The first coming
together of employers interested in setting up apprenticeship schemes for the
landscape profession has taken place.
Eighteen employers
attended, with the group covering both small and large private practices along
with representatives from public bodies.
The group shared a
common interest, seeing apprenticeships as a fantastic opportunity to shape
education routes to develop new talent, improve diversity and accessibility to
the profession, and use Levy funding or obtain funding for training – a key
initiative to support the skills shortage within the profession.
The meeting was led
by Poppy Smith, Future Talent Manager at the Landscape Institute (LI) along
with Christina Hirst, an apprenticeship consultant hired by the Landscape
Institute to support the apprenticeship process.
Through discussions,
the group saw great potential in creating apprenticeship routes at both a lower
level (equivalent to A-level) and at a degree level, this structure seen to
both recognise those in lower level roles and also to create an education journey
through landscape apprenticeships. Options on how to include the broad
landscape profession roles was also discussed where the group saw the
importance of catering for this diversity.
The employer group
who met can be seen as the beginnings of a trailblazer. As set out by
government, new apprenticeship routes must be made by a trailblazer group who
works with education providers to design new apprenticeship standards for
occupations within their sector.
The next step is for
the organisations to formally sign up for the trailblazer group, where we need
a minimum of 10 employers – two with less than 50 employees. The LI is
currently collating expressions of interest from organisations.
"When the
formal Trailblazer employer group has been formed, the members will look to
write an expression of interest that will be submitted to government by early
next year," said Poppy Smith. "Timings depend on energy from the
profession as well as government processes.
"The creation
of a new apprenticeship route can only happen with the whole profession behind
it. It will take time, work and resources – but if we get it right, the value
added to the profession could be substantially more."
