£2,500 grant to help employers take on young apprentices

25 January 2010

Kendal College will be hosting special advice sessions next Wednesday to show how employers can take advantage of a new grant that offers employers an easy way to take on young apprentices. Over the next ten weeks the National Apprenticeship Service will provide up to 5,000 Apprenticeship Grants for Employers of 16 and 17 year olds (AGE 16 and 17).

The grant of £2,500 is to enable employers to offer 5,000 new Apprenticeship places and take on an unemployed 16 or 17 year old apprentice immediately.
Last year, despite tough labour market conditions, over 70,000 16 and 17 year olds started an Apprenticeship. Despite this there are still many more young people who want to learn whilst they are in work and the National Apprenticeship Service is determined to make sure that the opportunities are there for them to do so.

It particularly wants to support small and medium sized employers who are interested in employing an apprentice for this first time, or who want to employ an additional apprentice over their traditional level of recruitment. In exceptional circumstances, where they can demonstrate that they are overtraining to support small employers in their supply chain or the wider sector, larger employers could be supported.

The aim is to support employers to offer new and additional places in support of young people. Therefore the scheme is targeting those employers who would not otherwise have been in a position to recruit an apprentice at this point in time or who are able to offer more Apprenticeship places than they would otherwise have done.

AGE 16 and 17 is available now. It is a short-term, time-limited, measure and is available immediately for employers who are able to offer a job opportunity to a young person. The AGE 16 and 17 grant is only available until the end of March.

Kendal College will be holding two sessions, at 12pm and 5.30pm at its main site on Milnthorpe Road, Kendal, on Wednesday 3 February, where a representative from the National Apprenticeship Service will be on hand to advise on how employers can take advantage of this fantastic opportunity.
For more information contact Kendal College’s Business Development department on 01539 814718 or email business@kendal.ac.uk

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