New partnership will connect trusted careers guidance with face-to-face engagement, helping more young people explore apprenticeship opportunities while supporting employers and providers with future talent recruitment.
The Apprenticeship Guide has announced a new partnership with the Festival of Apprenticeships, becoming an Official Media Partner as both organisations strengthen their commitment to helping young people discover and access apprenticeship opportunities.
The partnership brings together two important stages of the apprenticeship journey.
The Apprenticeship Guide supports students and young adults as they research careers, understand apprenticeship routes and discover the employers, universities, colleges and training providers that can help them take their next step.
The Festival of Apprenticeships complements this by bringing young people and organisations together face-to-face, giving prospective apprentices the opportunity to speak directly with employers and learning providers, hear from current apprentices and explore career opportunities for themselves.
Together, the organisations will work to make the apprenticeship journey easier to understand, helping young people move from discovering what is possible to identifying the opportunities that could launch their careers.
Supporting young people at a crucial point in their career journey
Choosing what to do after school or college can be one of the biggest decisions a young person has made.
While awareness of apprenticeships continues to grow, understanding exactly where an apprenticeship can lead, which route to choose and how to secure an opportunity can still present a challenge.
The Festival of Apprenticeships has previously surveyed 1,000 young people and identified barriers including limited understanding of apprenticeships, negative perceptions, pressure to follow traditional university routes and a lack of visible apprenticeship role models.
At the same time, helping more young adults progress into education, training and employment remains a significant national priority.
The new partnership aims to tackle these challenges by giving young people access to information and inspiration across different stages of their decision-making journey.
The Apprenticeship Guide provides clear and accessible information covering apprenticeships available across England, including the industries they can lead into, apprenticeship levels, progression opportunities, potential salaries and guidance around applications.
Its annual printed publication is distributed to more than 3,500 schools and colleges across England, placing apprenticeship information directly in front of students, teachers and careers advisers at a time when young people are considering their future options.
This is supported throughout the year by online apprenticeship information, careers advice, employer and provider content, vacancies and success stories from people who have already chosen the apprenticeship route.
Taking careers discovery from the page to real conversations
The Festival of Apprenticeships adds another dimension to that support by allowing young people to meet the organisations behind apprenticeship opportunities.
Primarily aimed at young people aged 16 to 24, alongside teachers, lecturers, parents, carers and other careers influencers, its events give visitors the opportunity to discover apprenticeships first-hand and speak directly to employers and learning providers.
For a young person who may know very little about a particular career, meeting an employer, talking to an apprentice or discovering an opportunity they had never previously considered can make a significant difference.
The partnership therefore creates a natural connection between researching a career and experiencing the opportunities behind it.
Through the Guide, a student may discover an industry, apprenticeship or organisation that interests them.
Through the Festival, they can continue that journey by asking questions, meeting potential employers and providers and developing a clearer understanding of where that career could take them.
Supporting employers and providers facing their own recruitment challenges
The partnership has also been developed with the needs of the apprenticeship sector in mind.
Employers, universities, colleges and training providers are competing for the attention of young people at a time when career choices are becoming increasingly varied.
Creating a strong apprenticeship programme is only part of the challenge. Organisations also need young people to know that the opportunity exists, understand why it could be right for them and recognise their organisation as somewhere they could build a career.
That makes visibility earlier in the career decision-making process increasingly important.
The Apprenticeship Guide helps organisations build that awareness by placing employer and provider brands in front of young people through a combination of sustained print and digital activity.
The Festival of Apprenticeships then creates the opportunity to build on that recognition through direct engagement.
Together, this offers organisations the opportunity to support young people throughout more of the recruitment journey, from initial career awareness through to the conversations that can ultimately encourage an application.
Connecting employers with the next generation of talent
For employers, one of the biggest opportunities created by the partnership is the ability to communicate what an apprenticeship career actually looks like.
Young people may recognise an organisation without knowing that it recruits apprentices. Others may understand an industry but be unaware of the breadth of roles available within it.
Universities, colleges and training providers face a similar challenge in demonstrating the different apprenticeship pathways they can offer and how those routes connect learners with future careers.
