Next steps for skills and apprenticeships in Wales: Policy, support, post-pandemic recovery, access and inclusion, and meeting future skills needs
Morning, Monday, 4th April 2022
This timely conference looks at next steps for skills and apprenticeships in Wales. It comes with major policy announcements being made in the Programme for Government, including the launch of the Young Person’s Guarantee, which aims to support under 25-year-olds into education, training or work, and create 125,000 all-age apprenticeships in Wales – and with wider measures to drive economic recovery in the context of the pandemic.
Overall, areas for discussion include priorities for:
- implementation – practicalities and what is needed from policy to support pandemic recovery, regeneration and employment opportunities
- careers guidance – high quality tailored provision for young people and mature learners
- skills development – support, the future for initiatives such as the extended Apprenticeship Employer Incentive Scheme, and the role of degree apprenticeships
- inclusion – improving access to training and development, raising awareness, tackling inequalities and widening diversity
- flexible working – the impact of the growth of working from home, and prospects for the Welsh Government’s long-term aim for this to grow to 30% of the workforce
- the future economy – what more is needed from the skills and training system to ensure it is agile and can meet emerging skills needs
The conference will be an opportunity for stakeholders to consider the issues alongside key policy officials who are due to attend from the Welsh Government; Audit Wales; Cadw; the Welsh European Funding Office; Senedd Research; and the IPO.
