Surge in number of engineering apprentices

All areas of England have seen a rise in new apprentices in the past two years with the West Midlands (227%), East Midlands (174%), North East (133%) and Yorkshire & Humber (109%) at the top of the league. The latest figures released by Semta, the sector skills council for science, engineering and advanced manufacturing, show most of the new starts have been at intermediate level (142%), with a smaller rise (23%) in the number of advanced and higher level apprentices. Semta chief executive Sarah Sillars said that while the figures showed the ambition was on track, there was no room for complacency. She continued: "To have 31,070 new starters in the sector in 2011/12, compared to 22,300 in 2010/11, and 16,760 in 2009/10 shows how much excellent work has been going on to meet the skills challenge by both organisations. "But we shouldn't rest on our laurels. Engineering and manufacturing still has an image problem – we need more teachers and parents to understand apprenticeships will benefit their children and not somebody else's."