A recent UK government report highlighted that nearly a third of all unfilled job vacancies were due to the employer not finding the skills they need. The sectors most affected by this shortage include those involved with Information and Communications Technology (ICT).

And it’s not just the UK experiencing this problem. Similar skills shortages for technology-based roles have been reported in the European Union and the USA.

The provision of apprenticeships has an important role in providing the skills and knowledge necessary for a productive and motivated workforce. Germany has long recognised the importance of apprenticeships for a thriving economy and the UK government has, perhaps belatedly, also encouraged the development and delivery of rigorous and relevant apprenticeship programmes.

Although providing an apprenticeship scheme has medium to long term benefits for employers, the short term economic and administrative burden may be an impediment especially for SMEs. Therefore, apprenticeship programmes should be designed to minimise the impact on an employer’s revenue earning activities and minimise the running costs.

Another issue for ICT employers is finding a further education college that delivers specialised telecoms and ICT training. These may be some distance from an organisation’s site and the effectiveness of the delivered training varies.

PTT has several years’ experience of working with employers and training providers in delivering a blended learning approach to ICT apprenticeship programmes that includes the use of online learning. Such an approach provides the flexibility required by employers while minimising costs and ensuring a consistent quality of training provision.

The “Blended learning approach to apprenticeships” white paper discusses the delivery of apprenticeships in the UK, the benefits of a blended learning approach, and the design of such a programme with reference to case studies of successful programmes.