A packed series of events are set to spotlight Scottish Apprenticeships, offering pupils, parents and educators insight into career pathways, real-world experiences and the growing role apprenticeships play in our future workforce
A programme of activities will be taking place in March to help pupils, teachers, parents and carers understand the benefits of Scottish Apprenticeships.
Scottish Apprenticeship Week, from 2 to 6 March, celebrates apprenticeships working for individuals, employers and the economy.
The week, co-ordinated by Skills Development Scotland (SDS), shines a spotlight on the power of apprenticeships to create careers, build businesses, grow the workforce and get real returns for the economy.
This year the campaign’s theme is Working for Scotland, with an aim to demonstrate how Scottish Apprenticeships are critical to help grow and expand the nation’s workforce, giving people skills to thrive.
SDS, with support from a range of partners, will be hosting its own local and national events to support the week, including school based experiences for pupils run by SDS Careers Advisers and Developing the Young Workforce co-ordinators.
Nationally, SDS is hosting a webinar for parents and carers on how apprenticeships could work for a young person to develop their careers.
The free, one hour session on Tuesday, 3 March at 6.30pm, will feature an SDS Careers Adviser who will provide information about Foundation, Modern and Graduate Apprenticeships, how they work, and where to find out more about them and the latest apprenticeship vacancies.
Attendees can also find out about types of jobs where there are future career opportunities and hear more about the apprenticeship experience from a panel of apprentices and employers.
To widen accessibility, both this webinar and one the following afternoon for practitioners, including teachers and DYW Co-ordinators in schools, will be supported by a British Sign Language interpreter.
. (Image: SDS)
On Wednesday, 4 March at 4pm, SDS’s Evaluation and Research team will present the latest views and outcomes from thousands of current and former apprentices across Scotland.
This free online session will inform all those who work to support, guide, and advise people with career decisions.
The aim of the session is to better equip everyone who has a role in supporting young people with the insight to advise and provide information they need to continue to strengthen their offer.
The insight is taken from SDS’s Apprentice Voice research, which provides access to live data from Modern Apprentices at any time, giving vital feedback on learners’ experiences and outcomes.
The automated, rolling approach gathers real-time insight from individuals when they are in training and post-apprenticeship, on issues such as awareness, satisfaction, perceptions, benefits, destinations and outcomes.
The work forms part of a wider SDS programme of research and evaluation which informs continuous improvement and apprenticeship delivery in Scotland. This ongoing work ensures that the apprentice voice remains at the heart of the system.
SDS will present the new 2025 findings from Apprentice Voice while an employer, their apprentice and the learning provider partner will bring the findings to life, discussing the apprentice experience.
Pupils thinking about their next steps after school can also get the chance to meet apprentices and apprentice employers at SEC Glasgow on 3 and 4 March during the Scottish School and College Leaver Festival X National Apprenticeship Show.
Over 60 leading employers, training providers, colleges, universities and professional bodies will come together to connect with students from S3 to S6.
Skills Development Scotland careers advisers will be at this free event, which is open to all school students across Scotland.
The organiser is offering a travel bursary scheme for schools or colleges with students between S3 and S6 and teachers can access the bursary by visiting the event website ssclfest.co.uk to register group visits.
Pupils will also be able to get an insight into different apprenticeships through the DYW Live area of the e-Sgoil website that all schools can access.
Schools can register to the DYW Live Scottish Apprenticeship Week page now, to get access from 2 March to five new apprentice sessions.
Each 20min session focuses on an industry where there are jobs in demand, with interviews with apprentices working in Construction, Childcare, Energy, Engineering and Digital.
All these events have been added to the Scottish Apprenticeship Week online calendar on apprenticeships.scot/whatson, where there is more information and registration links to sign up.
Any organisations including schools, colleges, employers, universities and local authorities involved in events or delivering any activity to support Scottish Apprenticeship Week can register them on the campaign calendar by visiting apprenticeships.scot/registerevent
SP Energy Networks is headline sponsor of Scottish Apprenticeship Awards
WITH SP Energy Networks’ biggest ever recruitment drive underway, the company has been unveiled as headline sponsor of the Scottish Apprenticeship Awards.
Offering young people the opportunity to learn while they earn, apprenticeships help people all across the country kick start a career in an industry that sits at the heart of the Scottish economy.
Fitting Apprentices Kaci Blakely, Josh Harvey, Connor Walker and Charlie Boyle (Image: SDS)
SP Energy Networks is responsible for keeping electricity flowing to around 12 million people across central and southern Scotland, as well as north east England and North Wales.
Over the next decade, the company will invest billions of pounds in the transmission and distribution network to electrify Britain — rewiring the grid to support an all electric future. With new and refurbished electricity lines and substations required to transport power, career opportunities have never been stronger.
Organised by Skills Development Scotland, the Scottish Apprenticeship Awards celebrate the vital benefits apprenticeships bring to people, businesses and the economy. The live awards ceremony will take place on 26 February as the launch event for Scottish Apprenticeship Week (2 to 6 March).
Jennifer Davies, SP Energy Networks’ Workforce Renewal Manager said: “Apprenticeships kickstart people’s working lives and it’s a real privilege to be a business setting career foundations for so many young people. With ambitious investment plans, we need people to help us deliver and our biggest ever recruitment drive is underway. Sponsoring the Scottish Apprenticeship Awards reflects our longstanding commitment to developing skilled, diverse and local talent and to supporting Scotland’s wider skills system.
“We look forward to celebrating the individuals, employers and partners who make apprenticeships work, champion excellence and deliver real and positive impacts right across society.”
SP Energy Networks’ apprenticeship programme has grown significantly over the last decade, with more than 260 apprentices currently learning while they earn and a further 120 being recruited in 2026. Opportunities range from overhead lines roles, jointing and fitting, data science, project management and software engineering.
Many of the company’s current managers, technical specialists and leaders began their careers as apprentices, demonstrating the long term progression the programme provides.
Hannah Wylie, Project Management Apprentice (Image: SDS)
Jennifer added: “The beauty of our apprenticeship programme — and the expansion it has seen over the past ten years — is that we are recruiting in the very communities we serve. Our network provides electricity to homes from Cupar to Canonbie and, with depots across the country, we’re creating jobs in towns and villages where we are often the biggest employer. This lets people stay close to where they live and launch a career that will span decades.”
Among this year’s finalists is Alice Fairbairn, shortlisted for Modern Apprentice of the Year SCQF Level 6+. Alice has flourished as a Modern Apprentice with SP Energy Networks, reflecting the company’s commitment to developing skilled talent. After working as an engineering cadet at sea, she chose SP Energy Networks for its long term career prospects, technical challenge and community impact.
As an apprentice fitter, she contributes to plant maintenance, fault repairs and network upgrades — helping maintain a safe, reliable electricity network.
Alice has shown exceptional resilience, including volunteering during major storm response efforts to keep electricity flowing and the lights on. Now a mentor and apprenticeship ambassador, she supports new apprentices and promotes careers in the energy sector. Her success highlights SP Energy Networks’ leadership in nurturing the next generation of energy professionals.
