Claire Laybats, Professional Services Development Manager reflects on four years of apprenticeship assessment at CILIP Pathways, and analyses how apprenticeships have impacted the sector.

One thing is clear from the stories and testimonials is that we have achieved our aim to create a new pathway into the profession but what about encouraging diversity and making an impact on the sector?

What the data shows us to date is that there is a significant proportion of people entering the profession through this route with registered disabilities, a fifth of all learners have declared a disability and have successfully completed the apprenticeship and moved on in their roles.

Employers too are seeing real benefits from the apprenticeship. In employer interviews from 2023 employers stated that having the ability to take on an apprentice provided them with flexibility in their recruiting strategies.

They were able to connect with local pools of talent bringing new perspectives into the team.

Apprentices were seen to be able to contribute right from the start of their journey as they applied their learning and took on projects to add value to the teams offering as part of their apprenticeship assessment.

This is what some of the employers had to say:

"Our apprentice has brought a great deal of new ideas and enthusiasm to our team. The apprenticeship provides a good balance of hands-on experience and learning to develop the skills of participants. It is a pleasure to share knowledge and training with a new generation interested in a career working with Archives." AC, Principal Libraries Officer.

"It was a good experience seeing our apprentice develop while she was here and she has come up with a project that will hopefully have quite wide-reaching effects on our public library catalogue website," MS, Frontline Library Officer.

"K developed numerous specialist skills such as information management and data protection. I think K's apprenticeship has helped her to figure out her career goals. It provided her with an opportunity be in a paid role, put training into practice and achieve a professional qualification."

"There was a comprehensive programme for K to follow and a lot of project based work which reflected very closely the day to day activities of the Library and information service," PW, Government Legal Information Manager.

Apprenticeship stories

Over the years, CILIP's in-house magazine Information Professional, has covered the accomplishments of some of these apprentices, which have been shared online and with the sector. These stories reflect the diversity and enthusiasm apprentices bring to their programmes, and future employers.

Red's Story

Red Tanner decided to take the apprenticeship path after realising that university was not for them, finding that it brought new perspectives and value to their career progression after finishing college.

Read Red's story

Marcin's Story

During his apprenticeship, Marcin gained a lot more than a qualification, he was offered a permanent position and is now looking to the next steps in his career.

Read Marcin's story

Lavinia's Story

"Is starting an apprenticeship in the 60th year of your life a good idea? In my experience the answer is a resounding yes!"

Read Lavinia's story

Tom's story

Studying history at university, the library quickly became my best friend, with hours spent searching the shelves in search for books, or asking librarians for obscure articles on Oliver Cromwell. Little did I know while studying that I would end up being the one that would help people find the information they needed.

Read Tom's story

Already down the road of hiring an apprentice? You can advertise your apprentice vacancy on informationprofessionaljobs for free, please contact Angela Krzyzanowska.