New Apprenticeships promise to drive success in food and drink

Phil Black - PII Editor 22/03/2011

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Major changes to Apprenticeships in the food and drink industry are to come into effect from April 6.

New Improve Proficiency Apprenticeships, developed in collaboration with employers by food and drink skills council Improve and the National Skills Academy for Food and Drink, promise to give companies unprecedented control over the content and delivery of Apprenticeship programmes.

And for the first time, grants to cover the full costs of training for employees of any age taking an Advanced Apprenticeship (Level 3) will be available thanks to a £2.2 million funding pot which can be accessed through National Skills Academy training providers.

Innovative new features of the Improve Proficiency Apprenticeships include:

•   New sector-specific learning pathways in brewing, fish and shellfish and milling, to sit alongside revamped pathways in baking and meat and poultry;
•   A new pathway in Food Manufacturing Excellence focusing on vital skills linked to productivity improvement and lean manufacturing;
•   The introduction of Higher Apprenticeships at Level 4 aimed at developing technical and leadership skills;
•   The replacement of the requirement to complete an NVQ and a Technical Certificate with a single Improve Proficiency Qualification (IPQ), offering unprecedented flexibility with more than 1000 learning units to choose from;
•   The option for apprentices to take ‘enhanced’ Apprenticeships at all levels, offering more in-depth learning through additional qualifications, allowing training to be tailored even more closely to specific job roles.

Derek Williams, director of Development at Improve and the National Skills Academy for Food and Drink, said: “For the first time the industry will have Apprenticeships that have been purpose-built from scratch to suit the specific needs of food and drink businesses.

“Our aim is to significantly increase the number of people taking Apprenticeships in the food and drink industry, as they are proven to have a positive impact on the performance of a business. In order to do that, we have spoken extensively to employers to canvass their needs and built what we have heard into the Improve Proficiency Apprenticeship.

“The result is an Apprenticeship framework which offers greater flexibility and control, allowing employers to adapt the training to fit with their own in-house programmes.

“Boosting productivity and offering clear developmental pathways to technician and management level are key priorities for the industry, so we have also created options designed specifically to achieve those things, as well as introducing more specialised pathways for different industry sectors.”

Justine Fosh, director of skills solutions, added that having funding available through the National Skills Academy to support delivery of Advanced Apprenticeships would have a major impact in helping employers raise skills levels across the industry.

“This is a large slice of funding secured through the government’s Joint Investment Programme to address a very specific need,” she said. “Demand for higher-level skills right across the industry is growing rapidly, yet previously Apprenticeships have only been fully-funded up to the age of 19.

“Now any company can look to raise any employee of any age from intermediate to advanced level through an Apprenticeship and have all costs covered, which is a major investment in the future success of the industry.”