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On Thursday 4th March, we had our 2nd A Factor event of this year - “Meet the Experts”. 

The evening was delivered as a mini-conference at the Sunley Management Centre with speakers and stands from the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS), NITAL, Tresham College, Moulton College, Northampton College and the University of Northampton.

Apprentices from a range of sectors from IT to Care, and a variety of circumstances were in attendance.  Judging by the feedback at the end of the evening and the amount of enquiries about the next A Factor event, the students felt it was a worthwhile experience.

We began with a welcome from Aimhigher which talked about the raising profile of apprenticeships in both business and education, and the evening was introduced as a chance to find out about opportunities for progression and take the next step. 

Aubrey Davis of NAS spoke enthusiastically about the range of Apprenticeships available, role models including Jamie Oliver and the apprenticeships vacancy matching service. 

This was followed by an interesting talk from Ian Mawdsley of Tresham College who discussed apprenticeships and progression from a training provider perspective and the workings of their engineering training programme designed around employer demands.  Ian also highlighted the point that similar courses were available in other subjects and at other providers.

I delivered a short talk about the NHS as an example of an employer who is keen to develop their staff and offer a range of opportunities in both clinical and non-clinical roles.

We then took a break for dinner in the conservatory, during which Danielle Gearing who is studying an apprenticeship in Mail Services won People Bingo by networking with the other guests. 

We returned from dinner for a talk from David Jackson of NITAL, which re-iterated the benefits of apprenticeships and informed the students of how to search for opportunities.

Phil Burch delivered a closing speech, after which the audience took the time to visit the stands and talk to the representatives.

We are hoping to gather momentum from this event and increase the numbers of students who attend to include others who would benefit from this enhancement in Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG).