Spurs Captain Supports Apprenticeship Drive

Tottenham Hotspur and England defender Ledley King has joined forces with notgoingtouni.co.uk, the online portal for apprenticeships and vocational opportunities, to help promote vocational opportunities for young people at the start of Apprenticeship Week 2011.

“Apprenticeships are a great way of entering the world of work for those who, like me, know what they want to do for a living,” King told notgoingtouni’s free online guide to apprenticeships. “Apprenticeship Week is the perfect time to start looking into the options. I came up through the Spurs training academy, so I know the value of on-the-job training. And I know it can lead to the best job I the world!”

The increase in tuition fees and problems facing graduates in finding suitable employment is driving more and more people to consider vocational qualifications. NotGoingToUni.co.uk generally has in excess of 1000 live apprenticeship opportunities on its site at any one time and more than 2000 live vocational opportunities in total.

“Young people looking to enter the professions are now beginning to discover, for example, that it is actually quicker to become a chartered accountant through an apprenticeship programme than via a degree, with a higher proportion finding employment at the end of it,” explains Spencer Mehlman, managing director of NotGoingToUni.co.uk.

A free digital magazine for Apprenticeship Week, which can be downloaded free of charge at www.notgoingtouni.co.uk, also charts the success of Rohan Duncan, 25, who joined Tottenham Hotspur Foundation’s Future Job Fund programme in February 2010. He was offered an apprenticeship on completion of the programme and now leads coaching sessions and studies for an NVQ Level 2 in Sports and Allied Recreational Studies at Croydon College.

“I was a Spurs fan before I got the job. I went to the job centre because I’d been unemployed for a while and I saw there were jobs going coaching at Spurs. I didn’t think I’d get it – it seemed too good to be true. I’m a sporty guy but I’d never done any coaching before,” Rohan explained.

Now, Rohan coaches children from the local community and estates, leading PE lessons, table tennis sessions and the Kickz programme aimed at keeping young people off the streets.

“I’m on contract until June,” Rohan adds. “I’d like to stay on at Spurs, but even if I don’t I’m much more employable than I was before. I’d like to stay in coaching or mentoring.”

Companies that work with NotGoingToUni.co.uk to access candidates on its 40,000 strong database include IBM, British Gas, Rolls Royce, Unilever and Tesco. It also works with organisations like The AAT (Association of Accounting Technicians), CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants), the ICAEW (Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales) and the ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) to deliver high quality candidates for accountancy apprenticeships, as well as with leading accountancy firms like PricewaterhouseCoopers. Indeed, NotGoingToUni.co.uk has also placed candidates seeking to become a solicitor on vocational courses with ILEX (Institute of Legal Executives).