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4What we do
To begin with an Essential Skills in the Workplace Development Manager will meet with you and your employer to carry out an initial skills assessment.
Once we identify your needs you will be allocated your own dedicated Essential Skills Coach who will visit you in your workplace once a month to develop your skills on the job, ensuring the training is based on the precise skills you need to develop in your job role.
Green Dragon Environmental Award
We have been successfully re accredited with the Green Dragon Level 2 environmental award. This is down to our consistent performance in reducing our environmental impact as a company.
Green Dragon is a stepped Standard recognising effective environmental management. The Standard offers an environmental management system relevant to the specific needs of companies and organisations and rewards actions taken to achieve environmental improvements.
Thanks to those of you who have worked hard to help us achieve this.
Please keep on
Reducing, Reusing & Recycling!
It's all about supporting our local community
On Sunday 7th July t2 group entered two teams into the Portishead Raft Race. Wales Apprenticeship Team (in red) and England Apprenticeship Team (in blue).
The sun was shining down on this year’s annual raft race as teams made a mad dash across the water to be first past the finishing line. Our teams took to the water to race their way across the lake, round the island and back the shore, watched by a crowd of several thousand.
This year’s raft race attracted 31 entries, with rafts crafted by local school children, businesses and community groups.
The raft race is great fun and the whole community looks forward to it. t2 group are very supportive of any local community event and have helped raise money for numerous charities.
Group Sales Manager, Mike West commented “The raft race is a great way of raising funds for the Portishead Lifeboat and various other local charities and community groups”.
t2 group adult learner wins NIACE Cardiff Learners Award
t2 group are delighted to announce the success of one of their adult learners, Roger Lewis, who won a Learning in the Workplace award as part of Niace Cardiff Adult Learners’ Awards.
NIACE is an independent, membership-based charity which promotes adult learning across England and Wales. Through its research, development, publications, events, outreach and advocacy activity, NIACE works to improve the quality and breadth of opportunities available for all adults so they can benefit from learning throughout their lives.
The ceremony took place on 4th June in The Gate, Cardiff with a total of 12 awards being presented on the evening.
The winner of the Cardiff Learners Award, Roger Lewis, has been taking part in an Essential Skills programme through the t2 group. As the Managing Director of R. Lewis & Co, he recognised the necessity of up-skilling himself and the staff within his organisation in order to meet the growing needs of the business. Roger is passionate about working with young people, youth unemployment, apprenticeship opportunities and giving something back to the Cardiff Community. This was primarily why Roger was nominated for the award.
Roger nominated his management team, Nicky McGrath and Craig Cleveland, for Essential Skills in the Workplace training. As a result both have successfully achieved numerous qualifications in ICT, Communication and Application of Number. t2 group also hope to facilitate further development of Roger’s leadership team through the delivery of Institute of Leadership and Management workshops tailored to the needs of the business.
t2 group holds the largest contract in Wales to deliver the Essential Skills in the Workplace qualifications which are fully-funded by Welsh Government. Essential Skills Wales qualifications were implemented in 2010 and aim to ensure that everyone in Wales has the skills they need to succeed in Literacy, Communication, Numeracy, and Information & Communication Technology. If you would like more information on Essential Skills in the Workplace and how they can benefit your company please contact t2 today.
The largest shake-up of GCSEs in a generation
With exams already an anxious time for pupils and parents, students sitting their GCSEs in England in 2017 will be the first to experience a new version of the exam after the Government confirmed its much-talked about plans to reform the system.
On 11th June Education Secretary Michael Gove announced an overhaul of GCSEs in England. From 2015, GCSEs will move from coursework to exams at the end of two years and will be graded from 8 to 1, rather than A* to G.
Wales and Northern Ireland are keeping GCSEs and are not adopting the changes proposed for England. The changes mean that in two years’ time, Wales, England, Northern Ireland and Scotland will all have diverse exam systems for 16-year-olds.
At the same time, England's exams regulator, Ofqual, published proposals to revamp the structure of GCSEs which will see coursework severely reduced in most subjects, and a brand new numerical grading system.
Key changes from autumn 2015 (England)
- Changes will initially be for nine core GCSE subjects
- Grading by numbers 8-1 rather than by the current letters A*-G
- No more modular courses, instead full exams taken at the end of two years
- Controlled assessments (coursework done under exam conditions) will be scrapped
- Exams to be based on an essay-based system
- Pass mark to be pushed higher
Initially the reforms will apply to a group of core subjects - English language and literature, maths, physics, chemistry, biology, combined science, history and geography.
“Simply making exams harder does not guarantee higher standards or mean that students will be prepared for a job” Brian Lightman, ASCL general secretary*
Students will begin studying these revised GCSEs from autumn 2015 and the first candidates to take the exams will be in summer 2017.
The new GCSEs will push for an essay-based exam system, similar to O-levels, taken by pupils until the late 1980s.
t2 are a leading training provider in Wales, South West, Midlands and the South East of England, offering a wide range of apprenticeships to people of all ages. t2 are one of only a small number of private training companies to have achieved the prestigious ‘Grade 1 – Outstanding Provider Status’ by Ofsted for the quality of our services.The training provider’s mission is to help businesses close the gap between their performance and potential through a wide range of funded recruitment, apprenticeships and training packages. For further information on apprenticeships contact t2 today.
