Submitted by Richard Bonner, EC Harris, South West Location Leader
Biography
The current economic climate and forthcoming rise in tuition fees means that more school and college leavers will be considering alternative options to full time degree courses over the coming years. Earning a salary whilst gaining further qualifications and professional expertise is becoming an increasingly attractive prospect. In September 2012, university tuition fees for full time degree courses will rise to £6,000 - £9,000 per year. School leavers will increasingly be considering alterative options to attending university on a full time basis.
The Associate of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) predict that in 3 – 4 years time, the number of recent graduates with relevant degrees in Quantity Surveying and Project Management gained on a full time basis is likely to have dropped, leading to a potential skills shortage in those disciplines. Leading organisations, therefore need to consider offering alternative entry routes to their organisations, attracting high quality school leavers to feed their talent pipeline.
EC Harris has recently run a unique initiative from our head office in London, with other consortia members, for post GCSE school leavers to join an Advanced Apprenticeship in Surveying. This apprenticeship pathway enables school leavers to progress through job based NVQ and college based BTEC qualifications straight through to a business sponsored day release degree course, all accredited with the RICS, providing every opportunity for a successful candidate becoming professionally qualified within six years of joining the programme. Our first cohort of school leavers joined the two year apprenticeship programme in September 2011, and progress in the first few months has been very positive. We have found the morale and productivity of the cohort has been high, and early indications anticipate good levels of retention. From a business perspective the first two years of training are funded by the Skills Funding Agency (employers pay the apprentices a salary) and we have found their to be a host of benefits, including:
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Opportunity to widen potential pool of young talent
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Targeting of candidates from wider socio-economic groups
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Benefits of increased mentoring and coaching skills for supervising members of staff
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Providing an opportunity to demonstrate active participation in an apprenticeship scheme when bidding for certain types of work.
In Bristol, I have been involved in forming a consortia of like minded businesses, which are actively working with the Chartered Surveyors Training Trust and the City of Bristol College to create 12 Quantity Surveying apprenticeship positions commencing in September 2012. The initiative is to be launched to students during the National Apprenticeship Week in February at a central Bristol location. We are extremely excited about the prospect of leading businesses in the City of Bristol region being able to offer substantive opportunities to post 16 school leavers, who will in turn be really helping to address the emerging skills gap in our industry. If you’re a company interested in getting involved in providing an apprentice positions, please do get in touch.
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