STEM growth and National Apprenticeship Week

There is, in some sectors, an awareness of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) skills shortage in the UK. So what is the nation doing to rectify the problem? As it’s National Apprenticeship Week, it’s only right to highlight the programme launched by the government to increase funding as part of a plan to encourage more people to gain the skills necessary to succeed in the STEM market.

STEM is arguably one of the most important focuses of our future economy. It enables us to compete with markets which are constantly changing and pushing the boundaries of discovery of new methods, engineering, pharmaceutical research, and more.

Encouraging young people to pursue a career in the STEM sector is all well and good but if the funding isn’t there, that encouragement doesn’t always get any further.

In a bid to increase STEM skills in the UK market, the Government introduced the Apprenticeship Levy and will pay 100% of apprenticeship training costs for employers with less than 50 employees. More deprived areas are set to be receiving more funding from a pool of more than £60 million.

Apprenticeships are a valued way of employing and training young people in roles which can set up them for life, often providing them with a permanent job at the end of the training programme. We hope to see a rise in STEM skills and a boost in the growth of the UK STEM market as a result of these changes, but it is likely to take a couple more years until we start to see the results.