*BBC news
Unique challenge to design new facebook app to help young people apply for apprenticeships is launched
Young budding creatives will be given the chance to design and develop a brand new app or game for the National Apprenticeship Service in a unique challenge launched today.
The challenge, which will culminate in a prototype Facebook app or game being launched in August, offers the chance for developers aged 16-24 to receive up to £13,000 of funding to turn their ideas into reality.
The ‘Can you hack it as an apprentice’ design challenge aims to help increase the number of young people starting Apprenticeships and respond to employers calling on young people to improve the quality of their Apprenticeship applications. As part of a wider campaign, the aim of the app or game is to raise awareness of Apprenticeships and help improve the quality of applications.
Rather than following a traditional route of appointing a creative agency to develop the new app, the National Apprenticeship Service will tap into the talent and creativity of young people to ensure the resulting design is developed by young people, for young people.
Individuals and teams who wish to submit an entry for the competition can do so by downloading the entry form and guidelines from www.apprenticeships.org.uk and submit their entry by 5pm on Friday 24th May.
A panel of judges from the creative industries will then select a shortlist of the five best ideas, with each developer receiving £3,000 to develop their design into a prototype beta version. Following testing, the most successful developer will then receive a further £10,000 to develop their app or game into a fully functioning product, which will be launched via the National Apprenticeship Service’s Facebook page in August.
David Way, Executive Director, National Apprenticeship Service said:
“We want to do more to help young people submit high quality applications for Apprenticeships and this project will support them to do that. I encourage any young person, or group of young people who are passionate about the digital world and helping young people to fulfil their potential, to submit an entry.”
Up to 17,000 quality Apprenticeship vacancies are available online at any one time at www.apprenticeships.org.uk, allowing young people to earn while they learn in a real job, gaining a real qualification and a real future.
Vote for your Learner and Employer of the year! The VQ Awards 2013 are now open to nominations!
VQ Day 2013
The VQ Awards 2013 are now open to nominations!
There are two awards: Learner of the Year, and, new for 2013, Employer of the Year.
The awards celebrate the exceptional achievements of vocational learners, past and present, from across the UK. Awards will be presented in Wales, Scotland, England, and Northern Ireland.
To nominate an outstanding learner, simply download the nomination form HERE
Let's make VQ Day a day to remember and celebrate vocational success together!
The deadline for submissions for both VQ Awards is 3 May 2013.
Diwrnod VQ 2013
Mae Gwobrau Cymwysterau Galwedigaethol Gwobrau VQ 2013 bellach ar agor i enwebiadau!
Mae dwy wobr: Dysgwr y Flwyddyn ac, yn newydd ar gyfer 2013, Cyflogwr y Flwyddyn.
Mae'r gwobrau yn dathlu cyraeddiadau eithriadol dysgwyr galwedigaethol, ddoe a heddiw, o bob cwr o'r DU. Caiff gwobrau eu cyflwyno yng
Nghymru, yr Alban, Lloegr a Gogledd Iwerddon.
I enwebu dysgwr rhagorol, lawrlwythwch y ffurflen enwebu YMA
Gwnewch yn siŵr bod Diwrnod VQ yn un i'w gofio a gadewch i ni ddathlu llwyddiant galwedigaethol gyda'n gilydd!
Y dyddiad cau ar gyfer cyflwyno enwebiadau ar gyfer y ddwy Wobr VQ yw 3 Mai 2013.
For more information visit the VQ Day website
High tuition fees boost apprenticeships applications with Business Administration being the most popular in 2012
In the wake of rising university fees apprenticeships are becoming increasingly popular with both students and recruiters. Universities have seen a downturn in applications and it seems that students are starting to look at options outside of the university route.
For recruiters, taking on people straight from school offers the chance to mould young people in the way of their business. For students, they offer a realistic alternative to what has become the usual next step. The chance to ‘earn while you learn’ has become more and more popular meaning that school leavers can get straight into paid employment.
The real sign that apprenticeships are gaining momentum and popularity is the sheer volume of applications and vacancies. New data shows there were almost 1,127,000 apprenticeship applications submitted and 106,510 vacancies advertised online in 2012.
The research also reveals that the most popular apprenticeship was in business and administration.
July was one of the most popular months to apply for an apprenticeship, generating 124,770 applications. Meanwhile, Thursday 16 August (A-level results day) was the most popular day to apply, with nearly 5,730 applications submitted.*
The research showed that overall there were more than 10 applications submitted online for every vacancy.
t2 have certainly seen a rise in both applicants for apprenticeships and employers offering the vacancies. This is giving us a wider audience to cater for and in turn helping us place many more individuals into apprenticeship schemes that are best suited to that individual.
We post all of our vacancies on the t2 apprenticeship facebook page so find us on Facebook to see if there is a vacancy for you! Alternatively, follow us on Twitter to find the latest vacancies.
*Statistical references – The Guardian