The Youth Contract Department for Work and Pensions

Topics to be covered: Work Experience Sector based work academy Traineeships Apprenticeships

Work Experience Placements are voluntary and are primarily aimed at young jobseekers aged between Designed to provide meaningful work experience and a reference to be added to their CV. Placements last between 2-8 weeks and can be up to 30 hours a week. Travel expenses and clothing expenses are paid for by the Jobcentre.

Work Experience Cont.… A variety of work experience placements are on offer from Retail, Joinery to Administration. We currently work with many companies in Lincoln including HMRC, Lincolnshire County Council, Spar, Timber Stair Manufacturers, Asda and many more. experience-placements-in- lincolnshire/ article experience-placements-in- lincolnshire/ article DWP also offer their own work experience programme.

Work Experience Statistics Lincoln Jobcentre have placed 380 young people on work experience placements in the last 10 months. 35% Of these have already found paid employment. Many of these have found employment with their work experience employer even though no job was on offer at the beginning of the placement.

Sector based work academy (sbwa) sbwa combine sector-based training with a work experience placement and a guaranteed job interview. Flexible model which can be designed to suit one or a group of employers’ needs but should be for a maximum of 6 weeks for all 3 elements to be completed. They are designed to support JSA and ESA (WRAG) customers. Some exceptions depending on funding available.

Sbwa cont In Lincoln sbwa have been run in a variety of sectors including security, retail, construction, care and horticulture. Lincoln Jobcentre have placed 177 jobseekers on sbwa in the past 10 months.

Traineeships A Traineeship is non mandatory and aimed at year olds who have qualifications up to and including a full Level 2 (equivalent to 5 GCSEs, level A-C) for year olds, or below a full level 3 (A Level) for year olds; and have little or no work history. Traineeships are study based programmes combined with work placements, which give young people the opportunity to develop workplace skills and experience.

Traineeships Cont… Traineeships are for approx 30 hours a week. Can last from 6 weeks and up to 6 months. They are designed to: Improve job prospects, Improve literacy and numeracy, where appropriate, offer real life work experience, strengthen their CV, and provide employers the opportunity to observe trainees. Traineeships often lead onto apprenticeships. Lincoln have worked with Barclays and also BT to offer traineeships.

Apprenticeships Apprenticeships combine practical training in a job with study. They provide job specific skills and experience, qualifications whilst earning a wage. You can apply for an apprenticeship whilst still being at school. However to start an apprenticeship the person must be 16 or over, and not in full time education. There are varying levels of apprenticeships; Intermediate - equivalent to 5 GCSE passes, Advanced - equivalent to 2 A level passes and Higher - can lead to NVQ Level 4 and above, or a foundation degree.

DWP Apprenticeships The DWP Apprenticeship Programme offers a 12 months’ temporary contract to year olds who are registered unemployed and are lacking in qualifications and with little or no work history who find this lack of experience a barrier to finding work. During this time as well as gaining experience of working within the DWP the apprentices will be working towards an accredited apprenticeship qualification in Functional Skills and an NVQ level 2. Lincoln Contact Centre employed 10 apprenticeships in July 2014.