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Siemens supports new paths to vocational learning for National Apprenticeship Week 2012
Siemens, the global engineering and technology company, shows its support for this year’s National Apprenticeship Week (6-10 February), by confirming its backing of the very latest initiatives in vocational training - Higher Apprenticeships and the new University Technical College (UTC). Siemens is one of the first major manufacturing and engineering companies in the UK to introduce these new qualifications, and its support for the Black Country UTC in the Walsall is rapidly becoming a model for others to follow.
Siemens plays a key role along with other engineering organisations in shaping the national skills agenda. Most recently, it contributed to the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development’s ‘Apprenticeships that Work’, a guide to employers to boost the quality of their apprenticeships. Siemens has a longstanding and highly successful apprenticeship scheme. With 200 apprentices currently on its scheme, Siemens is creating at least 150 more places across its four sectors this year. Siemens’ investment in apprenticeships, as one of the UK’s leading engineering employers is a huge endorsement of this vocational route into employment.
Siemens HR director for UK and North-West Europe, Toby Peyton-Jones, says: “Siemens was founded in the UK almost 170 years ago with a pioneering spirit. Today, our apprenticeship scheme upholds that same ethos and is key to bridging the skills gaps and developing our engineers and leaders of the future. Many of our own managing directors came through this route. By supporting Higher Apprenticeships we are offering young people yet another route into vocational training and employment”
Higher Apprenticeships add to Siemens already extensive apprenticeship offering, which embraces new areas, such as renewables. Targeting school leavers with A-levels, Higher Apprenticeships offer a viable and affordable alternative to university. Siemens will introduce these new qualifications from September 2012, offering 50 places in England and Wales this year, and the opportunity to progress onto Bachelor of Engineering courses.
Siemens’ support of University Technical Colleges is another example of how it is driving forward the vocational agenda. The company is the major employer partner for one of only two University Technical Colleges, The Black Country UTC in Walsall, which offers technically oriented courses of study with an academic pathway for 14 to 19 year olds. Siemens provides support in numerous areas including curriculum design and delivery, specialist equipment and resources and opportunities for work placements. Brian Holliday, divisional director for Siemens Industry Automation UK said: “UTCs create a route for technician engineers with practical skills that can be more readily used in the workplace. They give students an early career focus to help engender engineering aspiration through specialist teaching and equipment. Siemens UK fully supports the UTC ethos and vision and is delighted to support the Black Country UTC, investing in the skills of the future.
Apprenticeships are part of a much wider picture of investment in skills and training made by Siemens in the UK, which includes £8m invested in an Energy Services Training Centre in Newcastle, a planned investment in a new Siemens Training Academy for Rail (STAR in partnership with National Skills Academy for Railway Engineering as part of the National Skills Academy scheme), and a new award winning Engineering School developed with the University of Lincoln.
Notes to editors:
About Siemens in the UK
Siemens was established in the United Kingdom 169 years ago and now employs 12,972 people in the UK. Last year’s revenues were £4.4 billion (N.B. data includes intercompany revenue. Data may not be comparable with revenue reported in annual or interim reports). As a leading global engineering and technology services company, Siemens provides innovative solutions to help tackle the world’s major challenges, across the key sectors of Energy, Industry, Infrastructure & Cities and Healthcare. Siemens has offices and factories throughout the UK, with its headquarters in Frimley, Surrey. The company’s global headquarters is in Munich, Germany.
For more information, contact:
Rachel Odams
PR Manager
Siemens plc
Tel. +44 (0)1276 690782
Mob: +44 (0)7808 824209
Rachel.odams@siemens.com
