It's National Apprenticeship Week!

From 7th until 13th of February 2022 there is a nation-wide celebration of amazing apprentices, teaching staff and employers, as National Apprenticeship Week 2022 (NAW2022) brings together everyone passionate about apprenticeships.

The theme for NAW2022 is "Build the Future", as apprenticeships present unique opportunities to develop the practical knowledge required for a rewarding career while building future ready skills.

Qualifications Wales is the independent regulator for GCSEs, A levels, the Welsh Baccalaureate, vocational and technical qualifications in Wales. A proud champion of apprenticeships, we are pleased to celebrate apprenticeships this week as they reflect the needs of employers, and support learners to progress to employment or their next stage of learning.

Apprenticeships provide a route for learners to gain qualifications while they work and earn a wage. There is a wide range of apprenticeships available for learners in Wales, and many different employers in a variety of sectors offer them. Apprentices work alongside other staff members while they gain job-specific skills.

Plus, there are lots of benefits for employers too. Whether recruiting new talent, or upskilling existing employees, apprenticeships are proven to increase productivity, motivation and support succession planning.

Our apprentices

At Qualifications Wales we have firsthand experience of how apprenticeships work, having taken on several apprentices over the years. We caught up with Tyla Doe, who joined Qualifications Wales in 2017 as an apprentice in our Corporate Resources team.

Tyla Doe, Office Assistant at Qualifications Wales, said: “My role as a Business Administration apprentice was to support the Senior Facilities Manager and the Office Assistant in my team to carry out the various responsibilities. I supported the Facilities team to manage reception, room bookings, catering, maintenance reporting, managing mailboxes, dealing with different contractors that come to our site and other administrative tasks across the organisation.

“As part of my apprenticeship, I had essays on different topics, and I would attend workshops to complete different assessments. I would also meet with my apprenticeship mentor every month to discuss assignments.

“For me, the best thing about completing an apprenticeship was having that experience of working in an office environment and gaining so many different skills, straight out of full-time education without studying at university. As my apprenticeship counted as a full-time job, my husband and I (who also completed an apprenticeship at Transport for Wales), managed to buy our first house. I always thought that I wouldn’t be as successful if I didn’t go to university, but this apprenticeship opportunity completely proved me wrong.”

Find out more information about apprenticeships and other vocational qualifications here: Qualifications Wales / Vocational qualifications