National Apprenticeship Week 2026: why apprenticeships matter
As it’s National Apprenticeship Week from February 9th to 15th 2026, I wanted to share my own experience of working with apprenticeships, in particular the value they can bring to organisations.
Having worked in organisations where I was involved in the recruitment, onboarding and mentoring of apprentices, a career highlight for me has been watching their growth and development into their roles. Years on, seeing LinkedIn posts from former apprentices on how their careers have flourished has provided a real sense of satisfaction.
But personal satisfaction is not the only benefit for organisations. By combining on-the-job training in the workplace with external training at a college for a nationally recognised qualification, organisations benefit from a structured career route for their staff along with the development of both practical skills and theoretical knowledge.
The last few years have seen vast developments in the structure of apprenticeships and they now cover a huge range of occupations and sectors such as animal care, digital technology, legal, childcare, accounting, cyber security and science. This means many more organisations can consider whether an apprenticeship offers them another route to bring talent into the workplace.
Building on this, the theme for this year’s National Apprenticeship Week is “Skills for Life” which focuses on how apprenticeships provide opportunities for broader, lifelong skills, and are not just aimed at building career-specific abilities.
Apprenticeships can also play a role in breaking down barriers and encouraging diversity. For example, women remain underrepresented in many technical roles such as maintenance and engineering. Encouraging underrepresented groups to explore technical career paths through apprenticeships can increase the pipeline and improve diversity in this field. Apprenticeships can also provide accessible opportunities for individuals who may not follow traditional academic routes, allowing them to explore their potential, reducing unemployment rates and fostering social mobility.
Many employers are already acknowledging these benefits. In a recent CIPD study, 80% of employers felt that hiring apprentices had benefited them in improving future skills in their business. In the same study, 70% of employers running apprenticeships had seen improvements in the goods and services they offered, identifying that apprentices can help foster innovation by bringing in new ideas and ways of working, which in turn can also improve economic resilience. The government has also seen the opportunity for apprenticeships to increase national productivity and has been promoting them over recent years. For many, apprenticeships are seen as an effective way to close skills gaps that align to organisational needs, which enable businesses to improve their organisational efficiency and productivity.
