Give yourself a head start with a Foundation Apprenticeship.
You can get real-world work experience while you're in fifth or sixth year. And you learn skills that employers want and that strengthen your CV or personal statement.
It’s an industry-recognised qualification you complete – over a year, occasionally two - usually starting in S5 or S6, as one of your subject choices.
It sits at the same level as a Higher, which is recognised by all Scottish colleges and universities. The difference is you spend time with a local specialised learning provider or at college and gain valuable industry experience with some of Scotland’s top employers.
Whatever you want to do after school – progressing into a job, including a Modern or Graduate Apprenticeship or going to college or university – a Foundation Apprenticeship can widen your options.
How it works
This is how a Foundation Apprenticeship works:
- Choose the Foundation Apprenticeship you'd like, as part of your senior-phase subject choices
- Spend time with a learning provider, such as a college
- Work on industry projects supported by employers
- Get assessed on the work-based learning you do
- By completing the apprenticeship you will achieve a qualification and develop skills employers want
There are twelve Foundation Apprenticeship subjects to choose from at SCQF Level 6 and three Foundation Apprenticeship subjects at SCQF Level 4/5.
At Level 6, there is:
- Accountancy
- Business Skills
- Civil Engineering
- Creative and Digital Media
- Engineering
- Financial Services
- Food and Drink Technologies
- Hardware and System Support
- Scientific Technologies
- Social Services Children and Young People
- Social Services and Healthcare
- Software Development
At Level 4/5, there is:
- Automotive
- Construction
- Hospitality
Foundation Apprenticeships help you build the experience and skills that employers want to see. No matter what stage you’re at, they’ll help you get set for a bright future.
The experience helps you develop key transferrable skills. In a recent Skills Development Scotland feedback survey*, 91% of pupils that completed one would recommend it to others.
Ninety percent said is improved their organisational ability, 95% said it boosted communication skills, with 87% saying it improved their problem-solving and 80% their creativity levels.
Every secondary school in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire offers Foundation Apprenticeships, with over 400 pupils in the school year 2020-21 taking up the chance to boost their CV. They really are the ideal way to make you stand out from the crowd.
Give yourself a head start now.
Find out more about Foundation Apprenticeships at bit.ly/WhychooseFA or get in touch with info@dyw.org.uk to find out more.
*Foundation Apprenticeships Progress Report 2021 published by Skills Development Scotland.
