The Department for Education and the National Apprenticeship Service have announced a new pilot project called ‘Five Cities Project’ with the support of all Metro Mayors in a bid increase BAME Apprentices across the country.

The five cities focused within the project are Birmingham (represented by Metro Mayor Andy Street), Manchester (represented by Metro Mayor Andy Burnham), Bristol (represented by Metro Mayor Marvin Rees), Leicester (represented by Metro Mayor Peter Soulsby) and London (represented by Metro Mayor Sadiq Khan).

This follows the Government’s pledge to increase BAME Apprenticeships by 20% by 2020.

BAME Apprenticeships have been on the rise. The latest figures from the Government show that 55,000 apprentices came from BAME backgrounds – 3% increase from the previous academic year. BAME Apprentices themselves make up 11% of the total apprenticeship starts.

Speaking on this latest announcement, Isa Mutlib, Executive Director of The BAME Apprenticeship Alliance said:

“This is a great announcement from the DfE and NAS – showing their commitment to increasing BAME Apprentices and improving social mobility within disadvantaged backgrounds.

The Five Cities Project will have a great impact in its regions. This localised approach have  some very ambitious aims and we believe that with the right support, they can be achieved.

The BAME Apprenticeship Alliance fully supports them in this project and look forward to working with the DfE and NAS on promoting BAME Apprenticeship diversity.”

We will be engaging with our Patron Members following the roll out of ‘Five Cities Project’