Wednesday, 21 November 2018 saw over 75 higher apprentices from the Vocational Skills Partnership (VSP) attend an exclusive event put on by VSP and Cardiff Metropolitan University. The event was the first of its kind and cemented a new and unique collaboration which has been born out of a shared vision to give the very best opportunities and ability to progress for all learners.

VSP is a unique training consortium that delivers high quality work-based learning qualifications and Jobs Growth Wales opportunities throughout Wales, in a variety of sectors. All the way from level 2 which is equivalent to 5 GCSE’s to level 5 which is equivalent to a foundation degree.

The VSP partnership is made up of four Training Providers, Aspiration Training, Educ8, Network and TSW. Over the last year VSP has supported over 2100 learners in Wales to achieve their apprenticeship with over 650 being at the higher level. These higher apprenticeships are in a range of sectors from Childcare to Engineering, Health & Social Care to Management.

VSP is delighted to be working in partnership with Cardiff Met who have been providing practice-focused and professionally orientated education to their students since 1865.
The event last night was a celebration of the hundreds of students who have completed their Higher Apprenticeships in the area.

Speaking at the event, Aspiration Training’s CEO Iain Salisbury said:

Learning is not just about one-offs. It is an ongoing journey. Most of us will do many jobs, often in different sectors over the course of our careers and the importance of learning new skills throughout this journey is increasingly important. We are delighted to be working in partnership with Cardiff Met and providing that link for our learners to continue their learning journey into their careers

The event had a line-up of great speakers including Dr Barrie Kennard, Head of Professional Practice whose very successful career also started with an apprenticeship, Jenine Gill, Founder and Director of Little Inspirations Ltd who spoke about how apprenticeships have help her business develop and grow. The Dean of Cardiff School of Management and Professor of Enterprise, David Brooksbank and the Centre for Work Based Learning’s Manager, Fiona Argent, both spoke passionately about how learners can continue their learning journey with Cardiff Met having completed a Higher Apprenticeship with VSP.

The key messages coming from the speakers on the night were how valuable work-based learning is and how this is a very important and valuable was of imparting knowledge and skills to our workforce of the future, and that the stigma around apprenticeships needs to be overcome.

Agreeing on these points was Assembly Member for Caerphilly, Hefin David, who delivered a passionate speech on the topic. He said:

We need to recognise and encourage all educational achievements, and apprenticeships form a very important part of this. Apprenticeships deliver skills that are needed to make our everyday economy thrive. I am pleased to see this new partnership between the Training Providers which make up VSP and Cardiff Met and encourage learners to journey through the various levels of education and to have esteem.