For generations, too many young people have been encouraged to believe that university is the only respected route to a successful career. Technical education, apprenticeships and vocational qualifications have often been presented as alternatives for those who are supposedly ‘less academically able’, rather than valuable pathways.
That perception does a disservice to young people and to industries such as engineering, advanced manufacturing and construction, which depend on highly skilled people to design, build and maintain the infrastructure on which our economy relies.
Giving pupils access to technical education, practical experience and connecting them with employers from the age of 14 could help to change this. However, the success of these reforms will depend on what that experience looks like in practice.
At adi Group, we have been delivering technical education to 14 to 16-year-olds since 2016 through our Pre-Apprentice Programme, first run in partnership with King Edward VI school and later with King’s Norton School for Boys in Birmingham.
Year 10 and 11 pupils attend our Birmingham headquarters for half a day a week alongside their GCSE studies. They work in a genuine engineering environment, learn from experienced professionals and complete an Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies qualification accredited by Excellence, Achievement and Learning Ltd, better known as EAL.
The programme gives students the chance to understand what engineering involves and learn hands-on before they make major decisions about their futures.
Many young people still associate engineering with outdated images of manual or repetitive work. Spending time in a modern engineering business allows them to see the range of careers available, from electrical and mechanical engineering to project management, automation, digital technology and senior leadership.
This early exposure also helps students develop the workplace confidence and practical understanding that cannot be gained in a classroom alone.
Our most recent graduating cohort demonstrated what young people can achieve when they are given the right opportunity. All 12 students graduating from the programme achieved either a merit or distinction. The programme is also part of a wider early-careers pathway at adi through which apprentices have progressed into senior positions, including up to managing director level.
The proposed collaboration between schools, colleges, local authorities and employers is therefore particularly welcome. Technical education cannot be designed in isolation from the businesses that will ultimately employ these young people.
Employers understand where skills gaps are emerging, how technology is changing individual roles and what knowledge, behaviours and practical abilities people need to build sustainable careers.
However, businesses must also be prepared to play an active role. This could include opening their facilities to students, supporting teachers, offering meaningful work experience, providing mentors and helping to shape locally relevant qualifications.
This requires time and investment, but it should not be viewed simply as corporate social responsibility. It is a long-term investment in workforce resilience.
Engineering businesses continue to face significant recruitment challenges, while ironically nearly one million young people are currently not in education, employment or training. Bringing education and employment closer together can help address both problems, but only when young people are given genuine experiences rather than a brief workplace tour or a presentation about possible careers.
The Government is right to say that Britain should value the hard hat as much as the graduation cap. The next challenge is ensuring that technical pathways receive the funding, resources, employer engagement and long-term commitment needed to make that ambition real.
We know from ten years of experience that introducing young people to technical careers at 14 can work. The opportunity now is to make that experience available to many more young people, regardless of their background, school or postcode.
For more information on adi’s apprentice programmes please visit here.
Author: By James Sopwith, Group Strategic Account Director at adi Group
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