IChemE welcomes UK government investment in apprenticeships
21st March 2024
IChemE welcomes the investment in apprenticeships set out earlier this week by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
The government’s announcement outlined a package of reforms aimed at supporting businesses to deliver up to 20,000 more apprenticeship places, accompanied by £60 million of additional funding for next year.
IChemE Director of Member Experience and Professional Learning, Rachel Bibby, said: “It is critical that the UK government invests now in the development of engineering expertise to ensure that our future workforce is properly equipped with the knowledge and skills they will need to meet global challenges.
“Our profession will be central to fulfilling net zero ambitions and engineering a sustainable world, and we need talented people from all backgrounds to have equitable access to chemical and process engineering careers to meet these ambitions.
“Apprenticeships are a key route for creating the next generation of engineering talent and upskilling and reskilling our existing workforce, supporting the development of the essential skills that our manufacturing sectors need, reinforced with real-life industry experience.”
These measures to support businesses to deliver more apprenticeship places are welcomed by IChemE, who are calling for prioritisation of chemical and process engineering education and training at all levels, with significant expansions in technical and apprenticeship, undergraduate, post-graduate and post-doctoral routes. The Institution are also calling for reinstatement of ‘National Engineering Scholarships’, designed to encourage and enable young people from currently under-represented groups to engage with an engineering career.
Image
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak delivered the announcement at a Business Connect event at the Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry, Warwickshire, where he was accompanied by the MP for Rugby, Mark Pawsey, as he met apprentices.
Picture by Simon Walker / No 10 Downing Street
Contact
For more information please contact:
Ann Baylis, Communications Executive and PR Lead, IChemE
t: +44 (0) 1788 534477
e: abaylis@icheme.org
Dan Owens, Communications Executive, IChemE
t: +44 (0) 1788 534458
e: dowens@icheme.org
What is chemical engineering?
Chemical, biochemical and process engineering is the application of science, mathematics and economics in the process of turning raw materials into everyday, and more specialist, products. Professional chemical engineers design, construct and manage process operations all over the world. Energy, pharmaceuticals, food and drink, synthetic fibres and clean drinking water are just some of the industry sectors and products where chemical engineering plays a central role.
IChemE
The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) advances chemical engineering's contribution for the benefit of society. We facilitate the development of chemical engineering professionals and provide connections to a powerful network of around 30,000 members in more than 100 countries.
We support our members in applying their expertise and experience to make an influential contribution to solving major global challenges, and are the only organisation permitted to award Chartered Chemical Engineer status and Professional Process Safety Engineer registration.