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We are pleased to welcome NOCN as a member of ALPS Alphi

NOCN Group is an international charity which delivers future-fit skills solutions with social impact for Colleges, training providers, employers and individuals. We offer Qualifications, Apprenticeship End Point Assessment, Assured Courses, Competence Cards & Tests, and Short Online Courses that are designed to advance skills in the areas where they are most needed.

Click Here for more information on NOCN

We are delighted to be sponsoring the Apprentice of The Year Award at the SME Business Awards 2025.

The prestigious awards for small and medium businesses across Surrey is scheduled to take place in June, although full details are still to be confirmed.

Click Here For more details about the awards.

We are pleased to welcome HIT Training Ltd as a member of ALPS & Alphi

HIT Training Ltd is a national provider of apprenticeships and skills-based training, committed to breaking down social barriers and empowering individuals to reach their full potential, regardless of their starting point in life

Click here for more information about HIT Training and for contact details

Friday 13th September certainly didn’t bring bad luck as we were back at Guildford Cathedral in the beautiful sunshine for the Apprentices Graduation Ceremony – and again, we partnered with GLF Schools to recognise the achievements of their newly qualified teachers alongside those of Surrey and Hampshire apprentices.

Graduates celebrated their awards in front of proud families, friends, employers and training providers, and a number of guest speakers including employers and apprentices themselves shared their experiences and journeys with the packed ‘congregation’. Our keynote speaker was Rt Hon Damian Hinds, Member of Parliament for East Hampshire and Shadow Secretary of State for Education.

Thank you to everyone who helped to make it a huge success – and congratulations again to all the graduates!

Click Here to view and download more photos

Photography by Paul Wilson

PETA Ltd is a training and apprenticeship provider based in Portsmouth. We offer corporate training courses and apprenticeship programmes in Engineering, IT, Health & Safety, Business, Management and Finance. We are a registered charity, directed by an executive council of leaders elected from our member base. We operate on a self-financing basis and are non-profit making, which means all our funds are reinvested into the services and training we deliver.

As the CEO I see my role as supporting, developing, coaching and challenging the team to be the best they can be to support our employers and apprentices.

I started my career in the hospitality sector and was leading a team at 18, I truly believe this has helped me in my current role as I have been able to succeed and fail over many years to help develop my leadership capability.

Being offered my current role as CEO of PETA, I feel it is a perfect blend of using my skills from a corporate role and public sector to lead a purposeful organisation.

If you believe something will happen it will – both positive and negative.

I am fascinated by business so anything business-related which has an ethical purpose I would enjoy.

We are really focused on modernising the delivery and looking forward to continue working closely with our employers to develop new programmes to meet their future needs.

We are owned and governed by local employers who are members of PETA Ltd, this ensures our delivery meets employers future needs.

We have benefitted from participating in the local skills improvement plan work which ALPS/ALPHI have ensured that member organisations have been consulted with.

Continuing funding rule changes and a lack of increase to funding to apprenticeship standards.

Ascentis is a national, charitable Awarding Organisation and Access Validating Agency. We’re market leaders in ESOL, and as an AVA we offer over 25 Access to HE qualifications. Our mission is to enable learning through innovative education and exceptional customer service.

We also offer qualifications in employability, construction, digital and a range of short online qualifications for enrichment.

We’re looking forward to bringing valuable insight to the network from our specialist areas, and most of all, to listening to what you have to say. We want to ensure the products we release are fit for purpose, and you’re the best people to advise us on this.

If you’d like to learn more, our website is www.ascentis.co.uk or you can contact Clarissa Wheeler, Strategic Partnership Manager, on clarissa.wheeler@ascentis.co.uk or  www.linkedin.com/in/clarissaascentis .

We thrilled to say, that before Christmas we secured the funding to hold another Graduation Ceremony at the Cathedral in Guildford on the 13^th September 2024, we hope you will all be able to get involved with this, it is a special event for students, families, and employers.

Here is our Network Meeting schedule for 2024:

February 20th, 10am – 1am

June 11th, 10am – 1am

October 8th, 10am – 1am

This meeting was our Safeguarding Group, Mike Driscoll shares it and you could put something like “providers sharing good practice during an ALPS/ALPHI Safeguarding sub-group for members only.” 

Please contact sue@alpsurrey if you would like to participate in future meetings.

During my time at George Abbot sixth form I took 4 A-Levels: Mathematics, Engineering, IT and Geography, whilst also doing lots of extra curricular activities. Throughout that time I had always thought University wasn’t for me and had started looking into apprenticeships, however didn’t fully understand how the process to get an apprenticeship worked or what the different levels were like. This was the case until I went to a session with Sue Taylor that George Abbot had set up for sixth form students, where I then understood all the different levels of apprenticeships and how and where to apply to them via the gov.uk website for apprenticeships. I have now since applied to 25+ higher and degree apprenticeships and got three offers to which I have accepted a degree apprenticeship in Digital and Technology solutions with Accenture. The main take away from applying to all these apprenticeships is that the whole application process takes longer than you think, which is why having a cover and CV that can be changed easily for each role can really help, and yes I intend to come back next year.

Apprentices and Teachers to have completed from September 2022 to August 2023. Spaces will be limited, with one guest per person. Bookings will open in May 2023.

‘Barriers to young people accessing intermediate and advanced apprenticeships: perspectives from apprenticeship providers’

We are delighted to share NFER’s new research report ‘Barriers to young people accessing intermediate and advanced apprenticeships: perspectives from apprenticeship providers’

This report is based on insights gained from a roundtable NFER hosted with groups who offer apprenticeship opportunities.

