So many success stories

Monday 06 February 2023

Guernsey's apprenticeship scheme has seen so many success stories among past students that the Principal of the College of Further Education has said its impact is seen in every area of life across the Bailiwick.

Dr Louise Misselke - Principal of the College, which is a part of The Guernsey Institute - said initially, when the first training programmes were launched in 1949 the focus was on construction and engineering.

She said, "every building that has been built over the last 74 years almost certainly it would have had an apprentice working on it".

As the course numbers expanded over the years, so has the influence of apprentices on island life, with "every haircut that has been done, meals that we eat in our beautiful restaurants, all of those places would have had at some point an apprentice working in them," she said. 

Pictured: Early apprenticeships focused on construction and engineering, with many more courses now available.

Dr Misselke has given an extended interview to Express to mark National Apprenticeship Week which starts today.

It coincides with the time when current Year 11 pupils are deciding which course they may like to study after completing their GCSEs. Dr Misselke said apprenticeships are open to all ages though, not just school leavers.

"The average age of our apprentices is about 26. Our oldest apprentice at the moment is 54, so someone who has wanted a career change and gain the professional knowledge and skills in that sector. So yes we do have 16-year-olds who come out of school and manage to attain a job with an employer who then signs them up to the apprenticeship scheme but we also have people in their mid 20s, 30s, 40s, who may be working in the sector but their employer then sponsors them to get those professional skills and qualifications in that industry."

A busy week filming some of our apprentices at college. Olly at @OnScreenGSY doing an amazing job and we are excited to see the finished result. #nationalapprenticeshipweek2023 runs from 6 to 12 February. Our new footage will be out then! pic.twitter.com/aPk2MiN91u

— Guernsey College (@GuernseyCollege) January 27, 2023

Some of the success stories Dr Misselke gave Express as examples of the thriving career paths open to apprentices include prominent business leaders in the Bailiwick.

They include Justin Bellinger; Chief Executive of Sure, Callum Le Noury; Operations Director at Sarnia Hotels, Andrew Coleman; Managing Director of La Barbarie Hotel, Paul Likely; the MD of States Works, and Jason Dowinton; Operations Director of Tyrrell Downinton Architects. 

You can hear Dr Misselke's interview in full below: