Students from three schools in Nottingham are gaining experience in the automotive industry, thanks to a young apprenticeship scheme supported by the LEA, the Local Learning & Skills Council and Toyota. The 33 students include children from Westbury Special School, which caters for children with behavioural difficulties. In the 1st year students spend one day a week at a workshop run by an industry training provider. Here they take part in lectures and practical tasks, working on cars supplied by Toyota. In the second year they spend one day a week at a local automotive business. The 2 year programme aims to provide students with the theoretical and practical skills required to join the industry on leaving school. While the students gain invaluable experience of the world of work and progress towards an engineering technical certificate, employers are able to recruit talented newcomers to an industry facing a chronic skills shortage.

Video Series: Vocation, Vocation, Vocation
Release Date 2005