It highlights that increasing the affordability of apprenticeships could be a ‘game changer’ in increasing young people’s interest in apprenticeships.

Key findings:

• The ongoing decline in apprenticeship starts at intermediate and advanced levels for 16-19-year-olds since 2015/16 remains a significant concern.
• Providers reported that the most common barrier remains a lack of detailed awareness and in-depth understanding amongst young people, their parents/carers and teachers of apprenticeships and the long-term gains. This is preventing young people from even getting to the point of application. 
• At the point of application, providers perceived the most common barriers for young people to include: not being ’work ready’; not having GCSE English and maths at Grade 4+ (or the equivalent); low levels of psychological wellbeing, low confidence, lack of resilience, and anxiety; apprenticeships not being affordable; and some apprenticeships not being widely available. 

NFER recommends:

• To ensure that opportunities for increasing young people’s awareness and understanding of apprenticeships are capitalised upon, the Government should carefully monitor the implementation of the Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022 to ensure that the enhanced Baker Clause is being actioned.
• There is a need for employers to be proactively promoting the progression opportunities that apprenticeships bring, through the inclusion of the apprenticeship standards and levels that are desirable/meet entry requirements for all job roles, not just apprenticeships.
• Increasing the affordability of apprenticeships for young people is also essential. This includes addressing the level of the minimum apprenticeship wage, the more widespread introduction of discounted or free travel passes, incremental annual pay increases as an apprentice progresses, to a thorough evaluation of the potentially detrimental consequences of apprenticeships on Child Benefit.
• Consideration should be given to encouraging more employers, particularly SMEs, to take on young people who seem to be increasingly losing out to older, more mature applicants. This requires a review of existing incentives, with increased financial aid for employers supporting young people to achieve level 2 in English and maths, and who have other support needs.

Surrey Chambers, along with FSB and ALPS Alphi are holding an Employer Breakfast in Guildford on 10th February 2023 specifically focused on Apprenticeships

Email LSIP@surrey-chambers.co.uk to register

Network Manager, Sue Taylor along with Gary Hudson from I Choose Local met last week with Chancellor Of The Exchequer and Member of Parliament for Waverley, Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP. Discussions included the potential for a Trainee’s bursary as a pre-apprenticeship programme and the value of Apprenticeships for school leavers at 16 as an alternative to full-time Further Education.

Click the link below to view/download the Slidedeck summarising Enterprise M3’s Local Skills Report and Action Plan

Click Here

Follow the link below to view/download the latest Higher & Degree Level Apprenticeship Vacancy Listings for 2022-23

Click Here

Following ALPS and Alphi joining forces, we are delighted to launch our new logo. This replaces the temporary ‘composite’ logo used over the past few weeks.

Please note that until online content has been fully updated and migrated across all platforms, the new artwork may not appear on some content for a few days.

We’re thrilled to announce that Surrey County Council is hosting the Surrey Skills Summit, and you’re invited.

The summit will take place on 10th November at Sandown Racecourse and has been designed to ensure that Surrey’s skills system continues to power the economic success of the county. The event will also launch the Surrey Skills Plan, providing attendees with the opportunity to explore key recommendations and actions together and focus on how the plan can benefit the local community and enhance Surrey’s skills system.

Register Here

After many years of working very closely with ALPHI, our sister network for Hampshire and The Isle of Wight, we are delighted to announce that ALPS is joining forces with ALPHI to form one network that will cover Surrey, HAmpshire and The Isle of Wight. All Hampshire/IOW members are now members of ALPS/ALPHI (as we will continue to call it for now). Our first joint network meeting since the joint nevture is on Tuesday 27th September at The Hogs Back Hotel, Nr Farnham. We look forward to welcoming our new Hampshire and IOW colleagues.

After two years of delay through Covid, on 16th September we were back at Guildford Cathedral for our sixth Graduation Ceremony – and for the third year we partnered with GLF Schools to recognise the achievements of their newly qualified teachers alongside those of Surrey’s apprentices.

Over 150 graduates celebrated their awards in front of proud families, friends, employers and training providers, and a number of guest speakers including employers and apprentices themselves shared their experiences and journeys with the packed ‘congregation’.

The weather held out for us and as usual, the cathedral was a magnificent setting for this event. Thank you to everyone who helped to make it a huge success – and congratulations again to all the graduates!

Click Here to view and download more photos

Photography by Paul Wilson
p-wilson.com/photo

Along with the whole nation, we are deeply saddened by the news of the pasing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. For over 70 years she selflessly carried out her duties in representing  the United Kingdom throughout the world and we join the whole country in sending our heartfelt condolences to the Royal Family. ALPS & Alphi will, of course, follow government guidance as it emerges regarding the period of national mourning. We will remain on hand to support members with anything they need, so please do continue to get in touch.  The Department for Education has advised that schools and FE settings should remain open during the period of national mourning. Any requests for leave of absence should be considered on a case-by-case basis, taking into account individual circumstances. The Department will be contacting sector leaders with further advice once details of the funeral are confirmed by the Royal Household.   Guidance providing the public, businesses and institutions with advice on the period of national mourning will soon be issued by the Cabinet Office and available on GOV.UK.

The Department for Education has published the outcomes of:

The Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) Expressions of interest, confirming our area (EM3 + East Surrey) as designated from Monday 5 September:

Click Here

The Strategic Development Fund (SDF) funding awards, confirming the funding for our eight delivery partner colleges:

Click Here

The Apprenticeship & Skills Partnership offers free and impartial advice to organisations of any size and individuals regarding apprenticeship and skills training. The Apprenticeship & Skills Hubs cover Hampshire (including the Solent Region) and Surrey.

Click HERE for more information