QA apprenticeship applications up by almost half in six months

IT training provider QA has seen the number of school students applying for apprenticeships shoot up by almost 50 per cent since mid-2017.

To date, QA has helped 10,000 young people start a career in tech, helping plug the UK’s tech skills gap in the process.

However, this recent rise in apprenticeship applications is the result of significantly increased engagement with schools, which can see the company visit ten UK schools a week, speaking to over 250 students about their future and how they can develop transferable, real-world skills as part of an apprenticeship.

QA has considerably upped its activity by organising pop-up parties and engaging social advertising campaigns.

In a blog on QA’s website, Mark Godfrey, who is director of marketing for QA Apprenticeships, noted how schools no longer viewed apprenticeships as ‘plan B’ if they failed to get into university.

“Young people now want to learn more about apprenticeships and schools are proactively reaching out to us to find out more - that really is a monumental shift,” he said.

“There remains a sense of resolute positivity at QA and among others involved in the enablement of apprenticeships, as we begin to see the building blocks taking real shape.”