By combining the reach and longevity of The Apprenticeship Guide with face-to-face engagement through the Festival, organisations have another way to demonstrate where an apprenticeship can lead, showcase real opportunities and build their reputation with the next generation.
The partnership will also support greater engagement with schools, colleges, teachers and careers professionals, who play an important role in helping young people understand their options.
Working alongside organisations shaping apprenticeships in England
The partnership comes at a significant time for apprenticeships and skills policy in England.
The government has announced a number of measures designed to increase apprenticeship opportunities for young people, including free apprenticeship training for eligible under-25s and measures intended to support the creation of tens of thousands of additional youth apprenticeships.
Skills England is also continuing to work with employers and other stakeholders to ensure skills provision responds to workforce needs across the economy.
The Apprenticeship Guide continues to work closely with organisations at the heart of this landscape, including Skills England and the Department for Work and Pensions, helping connect national apprenticeship developments with young people, schools, employers and learning providers.
The Guide will once again feature contributions from these organisations, providing readers with insight into the apprenticeship landscape and the opportunities available.
This includes Kate Ridley-Pepper, Director of Apprenticeships at the Department for Work and Pensions, alongside representation from Skills England.
Their involvement further strengthens The Apprenticeship Guide’s role in bringing together government, employers, universities, colleges and training providers within one accessible resource for those exploring apprenticeships.
More opportunities for Apprenticeship Guide partners
As part of the Official Media Partnership, The Apprenticeship Guide has also secured additional benefits for organisations already partnering with the publication for the 2026–2027 academic year.
A limited allocation of significantly discounted Festival of Apprenticeships exhibitor stands will be made available to active Apprenticeship Guide partners.
The opportunity has been created to help partners extend the impact of their existing campaigns and add another recruitment touchpoint alongside their activity within the Guide.
Participating organisations will be able to meet potential applicants face-to-face, promote apprenticeship vacancies and programmes, increase awareness of their employer or provider brand and build stronger connections with schools, colleges and careers professionals.
The Festival of Apprenticeships will visit London and Birmingham in October 2026, following its wider programme of activity across the year.
Helping turn awareness into opportunity
At the heart of the partnership is a shared ambition to help more young people understand that apprenticeships can open doors to rewarding careers across an extraordinary range of industries.
From engineering, construction, healthcare and energy to law, finance, digital, science, creative careers and professional services, apprenticeships now provide routes into occupations young people may never previously have associated with the apprenticeship pathway.
The challenge is ensuring they know those opportunities exist.
By bringing together trusted careers information, employer and provider visibility and real-world interaction, The Apprenticeship Guide and Festival of Apprenticeships will work together to help more young people discover those possibilities.
For students and young adults, that means greater access to the information, organisations and experiences that can help them make confident career decisions.
For employers and apprenticeship providers, it means more opportunities to reach, inform and engage the future talent they need.
For schools, colleges, teachers, careers advisers and parents, it provides another layer of support when helping young people navigate an increasingly complex range of education and career choices.
Ultimately, the partnership is designed to help close the gap between young people looking for their next opportunity and the organisations looking for their next generation of talent.
About The Apprenticeship Guide
The Apprenticeship Guide is dedicated to helping young people understand and explore apprenticeship opportunities across England.
Its annual printed guide is distributed to more than 3,500 schools and colleges, supporting students alongside teachers, careers advisers and parents as they explore apprenticeship and career pathways.
The printed publication is supported by year-round digital content including apprenticeship information, industry guidance, application advice, vacancies, employer and provider content and apprentice success stories.
The Apprenticeship Guide works with employers, universities, colleges, training providers and organisations across the apprenticeship sector to increase awareness of apprenticeship opportunities and help connect young people with future careers.
About the Festival of Apprenticeships
The Festival of Apprenticeships is a careers roadshow dedicated to promoting apprenticeships and connecting future talent with employers and learning providers.
Primarily aimed at 16 to 24 year olds, alongside parents, carers, teachers, lecturers and careers influencers, the Festival gives visitors the opportunity to discover apprenticeship pathways, meet organisations offering opportunities and learn directly from current apprentices.
Its 2026 programme includes activity across London, Birmingham and Manchester as it continues to help young people explore apprenticeship careers and make informed decisions about their futures.
