Training 2000 learners visit Downing Street

Two learners from Training 2000 visited 10 Downing Street as part of the National Apprenticeship Week celebrations.

Engineering apprentices Sara Underwood, aged 21 from Rolls-Royce and Craig Eccles, 19-year-old Paradigm employee, were a handful of apprentices to be invited to the exclusive reception hosted at No 10, which celebrated the importance of Apprenticeships.

Trailblazers are groups of employers working together to develop future apprenticeship standards and BAE, the National Grid, Cisco, Jaguar Land Rover, the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, Nestle, the Royal Society of Chemistry and Rolls-Royce are at the forefront of this reform.

During the event apprentices were introduced to chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne and minister for skills and enterprise, Matthew Hancock, whilst employers across a range of sectors were thanked for their commitment to developing future Apprenticeship standards.

An exhibition was also set up on the day, where apprentices were given the opportunity to display an innovative product or system that they have created during their Apprenticeship programme.

Speaking of the experience, Craig said: “I was delighted to be one of the few apprentices to be invited to the event as it gave me an opportunity to showcase the work I’ve done, meet new apprentices involved in different sectors and hear about the future of these qualifications.” Mark Maudsley, chief executive officer of GTA England attended the event and said: “It’s great that the work employers have given to the Trailblazers has been recognised by Downing Street. GTA England are grateful for the opportunity to include the voice of SMEs in the debate of the future of apprenticeships.”