Up to 1125 new Apprenticeship places will be created to train 16-24 year olds for a career in the creative and cultural industries.

Apprenticeships Minister, Kevin Brennan, announced on Wednesday that the National Skills Academy for Creative & Cultural Skills (NSA) has secured funding to run an Apprenticeship Service, which will be available from April 2010.

Pauline Tambling, Managing Director of the NSA said, “We have been successful in securing funding for these Apprenticeships thanks to the support and delivery network of our nineteen Founder Colleges and the commitment of our industry in supporting new opportunities for non graduate entry. We will provide relevant training, experience and progression opportunities.”

As a Founder College of The National Skills Academy for Creative & Cultural Skills, Stratford-upon-Avon College is part of this network of industry specialists in theatre, opera, live music events, festivals, further education colleges and training providers which is working together to develop and improve skills within the industry. As such, Stratford-upon-Avon College is committed to providing further education and creative career choices to the next generation of skilled workers in offstage theatre and live music.

The new Apprenticeship programme will also help tackle the predicted skills crisis in the creative and cultural sectors, for example, Creative & Cultural Skills has estimated that by 2017 the theatre and live events industry will face a 30,000 skills shortage in offstage and backstage staff alone. This scheme also makes it easier for small businesses in the sector to take on an Apprentice. As well as theatre and Live music this scheme will also cover, craft, cultural heritage, design, literature, music, performing and visual arts.

Edward Pinner, Creative and Cultural Partnership Manager said, “Stratford-upon-Avon College has been successfully delivering apprenticeships for a number of years across a range of vocational areas. We are delighted to be offering the new creative apprenticeships. We are currently working closely with the Birmingham Hippodrome and their front of house staff and are looking to work with other employers in the Creative and Cultural sector. The announcement this week opens up many opportunities for young people in our region to develop their skills whilst in employment.”  

The new creative apprenticeships have been successfully designed to meet the skills and future workforce development needs of the creative and cultural sectors. They offer a new and alternative route in to these industries. Unlike other apprenticeships the vocational qualification within the Creative Apprenticeship is not a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ), it is a new vocational qualification called a National Award. This is a vocational qualification achieved via assessment on the job.

For more information on the creative apprenticeships available at the college, please contact marketing@stratford.ac.uk|.