A partnership between NITP, the National Skills Academy for IT and leading apprenticeship employer, BT, has created 100 more apprenticeships for young people, 80% of which are with small to medium sized employers (SMEs).
This means the partnership has created a total of 204 new IT apprentice jobs since October 2012, despite recent figures from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills showing a 5.1% decline in Information and Communication Technology apprentice starts over the previous year.

The 100 new apprentices will benefit from training, which is quality assured by BT and delivered by NITP at its local Further Education colleges in Bedford, Liverpool, Nottingham, Oxford, Portsmouth, Tamworth, St Albans and Walsall.
Peter Marples, Director, NITP, comments: “Without the dedication of our teams across the country and the support of the National Skills Academy for IT and BT, we wouldn’t have been able to achieve this milestone and I personally thank them for their consistent commitment and hard work.
“Of special importance are the organisations that have committed their time and resources to employ these young people and to give them their first chance in their IT careers. Finally, my thanks go to the IT apprentices themselves, who are working hard, not only to achieve their qualifications, but to establish themselves with their employers and move forward in their careers.”
All 204 new recruits will get to pilot the IT Gold Standard Apprenticeship – a new programme, which is being designed to help apprentices integrate into the workplace and gain technical and professional skills more quickly.

To do this, they will work towards clearly defined, in-demand job roles and trial a personal development experience, comprising a ‘virtual campus’ website and employer-supported events.
Karen Price, CEO, e-skills UK, says: “Ensuring that apprenticeship training is high quality and relevant to IT employers’ needs is vital to increasing their uptake, particularly among SMEs. That’s exactly what we’re doing through this partnership and the number of jobs we’ve created highlights the effectiveness of this approach.”

The partnership plans to create at least 350 further apprenticeship roles in 2013. These will be in the eight current locations, plus Birmingham and Milton Keynes from April.

Employers can visit http://www.growyourownIT.com for further information about recruiting an apprentice through the partnership – including the financial incentives available, such as a £1,500 government grant for smaller businesses – or contact their local NITP Academy.

One of the UK’s leading e-money solutions provider, Tuxedo Money Solutions has welcomed on board their first ever Accounts Apprentice this month, 18 year old Rico Perez from Chester. Rico works 4 days a week at Tuxedo’s offices on Chester Business Park and takes a day out a week to complete his Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT)  Accounts training with finance and IT training provider, Aspire, Achieve, Advance.
Carly Rushton, Finance Manager at Tuxedo says, ‘Tuxedo is a growing organisation with a small Finance function, with a need for some more resource. A few of the team started their careers as Apprentices training for their AAT qualification and therefore knew how fundamental a part an Apprentice can be to a small team and how important on the job training can be.’
‘On just day 2, our Apprentice was acknowledging how different tasks can be when applied in practice compared to when it is learnt in the classroom. I think this reminds us how important applying your skills in a practical work environment is to developing skills that can be transferred into your workplace.’
‘As a small growing organisation, the financial benefits of recruiting an Apprentice and having their training funded, is an additional benefit.’
Upon starting his new role at Tuxedo, Accounting Apprentice Rico says, ‘Tuxedo has given me the opportunity to develop my understanding of Accountancy and help me put my theory into practice.’
‘ I started January 7th 2013 so I have only been here a couple of weeks but I already feel a part of the team and that I am getting all the encourage and support needed to complete my AAT. I prefer work-based learning to purely classroom based teaching as I will still get the same qualifications but will also gain experience within a financial business

Employers say you need experience  for a career in IT or Accounts…but how do you get it without a job? We have the solution to help you at Milton Keynes IT Apprenticeships Academy.

Come along to our next Open Evening on Tuesday 12 March from 4.30pm at 402-420 Silbury Court East, Silbury Boulevard, Milton Keynes MK9 2AF

How we can help you:
Simply come along to the Academy and bring with you a copy of your CV and GCSE certificates (if available).
You need to be willing to learn, aged 16-18, enthusiastic about a career in IT or accounting, have a minimum of five GCSEs at grade A-C (including maths and English), and be prepared to work hard.
In return we offer you:
•    High quality training in IT or Accounts
•    The opportunity to achieve three accredited qualifications at Level 2
•    An opportunity to progress on to our IT or Accounts Apprenticeship programme and a job!
To book a place, please contact our recruitment team on 01908 237713 or email

We are delighted to announce that as part of our BT / E Skills project to develop and deliver the Gold Standard in IT Apprenticeships, we have reached a further important milestone.

Another 101 IT Apprentices have been recruited onto the scheme in the past two months, all of them gaining employment with local employers; supported by our team of Recruitment executives.

At a time with a national DECLINE in the number of young people taking up Apprenticeships, this is a fantastic achievement with over 80% of their employers being from the SME community.

Peter Marples commented ‘ without the dedication of our teams across the country, and the support of both E: Skills and BT, we would not have been able to achieve this milestone and I personally thank them for their consistent commitment and hard work. Of special importance are the employers who have committed their time and resources to employ these young people and to give them their first chance in a career. Finally to the Apprentices themselves who are working hard, not only to achieve their qualification but to establish themselves with their employers and move forward in their careers. In excess of 200 jobs have been created in the past four months on the GOLD STANDARD scheme, all of these jobs being created by enthusiastic employers wanting to give young people a chance. There is some financial support available for employers (subject to Government conditions) which can mitigate some of the intial wage costs of the Apprentices. Many employers are now coming back to us for further recrruits given the success of the programme and the high calibre of young people recruited onto the programme.

We have set ourselves a further milestone of recruiting a further 125 Apprentices onto the GOLD STANDARD IT Apprenticeship programme before the end of April which will take our total number on the scheme to over 325. We are well on our way to achieving this further milestone. If you are a budding Apprentice or Employer wanting to engage with us on this exciting programme, please do not hesitate to contact me on 07979 857438’