Fenland trainee hopes 'everyone' wins from £725m apprenticeship pledge
Almost four per cent of 16 to 17-year-olds in the county aren't in education, work or training
A teenage apprentice in the Fens hopes more young people don't fall through the cracks and follow in his footsteps.
Last year, 3.9% of 16-17-year-olds living in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough were identified as not being in education, employment or training (NEET), above the national average.
It comes as the Government wants to create 50,000 new apprenticeships for young people in the next three years.
"Everyone should be given an opportunity and if there aren't enough places, more should be created for those people without education," 16-year-old apprentice Ollie Newman said.
Apprentice life is 'amazing' for Ollie
Ollie has become the 500th apprentice to come out of the North Cambridgeshire Training Centre (NCTC) in Chatteris since it opened in 2023.
The centre - run by the Eastern Education Group - aims to support people of all ages learn new skills that local employers need.
Ollie works as a trainee machine technician at Stainless Metalcraft in Chatteris, and first became interested in engineering in year nine at secondary school at a careers fair.
"It's (being an apprentice) amazing; I can't even put it into words," he said.
"I think it (more places) will have a good impact on younger people; it gives them more hands-on experience in many different areas, just having that experience will improve people's knowledge more.
"You go to college to get the knowledge, but not every day repeating that; it's good to have a day of learning the machine, getting hands-on experience, knowing what you're going to do."
What is being done to help young people into work?
The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority is setting up an initiative to help create more ways for 16 to 21-year-olds to get into work.
These include:
• Zero-Cost Internships: 18–21-year-olds can access fully funded six-week internships. This aims to remove the cost barrier for employers, creating more short-term placements for young people to gain experience.
• More Apprenticeships: The local support grant has been doubled to £4,000 to create more apprenticeship opportunities for 16 to 18-year-olds. This funding is designed to encourage more local employers to create training roles, giving school leavers a direct route into skilled employment.
This comes after funding for the youth guarantee trailblazer scheme - a government-led initiative that targets 18 to 21-year-olds who are not in education, work or training - for the county was extended until April 2027.
As part of a £725m package of reforms, the government wants to pilot a university clearance-style system where applicants who don't secure their top choice apprenticeship can be matched with similar placements in their area.
The county's mayor Paul Bristow - who gave a speech at an apprenticeship event at the NCTC yesterday - is keen to get more young people into "good jobs.
"As the Combined Authority, we need to be going out to these employers, showing what has worked already and sharing the vision, and if we can get these people to do that, that would be fantastic," he said.
"Traditionally, the conveyor belt of employment was always going into a career straight out of school; things are much more challenging now, so it's about trying to find innovative ways to get young people the skills that they need."