New qualification to help close engineering skills gap
A pilot apprenticeship programme to help close the skills gap in Welsh engineering and advanced manufacturing has been launched.
The Higher Apprenticeship framework for Advanced Manufacturing at Level 4 (HAA) has been designed to provide the manufacturing and engineering sector in Wales with high grade technicians and engineers who have practical skills, combined with a higher education qualification.
Semta, the sector skills council for science, engineering and manufacturing, has secured a contract to work with employers to provide 70 technicians and engineers with new skills through the HAA. The manufacturing sector in Wales employs approximately 133,000 people across nearly 6,000 establishments.
The HAA has been developed because there are around 400 vacancies per year with employers reporting a quarter of these being hard to fill as applicants did not have the required technical and practical skills.
