The UK Government is set to provide young people with a faster route into high-quality jobs with a reformation of apprenticeships.
The focus will be on updating training and the development of new courses that could be completed in as little as three months.
The decision comes as part of the Government’s Growth and Skills Levy, which aims to get two-thirds of young people into higher-level learning or apprenticeships. The Levy is backed by £725 million in funding and aims to deliver 50,000 more apprenticeships.
This push for ease of access to apprenticeships, comes as a recent study by Thatcham Research revealed a critical collision repair skills shortage is causing a rise in insurance costs and repair times, with insurance costs now 50% higher than five years ago.
The research found that 73% of repair and salvage professionals identify skills as a growing issue, with 41% believing that new technologies like EVs and ADAS had driven up demand for specialist skills.
61% of workers in the repair industry also believe that greater visibility and promotion of apprenticeships in the education sector will help address the current skills gap, making the Government’s decision as part of its Levy vital for the UK repair network.
These findings align with a recently released report by AX, EV Battery Longevity & Post-Accident Outcomes, which revealed gaps in training, diagnostics, legislation and repair processes for electric vehicle management, and calls for coordinated industry action to provide national, standardised post-crash diagnostic and quarantine procedures to provide clarity for insurers, repairers and recovery operators.
AX is at the forefront of EV post-accident infrastructure in the UK, with its network of bodyshops trained in both ICE and electric vehicle repair and being the first incident management service to provide like-for-like EV replacement vehicles as standard.
Download our industry report: EV battery longevity and post accident outcomes.
