Apprenticeships360: Integrating employer and training needs

Apprenticeships are a crucial pathway into skilled employment, but the current system is fragmented and difficult to navigate. In Northern Ireland’s housing and construction sectors, employers struggle to align apprenticeship qualifications with business needs, find suitable training providers, and manage the administrative load of recruitment, tracking, and retention. Apprentices, meanwhile, face a lack of accessible, up-to-date information on local courses and providers aligned with their career goals, contributing to low retention and completion rates. These challenges are especially acute in construction, where strict regulatory and safety standards mean employers must ensure apprentices meet a wide range of compliance requirements. With over 240,000 apprentices needed in the UK over the next decade, streamlining this system is essential to building a skilled, resilient workforce.

This project will develop a centralised digital platform to simplify and connect the apprenticeship journey for employers, training providers, and apprentices. The platform will reduce administrative burdens, provide real-time information, and support better alignment between training and business needs, particularly in areas such as digital skills, building safety, compliance, and green construction.

For employers, it will simplify partnerships between providers and apprentices, offer tools to track skills, and integrate micro-credentials and open badging to support flexible, lifelong learning. For apprentices, it will provide clear, tailored information on courses and career pathways—helping them make informed choices and improving retention. The platform will be especially impactful in sectors like construction, where regulatory demands are high and small firms need greater support.