Widening Participation in Apprenticeships in the North West

Funded by LSC North West

NWPN is undertaking a project to support work based learning providers in the North West region to widen participation in Apprenticeships. The project, funded by LSC North West, specifically explores the barriers for black and ethnic minorities (BME) and learners with learning difficulties or disabilities (LLDD) entering and/or successfully completing apprenticeship programmes in the North West region.

The project is being conducted by Intraining NTP and will begin with research across the region into factors affecting BME and LLDD learners in Apprenticeships, focussing on access, support and retention. From this extensive research, the project will engage providers and stakeholders from across the region to further explore its findings, through peer learning groups, to develop innovative, practical solutions for WBL providers to widen participation on Apprenticeships.

The findings and outcomes of the project will be developed for, and shared with the NWPN WBL providers through a range of dissemination activities. These will include a regional equality and diversity conference in April 2009, project reports, guidance materials and case studies accessed through the NWPN website.