Article 30/10/2025

Boost in apprenticeship awareness for young people in London as edt to deliver Greater London Authority’s new AIM programme

As part of our ongoing commitment to preparing young people for the future in a changing employment landscape, edt is proud to be delivering the Greater London Authority’s new Apprenticeships, Information, and Meaningful Encounters (AIM) programme in London.

We have been successfully delivering assemblies and workshops focused on apprenticeships to students, parents and carers across London since 2019 through the Apprenticeships Support and Knowledge (ASK) programme. Promisingly, during this time, we have seen apprenticeships and other technical pathways grow in esteem relative to traditional routes.

During edt’s last reporting period (2023-24), the ASK programme had raised apprenticeship awareness among over 115,000 school and college students in London, with government statistics showing that ASK participants were 21% more likely to move on to apprenticeships than non-participants. In ASK’s final year of delivery (2024-25), 100% of parent/carer survey respondents reported that they were more likely to discuss apprenticeships or other vocational routes with their child, would support their child if they chose these routes, and knew where to go to find more information.

We are excited to build on our objective of raising awareness and uptake of apprenticeships and T levels among young people, through our delivery of the new AIM programme.

AIM will provide multiple student-facing visits per school or college per year, including:

assemblies and workshops on apprenticeships and T levels
application masterclasses
interactive interview preparation sessions
mock assessment centre workshops
careers fairs
events for educating parents and carers.

"Promoting vocational and technical pathways, particularly apprenticeships, with the same energy and visibility as academic pathways is vital to supporting both young people and the economic growth needs of the country. We know from our wider work that apprenticeship awareness is one of the key ways to support NEET prevention. We are proud to be working alongside the GLA to continue this essential support for young people across the capital, and we look forward to building on the impact we have already seen."

Mark de Backer, Head of Careers, edt

Education must do more than prepare students for exams – it should help them navigate a changing world. Teaching young people about vocational and technical pathways is a key part this work, and recognising their value is essential to supporting every young person to thrive.

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