National Apprenticeship Week 2024 reflection

We’re reflecting on our activities and discussions during National Apprenticeship Week 2024.

At the Maritime UK ‘Apprentice Roundtable Discussion’ at Harland & Wolff London offices, we heard from Harland and Wolff’s steel fabrication apprentices, Ben Blake and Victoria Wyllie. It was interesting to hear that they had chosen their employment and a degree apprenticeship after following the university route. Our marketing apprentice, Archie Turvey, also gave an account of his journey into his apprenticeship at PSS and how he chose the apprenticeship route to learn about marketing while gaining real experience without incurring any debt.

We heard from talent managers outlining why apprenticeships are so essential to their organisations in developing the skills they need. Our Skills Lead, Angela Ward, also talked about the work of PSS in reviewing and developing port-specific apprenticeships, the PSS apprenticeship platform and encouraging ports to embrace apprenticeships as a valuable way to train new entrants and upskill the workforce.

As a corporate member of Association of Apprentices (AoA), PSS was delighted to attend the ‘Celebrating Apprentices’ event at Mansion House in London hosted by AoA and UCAS. Lindsay Conroy, National Head of Apprenticeships at UCAS presented the newly launched data from the UCAS Project Next Generation research which “explores the thoughts and decisions of 13-17 year olds who are exploring higher education”.

Emily Rock (Austin), CEO of AoA, highlighted the AoA’s work on apprenticeships and how they are supporting the apprentice community. We watched the premiere of ITN Business ‘Apprenticeships: Pathways to Success’ film featuring a range of organisations and apprentices to highlight apprenticeships for career development. We heard from Seema Malhotra MP, Shadow Minister for Skills, about the importance of apprenticeships to the Labour party. A fantastic panel discussion followed from Sharon Blyfield OBE, Jane Hadfield, Dhimple Patel, Holly Hobbs.

To round the event off, the first cohort of apprentices were awarded post-nominals on stage by Dawn Ward CBE DL, Vice Chair of Charted Institute of Further Education.

Throughout the week, PSS showcased apprenticeships by featuring apprentice case studies and videos; these will remain available on our website. We also shared over 50 apprenticeship posts on our social platforms from members.

It was such an inspiring week hearing from apprentices and apprentice managers, finding out more about their roles and the important play their play in the port sector. We’d like to express our gratitude to all PSS members and their apprentices for your part and for sharing your stories with us.