way to get a foot in the door, the National Apprenticeship Service believes.

With both employer and student dissatisfaction with IT education at an all-time high, vocational routes into IT jobs are gaining momentum, as business looks for a more cost-effective way to plug its IT gaps, experts are warning.

This year’s A-level and GCSE results indicate an alarming fall in the number of students studying computing and ICT across the UK, prompting the Royal Society to warn that the design and delivery of IT curricula in schools is so poor that students’ understanding and enjoyment of the subjects is severely limited.

But despite IT qualifications losing their appeal, demand across the IT industry is at an all-time high. The IT professional workforce is forecast to grow at four times the average for the UK, according to skills body e-skills UK, and it will need 500,000 new entrants over the next five years.

Jenny Catlin, senior business development manager, employer services at the National Apprenticeship Service, said that as graduate numbers fall, employers have been prompted in increasing numbers to take matters into their own hands to plug their skills gaps.

“Attitudes towards apprenticeships are starting to change, particularly as employers start to realise that they’re not going to get people from more traditional routes such as IT degrees. Graduates are not providing employers with the skills they want, so they’re often faced with having to train them again from scratch, while paying them a graduate wage,” Catlin told Computing.

According to this year’s examination results, 61,022 students took GCSE ICT, marking a 17 per cent drop on 2009 numbers, and a 33 per cent drop in ICT GCSE students in the past three years. Meanwhile, there has been a 33 per cent drop in numbers studying A-level ICT in the past six years and a huge 57 per cent drop in A-level computing students over the past eight years in England.

Catlin also said it was time to challenge the misguided perception among some employers that apprenticeships were only suited to entry-level roles.

Just last week IBM launched a pilot apprenticeship scheme offering 20 vacancies on a two-year development programme developed in collaboration with e-skills UK.

Research from the National Apprenticeship Service among employers found that, on average, the cost of investing in an IT apprenticeship would be recouped in six months and, more generally, 80 per cent of employers who employ apprentices agree they make their workplace more productive.

The National Apprenticeship Service provides funding and advice for businesses wanting to recruit apprentices, and for learners who want to start an apprenticeship. The employer pays the wage of the apprentice and the government contributes funding for training. Those aged 16 to 18 receive 100 per cent subsidised training, with a decreased level of financial support provided for those over 18 years.

The National Apprenticeship Service also runs Apprenticeship Vacancies – a free online system whereby employers and learning providers can advertise and manage vacancies and potential apprentices can search, apply and manage their applications.