Learning the ropes

Getting the creative sector engaged in apprenticeships was always going to be a tricky business. When we wrote for ArtsProfessional back in 2009, our piece was all about the challenges we faced in encouraging employers to change their recruitment practices and create genuine jobs and opportunities, rather than relying on a steady stream of graduate interns. After an enormous amount of hard work and dialogue, I am delighted to report that, two years later, the sector seems to be grabbing the opportunity with both hands.

Following pilots from 2006, we launched our first apprenticeship for the creative sector in 2008. Initially focused on areas where employers had identified specific skills gaps, the programme built on employers’ need to recruit backstage workers, front of house staff and to support in-house education teams. Now, through our partnership with the National Skills Academy, we have an in-house Apprenticeship Training Service which offers support to creative employers who would like to take on an apprentice in a wider range of job functions, from administration to marketing to finance. Together, we have now placed nearly 650 apprentices with employers ranging from museums and galleries through to theatres and live music venues across England, Wales and Scotland. The frameworks have also been approved for use in Northern Ireland.

There is much work still to be done. Creative & Cultural Skills will continue to develop new apprenticeship pathways where employers say that they are needed. We will launch a new jewellery apprenticeship this year, and are scoping the potential for new higher-level versions of our current pathways. We will continue to support anyone in the sector who wishes to take an apprentice on – you just need to contact our Apprenticeship Training Service, which will provide you with all the details. And we will continue to promote apprenticeships as an important alternative route into the creative sector, where having a diverse workforce and accessing a breadth of talent is so important.

Our drive for doing this now is because there are considerable challenges ahead. As the Government revises its economic forecasts downwards, investment in skills for the UK’s long-term future is even more key. The UK is currently ranked twelfth in the OECD index of countries when high level skills are measured, and at twenty-first and nineteenth respectively when it comes intermediate and low level skills1. This is against a Government ambition of being within the top eight. And we are seeing fundamental changes to the way that higher education is funded, with an urgent need for clarity as a White Paper on this issue has been delayed until June. We must continue to make the case for investment in skills for the creative and cultural industries, and Creative & Cultural Skills and our partners at the National Skills Academy are here to do just that.

Apprenticeship Case Study: Luke Stubbins, Birmingham Hippodrome

Luke Stubbins is an apprentice at the Birmingham Hippodrome, which is a member of the National Skills Academy for Creative & Cultural Skills and an established employer of apprentices. For them, the apprentice role has become an essential training and recruitment route. Luke explained: “This type of apprenticeship was presented to me by chance at a Connexions centre. I had taken part in a bit of drama at school and it gave me a real feel for theatre work. I enjoyed it a lot. Although I had the opportunity to go to university, I thought getting an insight into a creative industry would be a real bonus – and that it would help me when I was ready to look for a job.” He is now hoping to be taken on as a full-time employee after he completes his qualification. “The apprenticeship system allows us to train someone to our standards, ensuring they are right for the business,’ said a spokesperson for the Hippodrome. Since joining the apprenticeship scheme last year, the Hippodrome has become unstoppable: “Since getting involved with this experience we have taken on apprentices in box office, catering and most recently in technical theatre positions. This has been a knock-on effect: managers have seen how well having an apprentice works in one department and requested an apprentice for their own.” Luke had originally applied for a role there in 2009 without success but, now working there as an apprentice, says he hopes to learn as many skills as he can and take in as much as possible: “My dream is to one day become a set designer. It’s an exciting job. The best thing about being an apprentice is that you gain a qualification and on-the-job skills at the same time. And if you chose, you can still go to university or find a job with the new skills that you’ve learned. That’s got to be the best thing about becoming an apprentice.”