National Apprenticeship Week 2021 will take place from 8 to 14 February 2021. The annual week-long celebration of apprenticeships, taking place across England, will showcase how apprenticeships have helped employers and people of all ages and backgrounds. This year, Activate Apprenticeships will be running a virtual Careers and Apprenticeship Fair across all of our Activate Learning campuses. Open to both students, their parents and employers from across the regions, the scope of the event is wide-reaching. We want you to join us to share in this success, so sign up now for a packed schedule of both pre-recorded content and live Q&A sessions, designed to inform and deliver.

The schedule for the live events are as follows:

• Monday 8th February: 2-3pm - Hair and Beauty Apprenticeships (with Q&A)

Join Tracy Allen, a lecturer for Activate Apprenticeships, who will talk about all things Hair and Beauty. Tracy will cover apprenticeships in general and will go into detail on the elements that are included in Hair and Beauty apprenticeships.

• Monday 8th February: 4-5pm - Apprenticeships for Small and Medium Companies with Richard Cawthorne, business owner (with Q&A)

Richard joined a building firm in Windsor just after turning 18, where he started a 3 year apprenticeship. After 8 years working with a building company, he left and became self employed setting up his own construction business. Richard will share his journey with us and why apprenticeships are a good business tool for him.

• Tuesday 9th February: 2-3pm - Apprenticeship overview with Activate Apprenticeship's Business and Teaching Delivery Lead Lorraine Levy (with Q&A)

In this session, Lorraine will give an overview of Activate Apprenticeships and the various apprenticeships that are offered. She will cover how apprenticeships work, including likely salaries, types of industries and how companies recruit apprentices.

• Tuesday 9th February: 4-5pm - Apprenticeships for Employers with Helen Bartlett, Managing Director OSA Systems Ltd (with Q&A)

In this presentation, Helen will discuss how apprenticeships have been extremely beneficial to the company and her experience of taking on new apprenticeship talent. She will be accompanied by one of the company's apprentices who will give insight into their experience as an apprentice to date.

• Wednesday 10th February: 11am-12pm - Developing leadership capability utilising apprenticeships for your existing workforce with Mike Craig, Head of Key Accounts for Activate Apprenticeships (with Q&A)

Join Mike who will be presenting the value of implementing apprenticeships to develop existing employees, and focusing on how to strengthen leadership capability within client organisations.

• Wednesday 10th February: 4-5pm - Activate Apprenticeship's Apprentice of the Month Fae Thompson and their employer the UK Atomic Energy Authority (with Q&A)

Fae Thompson, Apprentice of the Month for July 2020, will talk through their experiences as an apprentice and why they chose this route. Fae's employer will also be joining the session and give an overview of how the programme works, what apprentices will experience within the world of work and where it may take them.

• Thursday 11th February: 11am-12pm - AW Cycles: Cycles Podcast, with Rob Bowen, Owner of AW Cycles and Chris Kearney, Head of Communications at Activate Learning

Our cycles apprenticeships are growing in popularity with both learners and employers. Join Rob and Chris as they discuss the benefits of apprenticeships and will discuss why the programme is growing in numbers and where the industry is heading in the future.