Subsidy available to help businesses support young people in Newcastle area
Employers from the Newcastle area are being given the opportunity to discover the positive aspects of recruiting apprentices whilst developing the infrastructure of their business. Employers that may be considering recruitment but have been discouraged by the economic downturn read on!
Newcastle City Learning has been awarded a grant from Newcastle City Council to support the salary of new apprentices to help reduce the number of 16-18 year olds not in employment, training or education (NEET).
Newcastle City Learning (NCL), part of Newcastle Council, offer Apprenticeships at Intermediate, Advanced and Higher levels, across a wide range of specialist areas. NCL has successfully worked with a number of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and large organisations to recruit and develop apprentices to diversif the workforce, develop their business and help them grow.
Although Newcastle City Learning specialises in Customer Service, Business Administration, Team Leading, Management, Retail, Contact Centre Operation and Supporting Teaching and Learning in Schools, Apprenticeship opportunities are available in a wide range of vocations/careers. If we do not offer the apprenticeship appropriate to the vacancy we will source another training provider.
Employers would be expected to make a contribution to the salary costs of the apprentice but this will be in negotiation with Newcastle City Council to see what is needed. The national minimum wage for an apprentice is £2.60 per hour. This equates to just over £5,000 a year if the apprentice works 37 hours per week. Many employers pay more.
The subsidy can be used to pay towards the minimum wage or can be used as an addition to increase the wage to a higher rate.
The business must be in a position to start the apprentice as soon as possible and have a mentor in place to assist with the training needs. Recruitment of an apprentice is with the assumption that the position will result in a permanent role within the company but we understand this may not always be possible.
Assistance will be offered to the employer in shortlisting and selecting young people for the apprenticeships.
For further information please call Elaine Withycombe or Dan Gibson on 0191 298 6966 or email elaine.withycombe@newcastle.gov.uk
Our new brochure is now available. (pdf, 3.4 mb)
Issue 7 of the newsletter is now available (pdf, 62.87kb)
Gosforth Community Education now have a new telephone number. It is 0191 285 1000 (choose option 2, then option 1).
Our 2011/12 learner handbook is now available (pdf, 821kb)
You will need Adobe Acrobat reader to open this document - http://get.adobe.com/uk/reader/
New guidance has been issued by the Skills Funding Agency around who can get fee remission in the 2011/2012 academic year. This means that some learners will not have to pay a course fee for their adult education course. Previously learners had to be on the ESA (Employment and Support Allowance) and JSA (Job Seekers Allowance) benefits to claim fee remission for our blue banded courses (courses funded under the Single Budget funding stream that lead to qualifications).
Changes in the guidance now mean:
The Agency recognises that there are unemployed individuals who are in receipt of a state benefit (other than JSA or ESA) who want to enter employment and need skills training to do so. For 2011/12, at the discretion of the provider, they will be eligible for full funding for units and other learning aims that will help them enter employment.
This means that certain courses that were offered in our September brochure are NOW fundable for those on other benefits other than JSA or ESA. So if you are unemployed and in receipt of one of the following benefits you can now get fee remission on the blue banded courses provided the learner signs a declaration which is incorporated in the enrolment process:
• Council Tax Benefit
• Housing Benefit
• Income Support
• Contribution based ESA
The types of courses that you can do would include:
Digital Photography
All beauty courses
All Education and Training courses
Higher Education Foundation courses
ICT courses (except for Internet and Social Networking)
Each case will be judged on an individual basis, therefore if a learner wishes to do a language course or a cookery course to aid their return to work and holds one of the above benefits, then we may consider this to be eligible.
Please contact us for more information or advice. Our freephone number is 0800 073 0911 or call one of our main centres:
West Gate College (0191 298 6960)
Gosforth Academy (0191 255 9101)
Heaton Centre (0191 278 2818)
View Newcastle City Learning's mission, vision and values (pdf, 41.7 Kb)
View our course information sheets.
New Family Learning activity programme (pdf, 37.2 kb)
Almost 5,600 learners took part in our annual satisfaction survey in 2009/10. We asked them about various aspects of their learning experience.
Without doubt this was the most organised, well paced course i have ever attended. The tutor is outstanding"
"I thoroughly enjoyed the course. My tutor couldn't have been better"
"I have been given support with reading, writing and mobility"
"Excellent, well run, a great deal of encouragement given"
"I have now been offered a job in learner support, and plan to return to study a PTTLS course"
"I have a visual impairment and I required all my worksheets to be enlarged. This was done every week"
Page last updated: 11 May, 2012
