Ofsted
A group of 31 talented young apprentices start work at Ofsted this morning, taking up a variety of roles and responsibilities in 5 of the organisations offices across England.
Todays intake is the result of a hugely successful recruitment process, which Ofsted launched in June this year as part of the governments drive to create three million apprentices by 2020. It is the first time Ofsted has embarked on such a large-scale apprenticeship scheme.
There were over 200 applicants for the apprenticeship programme, which was advertised on the National Apprenticeship Service and Ofsted websites. The Ofsted human resources team also directly contacted schools, childrens services departments and youth centres, specifically to reach out to young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The scheme will last for two years, with apprentices completing a level 2 qualification in business administration during their first year, and a level 3 qualification in their second year.
The 31 new apprentices are aged 16 years old and upwards. Some have come straight from school, others from college and some were previously employed.
They are all now full time, permanent members of Ofsted staff, and will be filling various positions across the organisations operations, including:
- contact centre advisors and administrators
- inspection support administrators
- human resources advisors
- regional support administrators
- social care policy administrators
- education policy administrators
- management information support administrators
Matthew Coffey, Ofsteds Chief Operating Officer said:
Im delighted to welcome these young apprentices to Ofsted today, and I wish them every success in their new roles. The programme proved to be more popular than we had hoped and the recruitment process was very competitive, so their success in getting to this point shows just how bright and talented they are.
We want to provide individuals with a genuine opportunity to improve their lives, by offering them an alternative career path from the traditional university route. Following our critical report on apprenticeships last year, this scheme is also an opportunity for Ofsted to demonstrate how valuable, enjoyable and genuinely life-changing a well-planned and robust apprenticeship programme can be.
For further information on the scheme, please contact the Ofsted press office.