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Angus school pupils, teachers, firms, career advisors and college staff focussed on the apprenticeship family while discovering local training, job and enterprise opportunities in the ‘It’s Your Future!’ Angus Careers Fair at the Carnoustie Golf Hotel.

This year the annual event, organised by University of Dundee, DYW Dundee, Angus and Dundee And Angus College, Angus Council and Skills Development Scotland, saw around 450 S4-S6 pupils from the county’s eight secondary schools join more than 30 businesses in hearing about the opportunities available over the two days of the event on Wednesday and Thursday [Nov 21 and 22].

Foundation Apprenticeships (FAs) are new national qualifications for secondary school pupils, at the same level as a Higher, which combine hands-on learning and an extended work placement with a local employer. Pupils gain skills employers need and an insight into a potential future career.

The Modern Apprenticeship (MA) programme combines paid employment with work-based training and leads to industry recognised vocational qualifications. Aimed principally at 16 to 24-year-olds, this allows young people the chance to earn while they learn.

Developed by Skills Development Scotland, with support from the European Social Fund, Graduate Apprenticeships (GAs) are a new type of degree combining work-based learning and high-quality education. Businesses can hire a new member of staff as a GA or sponsor an existing employee.

The University of Dundee offers Graduate Apprenticeships in IT Management for Business, IT Software Development, Engineering Design and Manufacture, Civil Engineering and Business Management.

The careers fair over the two days offered a total of 29 stalls, which pupils toured, with S5 and S6 pupils gaining a stamp on a card for each visited towards a chance of a prize. It also included a training session for teachers and guidance staff giving an insight into the ‘apprenticeship family’.

The second day of the event began with a Business Breakfast to give companies information on how taking on an apprentice can benefit their business. The breakfast event, chaired by Simon Hewitt, Vice Principal of Dundee and Angus College, heard from apprenticeship providers as well as apprentices and concluded with a challenge for Angus employers to create 100 apprenticeships in 100 days.