School pupils, parents and teachers from the Stirling area attended a Foundation Apprenticeship (FA) Open Day at Forth Valley College’s Stirling Campus recently.
FVC staff members from each teaching department offering FAs were on hand to give advice and information on how to apply on Thursday 1 February from 4-6pm.
These innovative programmes, being offered in partnership with Falkirk, Stirling and Clackmannanshire schools, will link senior school pupils with local employers and aims to help them to build their future careers. Upon completion of a Foundation Apprenticeship pupils can progress onto a Modern Apprenticeship, college study or a university degree.
In academic year 2018-2019, Foundation Apprenticeships will be available in Social Services and Healthcare; Social Services Children and Young People; Business Skills; IT Hardware System Support ; Engineering; Accountancy; Civil Engineering; Creative and Digital Media; Food and Drink Operations; and Scientific Technologies (Laboratory Skills). All are due to start in August 2018 and applications will go live for the FA courses in January 2018.
Foundation Apprenticeships have been developed by SDS in partnership with employers, colleges and Sector Skills Councils to create stronger links between education and industry.
They combine academic learning with hands-on skills to develop the knowledge, skills and work experience that will help to broaden options for students, enabling them to go on to complete a Modern Apprenticeship, attend college or university or go directly into employment.
The innovative frameworks, which are at the same level as Higher qualifications, are based on the success of existing MA qualifications. Pupils will embark on the programmes in S5 with the duration varying depending on the subject area. Pupils will spend time undertaking learning at college and also benefit from high quality work experience with local employers.
For more information on Foundation Apprenticeships at FVC and the application process, please contact schools.co-ordinator@forthvalley.ac.uk , call 01324 403211 or visit www.forthvalley.ac.uk/FA