The Government should increase the minimum pay rate for apprentices to improve the quality of training and tackle apprenticeship dropout rates, says a new TUC report published on Saturday 26th January 2008

The TUC report, 'Decent Pay for Apprentices', says that apprenticeships are a good route into work for young people, but the quality of courses can vary. It says that some apprentices receive low pay and inadequate training, which in turn leads to poor completion rates. Some apprentices are being paid as little as £1.54 an hour, with low pay particularly affecting female apprentices, who on average are paid 26% less than male apprentices. Young women working in areas such as hairdressing, early years education and social care tend to be the most poorly paid.

Most apprentices are exempt from the minimum wage, but in 2005 the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) established a minimum payment of £80 a week for apprentices. The TUC report says that while this rate has helped to protect some apprentices from unscrupulous employers, a pay rise is long overdue. The TUC would like to see the minimum rate for apprentices to be increased to £110 a week, which would roughly be in line with the minimum wage rate youth rate (£3.40).

An Apprenticeship is the key to your future. Why not make that key golden by entering the Apprenticeship Awards 2008?

The 2008 Awards were launched by LSC Chair, Chris Banks CBE at an event celebrating four successful years of the Awards, held at the Imagination Gallery in London on Monday 3rd December 2007. Skills Minister, David Lammy MP, also spoke at the launch event confirming his support of the fifth Apprenticeship Awards.

The Awards are in their fifth successful year and have become the most prestigious event on the Apprenticeship calendar. The Awards celebrate the success of apprentices who have made a real difference to their own future and the organisation they work for. They also recognise the work of employers who are successfully improving their business performance so don't miss out on your chance to be there and enter today!

There are four categories open to apprentices: Apprentice of the Year, Advanced Apprentice of the Year, Young Apprentice of the Year and Personal Achiever of the Year.

Employers are eligible to enter for one of four categories, depending on their size: Micro (1-9 employees), Small (10-49 employees), Medium (50-249 employees), and Large (250+ employees).

This year's ceremony, hosted by LSC Chair, Chris Banks, will be held on 10th July 2008 at the Royal Horticultural Halls in London. With over a quarter of a million apprentices working in over 130,000 organisations in England alone, the LSC is keen to attract as many high-quality entries as possible from our industry.

For details on how to apply and download an application form, please visit the Apprenticeship Awards website by clicking on view link below on, or call the Awards helpline on 0800 019 2083.

The deadline for entry is 29th February 2008.

The Apprenticeship Awards are held annually and hosted by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), who manage and fund Apprenticeships in England.

All the finalists will be at the Awards ceremony at the London Hilton on Park Lane on Wednesday 20th June where TV presenter Nick Knowles will announce the 2007 winners.

Now in their fourth year the Awards have been designed to recognise and reward both employers and apprentices who are successfully using Apprenticeships to improve their business performance and tackle skills shortages, whose contribution to the workplace has exceeded their employers'' expectations and resulted in measurable benefits or who have overcome difficulties to succeed through their Apprenticeship.

Employees and employers making an exceptional contribution to London's global competitiveness are being recognised in an awards ceremony on 30th May 2007 at the Savoy Hotel.

Radio and TV presenter, Richard Bacon will host the Learning and Skills Council's London Region Apprenticeship Awards 2007. Up to 250 guests are expected to attend the ceremony and they include learners and their guests, employers, training providers and Learning and Skills Council (LSC) staff.

Six winners, out of 18 finalists, who have made an outstanding contribution in Apprenticeships, have been selected by a panel of judges from over a hundred entrants for the awards.

London Director of the LSC, David Hughes says: "These awards have shown that high-quality training like Apprenticeships can have a big impact on people's futures. Some finalists have said that their apprenticeship changed their lives and allowed them to find their true potential, often undiscovered at school."

This website providers further information on Apprenticeships for:

• Young people - Get on-the-job training, study for a nationally recognised qualification such as an NVQ and earn money while you learn. Find out what an Apprenticeship can do for you.



• Employers - No matter how large or small your organisation, Apprenticeships give you the chance to develop the skilled staff you need for your business. Find out more with our helpful guide



• Partners - LSC partners are a crucial part of the continuing growth and success of Apprenticeships. Here you will find all the latest news, research, framework and policy updates on Apprenticeships




and

• Apprenticeships on offer - looks at the full list of 180 Apprenticeships available across more than 80 industry sectors

The LSC is rolling out the Apprenticeships for Adults programme nationally from August 2007. (see page 5) This follows on from the success of the pilots, which began in 2005 and enabled more than 400 people over the age of 22 to complete Apprenticeships. The LSC will invest £25 million in the first year of the programme which prioritises three groups of adult learners in particular.

• First group includes those who are unemployed but want to retrain in a different sector and get back to work through an Apprenticeship.



• Second group are "atypical learners," including women returning to work after having children and aiming to go into sectors where they have traditionally been under-represented, such as construction or engineering; men looking for careers in sectors like childcare and healthcare; and ethnic minority learners who are currently under represented in Apprenticeships.



• Third target group is employees looking to top up their existing skills through an Apprenticeship - such as those who have completed an NVQ through Train to Gain but want the transferable skills and knowledge that a full Apprenticeship provides and, as research shows, increases earning potential.