Apprenticeship starts fall in Teesside but completions are on the rise

A sharp fall in apprenticeship start-ups on Teesside has been offset by a rise in completions, two new surveys have revealed.

The number of people beginning apprenticeships in Middlesbrough dropped more than a fifth last year, according to latest Government figures - the steepest decline in the North-east.

In the year to July 31 2014 there were 1,480 people who took up new apprenticeships in the town, a drop of 22.1% on the previous year.

The number of new starters on the training schemes fell almost everywhere in Teesside and the wider North-east - as it did in most places across the country.

Hartlepool was the only bright spot in the region, where the number of new apprentices rose by 1.6%. Redcar & Cleveland saw a 20.3% fall while the 14% decrease in Stockton on-Tees was higher than the national average decline of 13.8%.

Businesses on Teesside have previously expressed concern over declining apprenticeship numbers, with Redcar car parts maker ElringKlinger describing the lack of manufacturing skills in the region as a “ticking time bomb” for the industry.

But other statistics from the TTE Technical Training Group paint a much brighter picture.

The Teesside-based organisation, which is one of the UK’s largest apprenticeship training bodies for the engineering, manufacturing, oil & gas and process sectors, said 92.5% of its 107 apprentices had completed their training in 2014 - a significant jump on the national average of 68.9%.

It’s the second piece of good news for TTE, which was endorsed in Ofsted’s most recent learner and employer survey. The study said 96% of trainees would recommend TTE to a friend, while 98% claimed the training accurately met their skills needs.

Steve Grant, TTE managing director, said: “The huge difference between our success rate and the national average is something both the trainees and trainers can take great pride from. Combine this with the results of our learner and employer survey and it’s clear that we’ve managed to create a quality training programme that utilises our links in industry to give students and employers the skills they require.”

Mr Grant’s comments follow a political war of words on apprenticeships ahead of the General Election in May. This week Labour leader Ed Miliband pledged to guarantee an apprenticeship for school leavers who achieve level 3 qualifications - equivalent to A-Level standard - and slammed the current system for failing to provide sufficient high-quality training options for young people.

But Conservative party chairman Grant Shapps defended the Tories’ record, claiming apprenticeships had doubled since 2010. The Tories have pledged to impose further cuts on benefits to fund an additional three million apprenticeships if they are re-elected in May.

Mr Grant described Mr Miliband’s pledge as “bold and aspirational” but said more needed to be done to promote the benefits of apprenticeships to smaller firms.

“The penny has dropped among businesses that apprenticeships are not a second choice anymore. We do have smaller firms offering them but SMEs are the hardest to reach.

“If every company in the area took on just one apprentice, that would go some way to resolving the problem of skills shortages in certain industries.”