It’s September, the beginning of the new school year and a time for all things academia. With more options for students to choose from than ever before, pre-apprenticeships are becoming a popular – and rewarding – opportunity for young students.
Multidisciplinary UK engineering and construction firm adi Group is kickstarting September by welcoming students on to its pre-apprenticeship programme once more.
Now in its sixth year, adi’s pre-apprenticeship programme is aimed at students aged 14-16, guiding them through learning hands-on core skills within engineering, with many talented young minds becoming full-time apprentices at the end of the programme.
Since its inception, the business has endeavoured to build a better future for young people by providing them with valuable opportunities to begin a rewarding engineering career, inspiring them to expand their horizons at a very young age.
And this largely revolves around creating real opportunities for students with their pre-apprenticeship offering, with the ultimate purpose of equipping them with the knowledge and the skills they’ll need to truly make an impact and progress with their careers.
As a business that fully recognises and celebrates the significant role of their pre-apprenticeship and then full-time apprenticeships, with its CEO beginning his career as an apprentice himself, adi Group is passionate about providing students with opportunities that will not only support them and their futures, but that will help to close the STEM skills gap, too.
Alan Lusty, CEO of adi Group, explains his personal and professional reasons for prioritising pre-apprenticeships as part of the wider business structure.
He said, “I started my engineering career as an apprentice, and the skills I learned were simply invaluable.
“When I founded adi Group, it was important to me to continue to promote the invaluable role of apprenticeships, which is why they remain at the heart of what we do and I am immensely proud that 32 years on, we’re still doing exactly that.”
Alan also explained that everybody learns differently, and with so many academic options out there, providing a pre-apprenticeship programme and a hands-on way of learning at such an early age remains of utmost importance to both him and the wider business.
adi’s pre-apprenticeship scheme is an EAL accredited programme that allows students to learn about the world of engineering, providing them invaluable opportunities to get a taste of the world of work that they may not have had otherwise.
Students enrolled in the programme spend one afternoon a week for two years in a professional setting, working towards developing the core electrical and mechanical engineering skills required to succeed in their future engineering careers.
James Sopwith, Group Strategic Account Director of adi Group explains that the leading engineering firm is keen to help youngsters take the next step in their career from an earlier age.
“Whilst students don’t formally begin their apprenticeships until they reach the age of 16, we understand that it can be difficult to make such a big decision, which is why our pre-apprenticeship programme is so beneficial.
“When students enrol to our pre-apprenticeship programme at 14, they have two years to learn a variety of skills and industry-knowledge that they would not normally have access to at that age.
“We are passionate about making a difference for young people, and, having so far achieved excellent results, we believe our pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship offerings are a great way of contributing.”
adi Group plans to continue to build its pre-apprenticeship programme to offer opportunities for growth to more young talent, providing them with a real-life glimpse into the world of engineering, and helping them to solidify their career goals and ambitions.
