Edinburgh Napier has pledged its support for Scottish Apprenticeship Week 2022, underlining the value of apprenticeships to the country's people, business and economy.

Employers also spoke of the benefits of our Graduate Apprenticeships initiative, which produced its first graduates from the University last October.

Graduate Apprenticeships (GA) offer high quality work-based learning to strengthen the skills people and businesses need. Available to businesses of any size in Scotland, they provide a route for new and existing staff to get a fully funded university degree while in a paid job. There is no maximum age limit and learning costs are funded by Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) for the full duration of the course.

Last autumn saw Edinburgh Napier's first intake complete their degrees four years after the University began offering Graduate Apprenticeships. Twenty-nine students graduated from the School of Computing under the scheme, with their degrees including BSc (Hons) IT Management for Business, BSc (Hons) Software Development and BEng (Hons) Cyber Security.

This year's #ScotAppWeek22 (March 7 – 11) theme is Apprenticeships Work, with the aim of highlighting how apprenticeships are providing the skills employers need now and for the future.

Developed in partnership with employers, apprenticeships continue to adapt to respond to industry needs.

Scottish Apprenticeships work by providing thousands of opportunities to get a job, get paid and get qualified across Scotland every year. Benefits of Graduate Apprenticeships to business include:

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• Business can attract new, emerging talent through cost-effective recruitment

• Professional development opportunities for talented and motivated existing employees

• No learning costs to the employer or the apprentice

• Improved staff productivity, morale and retention

• Apprentices bring new ideas by applying their learning in the workplace

• Graduate Apprentices learn from leading academics and industry experts

• An excellent way for Apprenticeship Levy paying businesses to recover their investment

On the benefits Graduate Apprenticeships bring to business, Terence Mallon, Project Manager at civil engineers Roadbridge and former Edinburgh Napier student, said: "There is a major skills shortage within construction, particularly in project delivery. Through work-based learning, apprentices know what they are heading into after graduation. They realise the risks and rewards, having been nurtured in the workplace for four years, and therefore develop the knowledge and core skills to cope with the demands of project delivery."

Edinburgh Napier is one of Scotland's leading learning providers of Graduate Apprenticeships. Our #ApprenticeshipsWork by giving our students the skills employers need now and for the future.

Graduate Apprenticeships are offered across a range of subjects in the School of Computing, Business School and School of Engineering and the Built Environment. When our School of Computing cohort graduated last October, they picked up honours degrees at the Usher Hall, but by then they had also amassed up to four years' work experience, developing skills and knowledge that are essential to their job role.

Professor Sally Smith, Head of Graduate Apprenticeships at Edinburgh Napier, said: "We wholeheartedly agree that #ApprenticeshipsWork so are committed to offering Graduate Apprenticeship places for 2022. Our graduates show how effective they are both for employers with a need for new skills and for individual apprentices.

"More than ever, apprenticeships will prove crucial to Scotland's economic recovery. Our apprenticeships appeal to school and college leavers including Foundation Apprentices, Modern Apprentices and existing employees. With our apprentices putting their skills to use immediately, both they and their employers benefit from day one."

Scottish Apprenticeship Week is a time to show that Graduate Apprenticeships provide opportunities that work for everyone. From 7-11 March Edinburgh Napier University is supporting #ScotAppWeek22 to demonstrate that #ApprenticeshipsWork by supporting learners, employers and Scotland's economic renewal.

For more information on Graduate Apprenticeships at Edinburgh Napier University, visitwww.napier.ac.uk/apprenticeships or email [email protected]. Share your stories and get involved in #ScotAppWeek22 by visiting apprenticeships.scot/scotappweek.