Building Engineering Services Training (BEST) has raised its entrance criteria for craft apprenticeship with the aim to encourage only the highest calibre learners to apply for the limited places offered by employers.
BEST’s Business Development Manager, Linda Webb, commented: “So few employers are currently prepared to take on apprentices, we have had to turn away nearly 50 percent of the potential learners who had applied for apprenticeships for the new academic year 2005/6 and passed our stringent assessment process. This reflects badly on an industry with a well-documented skills shortage and may discourage those keen to join it if they see so many missing out immediately.
“Our focus on entrance criteria has therefore evolved through the need to limit applications next year to a more realistic quantity and to avoid disappointment to hundreds of young people. It enables us to screen potential apprentices to ensure that those we offer to industry employers possess the qualities that will most likely see them complete their chosen programme.”
The new criteria, effective for applications from October 2005, requires applicants for craft apprenticeships to have or expect to achieve GCSE grades A-C in Maths, English Literature or Language, Science or Resistant Materials Technology and one other subject, or equivalent to GCSE or GNVQ Intermediate. It is based on the recommendations set out by SummitSkills, the Sector Skills Council for building services engineering, and is expected to ensure the highest possible retention and completion of the apprenticeship programme.
Engineer apprenticeship GCSE entrance criteria does not change and remains A-C in Maths, English Literature or Language, Science or Resistant Materials Technology and one other subject, or equivalent to GCSE or GNVQ Intermediate.
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