High achievement rates give extra reason to celebrate #NAW2024

South West Durham Training has an extra reason for celebrating National Apprenticeship Week.

For last year’s apprenticeship achievement rates were at 82 per cent for the second year running – more than 25 percentage points above the most recently released national averages.

Ofsted inspectors who spent four days at our industry-standard training facility on Aycliffe Industrial Estate last March praised the quality of our apprenticeship training in their subsequent report which rated SWDT ‘Good’ overall.

They wrote: “Leaders collaborate well with employers to plan the training that their apprentices need. Employers appreciate how well apprentices develop the professional behaviours and attitudes that they need to work safely in often high-risk industries.

“Apprentices develop skills that allow them to progress to roles including automation engineer, assistant engineer, team manager and senior technician, and that helps to develop their employers’ businesses.”

Jonathan Hall, General Manager at SWDT, said: “The achievement rates are testament to the dedication and drive of our staff, who care passionately about the success of our hard-working apprentices and full-time students.

“Our apprentices receive expert industrial support at the training centre and our specialist apprenticeship staff who visit them in the workplace have also seen a rise in apprentices achieving ‘distinction’ grades as part of their End Point Assessment.

“It’s great to see the positive results of the close relationships we have with the employers we serve, as we help create skills for life in the engineering and manufacturing sectors.”

The 17th annual National Apprenticeship Week (February 5-11) is a campaign highlighting the positive impact of apprenticeships on individuals, businesses and the wider economy.

This year’s theme is ‘Skills for Life’ – how apprenticeships can help young people develop the skills and knowledge required for a rewarding career and employers to develop a workforce with future-ready skills.

SWDT will be joining the campaign with a series of articles this week celebrating the success of our current and former apprentices and their employers.

#NAW2024 #SkillsForLife