The team at Oxfordshire Advanced Skills (OAS) understand that the past year has been an especially challenging time for smaller businesses and their workforces, and for many firms taking on an apprentice doesn’t currently feel like a priority.
At Oxfordshire Advanced Skills (OAS), we’re committed to supporting SMEs to train your next generation of engineering talent through fully funded apprenticeships. We can help businesses’ like yours access the benefits that apprentices can offer by breaking down the perceived barriers that may be stopping you from finding out more.
Our trusted team of engineering experts will help at every stage of the process, from identifying the skills that your business needs, to recruiting the best candidates, securing funding, and using your existing workforce’s expertise to quickly upskill them in your processes and practices.
With a minimum £3,000 incentive payment from the government for new apprentices employed before the end of September and access to up to a further £4,200 for smaller businesses through an exclusive SME Apprentice Salary Support Scheme set up by our training provider, MTC Apprenticeships, in partnership with Lloyds Bank, employing an apprentice could cost less than you think.
You’ll be able to choose the best candidate for your business’s specific needs from our talent pool of pre-screened applicants. Our apprenticeship programme then instils professional behaviours and attitudes from the outset, with the first year of the programme completed off-the-job in our training centre that’s fully furnished with the latest industry equipment, giving apprentices an intensive, thorough and confident foundation across a broad range of engineering skills.
All Apprenticeship Standards require at least 20% of working hours to be spent on training ‘off-the-job’. We concentrate this 20% within the first year to give our apprentices a thorough grounding in all of the skills they’ll need when they return to their employer. They then only return periodically to complete the rest of their training, meaning when they return to you at the end of their first year, they are more capable, independent and therefore valuable to you as a contributing team member.
We’ve compiled a brief guide to apprenticeships, which explains the different funding options available and showcases the benefits our employer partners say they have already gained through the programme. You can view the guide online by clicking here.
When you’re ready to explore how apprentices can help your business to level up, we would be delighted to help. Our dedicated team of experts are ready to talk you through the best options for your business, and can even arrange a tour of our training centre for you to experience our state-of-the-art facilities first hand.
The deadline for some incentives is fast approaching, so there has never been a better time to consider taking on an apprentice –
Connect with us
Twitter: @OAS_UKAEA
LinkedIn: Oxfordshire Advanced Skills
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