Education Secretary Damien Hinds kick started National Apprenticeship Week this week with the announcement of a new league table of top apprenticeship employers.

Hinds also said that Apprenticeships had been transformed as they are now longer, higher-quality, with more off-the-job training. There are now more than 400 apprenticeship standards available in everything from accountancy to fashion.

In the meantime, here at The Barnet Group we have been working at achieving higher-quality training for our apprentices here. We have been involved with Trailblazer Apprenticeships from the start as part of the development group who put together its training standards.

Last year, one of our former apprentices secured a permanent position with The Barnet Group. Anne has shared that the impact of achieving an apprenticeship is significant and that age is no barrier to achieving your goals in your own time.

Anne says:

“After a lot of soul searching asking myself what fulfilling career I would like to do I settled on accountancy.  I started by enrolling at Barnet College and in 2016 after two years of study and at the age of 55 I completed a level 3 AAT.

“I felt very proud of myself, but my next goal was to use this new knowledge in the work place.  After a 20-year break from office work, I needed to update my skills so started volunteering. It was here I heard about The Barnet Group apprenticeship programme. What I liked about it was the opportunity to adapt and build my skills in an office environment, whilst also gaining a qualification in housing. At the end of the apprenticeship I had the opportunity to apply for a job and was successful. I remained at The Barnet Group in a full time permanent role in finance to this day.

“I cannot believe how much my life and confidence has improved. Age is no barrier and you can achieve anything if you are prepared to show commitment. An ethos I am always willing to share.”

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