Electrical Contracting News (ECN) May 2016 | Page 17

KEY ISSUE

TRAIN OF THOUGHT
Iain Macdonald of NET looks at the latest developments in the world of apprenticeships.

O

n the face of it,
the future for
apprenticeships
in our industry
and across the
wider economy
looks promising.
Figures from
BIS show that our industry trained a little
over 5,700 apprentices in the 2014-15
academic year – around 1,100 more than
in 2013-14 – and that number is part of a
general upward trend in apprenticeship
participation, which has soared to record
levels over the last year. More and more
young people, it seems, are interested in
and are taking up the chance to become
an apprentice, and more firms across our
industry and across the UK appear to be in
a position to offer apprenticeships.
This increase in numbers can potentially
be attributed to a number of factors. In