THE Finning UK Apprenticeship Academy has achieved a ‘good’ Ofsted rating following a recent inspection.
The cat dealer launched the facility at its Cannock UK base in 2007, saying this was an ‘unusual’ step at the time, as most businesses take on apprentices in the role of employer, while an educational institution delivers the academic learning and administers the qualification.
Feedback from the Ofsted inspection was described as ‘highly positive’ thanks to the ‘state-of-the-art’ learning environment, a culture of inclusivity, and the enjoyment apprentices find in their courses. Inspectors also noted how effective communication between instructors and line managers helped apprentices to improve, and how students with additional needs achieved as well as their peers.
Academy manager Craig Smallman said, “By keeping the whole apprenticeship programme in-house, we can deliver academic learning in the best way to prepare our students for a career with us – enthusing people about engineering and addressing the ongoing skills shortages the industry faces.
“The results from Ofsted speak for themselves. The national retention figure for apprenticeship employers is around 56%, but at Finning we’ve retained all but one of our apprentices over the last two years who have gone on to secure a job with us. It’s a fantastic endorsement of the talented people we have working here and the focus we place on supporting them.”
Academy graduates now fulfil a variety of management positions in both engineering and non-engineering roles. This includes Craig, who himself started his career with Finning as an apprentice, and is particularly proud of how the scheme has fostered wider diversity and inclusion.
He added, “Diversity and inclusion is an area where we see a real opportunity for the academy to contribute to the wider organisation and the industry. We have measures in place to recruit and support a diverse cohort and it was great to see that recognised in the Ofsted report.
“Over the next few years, we plan to double in size and this year’s intake will be the biggest ever. The ages of our current students range from 16 to 53. We are a disability-confident employer. One in six of our apprentices are female and we would like it to be more. Finning is an amazing place to work with opportunities to travel all over the world and work with great people.
“We have sites right across the UK and Ireland so whoever and wherever you are, if you would like to work with these amazing machines, we would love to hear from you.”
