THE HOT SEAT: JIM KNIGHT MP notgoingtouni. co. uk 13 CAN SCHOOL LEAVERS STILL ACHIEVE THEIR AMBITIONS IN THIS ECONOMY? FUTURE JOBS FUND IS CREATING 150,000 JOBS - IS IT WORKING? IS EDUCATION GIVING STUDENTS THE RIGHT SKILLS TO MAKE THEM EMPLOYABLE? WHAT SUPPORT IS THE GOVERNMENT GOING TO GIVE TO YOUNG PEOPLE WHO WANT TO START THEIR OWN BUSINESS? SAY WHAT? * If you would like to be the one putting your questions to people like Jim see our advert on page 27.

14 notgoingtouni. co. uk NOT GOING TO UNI: TOP 50 TRAINING PROVIDERS SAY WHAT? THE NOT GOING TO UNI TOP 50 TRAINING PROVIDERS 1) MORRISONS RETAIL Why we love them: Morrisons' Fresh Food Academy Apprenticeships includes full apprenticeships for butchers, bakers, fi shmongers as well as NVQ's in retail. There's a massive variety of trades and over 400 positions available, so there really is a fresh choice for you. www. morrisons. co. uk/ Corporate/ Work- with- Morrisons 2) MCDONALD'S FOOD McDonalds aims to provide an incredible 10,000 apprenticeships in 2010, making it the UK's largest provider. They have also won a host of awards that show a McJob is one well worth having. www. mcdonalds. co. uk and click on Careers 3) BRITISH HORSERACING AUTHORITY EQUINE Whether you see yourself as a famous jockey riding a winner in the Grand National, working with animals or simply doing administration it might be worth looking at the surprisingly large horse- racing industry, which has a strong tradition of employing apprentices. www. britishhorseracing. com/ careersinracing/ html/ training_ entry_ racing. htm 4) RUSH HAIR AND BEAUTY Rush are an award- winning hairdressing group with nearly 50 salons and their own training academy. They are City & Guilds accredited and offer full apprenticeship programmes at Foundation to Advanced levels, if you want to work with hair, start here. www. rush. co. uk/ academy 5) KAPLAN ACCOUNTANCY People are always surprised to learn that Kaplan can help you become an accountant quicker and cheaper than the uni option. If you've got a good head for fi gures and you like money then ask Kaplan about the AAT qualifi cation. http:// fi nancial. kaplan. co. uk 6) BRITISH TELECOM VARIED You've got to check out BT's special website which we think is a bit snazzy and learn all about the broad range of apprenticeships BT do, including customer service, IT, telecoms and vehicle technology. BT have a very strong track record in delivering great apprenticeships and defi nitely get our seal of approval. www. bt4me. co. uk 7) HIT TRAINING HOSPITALITY If you want to work in hospitality or leisure then HIT Training is for you. With apprenticeships ranging from Front of House, Chef, Bar Apprentices or Housekeeping you could start a career working in hotels all over the world, so grab the sun cream! www. hittraining. co. uk/ courses/ apprenticeships 8) ZENOS IT These guys have a very strong reputation and really work hard at helping their students get qualifi ed and fi nd work. Tech giants Microsoft launched their own apprenticeship programme and Zenos are now delivering this on their behalf so check out their site for more details... www. zenos. com 9) LIFETIME HEALTH AND FITNESS SPORT AND FITNESS With Lifetime you could become a fi tness instructor or an activity leader in just 16 weeks, with the fi rst 3 weeks being spent in the classroom and the remaining weeks in the workplace. Best of all if you fi t their criteria it's FREE! www. lifetimehf. co. uk Given the value that apprentices bring to companies, it's no surprise that hundreds of thousands of employers offer apprenticeship schemes. That's great on one hand as it means there's a world of choice for you, but bad in an another way as there can sometimes seem like too much choice! To help you out we've picked out 50 of our top training providers - the companies who offer apprenticeships and foundation degrees - and tried to explain exactly why we love them so much.