Thursday, 13 Nov 2014 15:59 GMT

How many sign-making apprenticeships are there?

Say congratulations to Sam Lumb of Applelec as he has just completed an apprenticeship in sign-making through the Leeds College of Building. But don’t get too inspired if you are in Leeds, as the college has stopped running the course.

By popular agreement within the industry, it is the type of course the sign-making industry needs but unfortunately the part-time course is the last of its kind to be held at Leeds College of Building. It covered six modules including self-adhesive materials, sign-making software, vinyl plotter, and graphic printer training. A key element of the course was training on self-adhesive materials and their application, with projects focusing on choosing the correct adhesive and method of application say Applelec, which is just the sort of specialised training firms need.

Further south, Central Sussex College also runs courses for sign-making apprenticeships but after that there are not too many colleges that consistently offer the relevant training”

SignLink asked the Yorkshire college why they were ending the course but at the time of going to press they had not answered.

For those seeking a course in the north the next option is to apply to Sheffield College which has courses starting next year, while Walsall College in the Midlands has a good record within the industry, putting around 100 students through the various levels of sign-making courses every year. Further south, Central Sussex College also runs courses for sign-making apprenticeships but after that there are not too many colleges that consistently offer the relevant training.

Trying to find out how many sign-making apprenticeships there are at any one time in this country is difficult. The British Sign and Graphics Association, the industry’s trade body would like to know in order to gauge standards within the industry but getting an official figure from the government’s organisations charged with the work. Finding the information is not so straightforward. The website (apprenticeshipvacancymatchingservice.lsc.gov.uk) lists around 20 vacancies at any one time via Cogent (the organisation charged with improving training in industry) for sign-making firms across the country for those keen to get into the business. Remarkably when asked by SignLink, Cogent struggled to come up with a figure for how many apprenticeships for sign-makers there are a year suggesting only a handful, which contradicts the evidence. If Walsall’s numbers are repeated by the other colleges then the figure is closer to 400 in England alone, which is surely not enough considering the growth of the industry.

Meanwhile congratulations are due to Applelec and Sam. The company says that though segments of the course followed traditional teaching methods through tutor lessons and practical training, there were also numerous coursework based projects which saw Sam following a brief which was hypothetically set by existing companies. He submitted a portfolio of photographs and descriptions showing him completing projects at every stage of the sign-making process which additionally demonstrated his use of health and safety equipment.

Sam explains: “The skills I have learnt and developed during the course at Leeds will no doubt prove invaluable throughout my career in the signage industry. My improved practical skills combined with my developed ability to follow briefs and work to timeframes has aided my work at Applelec since completing the course.”