This initiative was started in 2018, when we visited three schools and met with 84 students. In the years since we have seen the number of Portsmouth schools involved grow to six in 2019, and then to twelve senior schools, meeting 444 students, in 2020. Due to restrictions in 2021 a virtual Bus tour using video technology was undertaken with each school maintaining our commitment to providing support for Apprenticeships.

Between Tuesday 26th April and Thursday 28th April 2022, the bus visited nine schools in the city, with our 35 Apprentice volunteers meeting a total of 856 students, almost double the number participating in 2020.

The feedback from the schools has been overwhelmingly positive, with all schools visited stating that the event had had a positive impact on their pupils and that the pupils had learned more about apprentices as a result. 

School staff said that they could also see their students’ attitudes changing in the room during the session with their confidence growing considerably, and there was a real buzz in the room by the end of the hour. Others said that students were surprised by the variety of apprenticeships that were available, having assumed they were all in trades and engineering, and that now a significant number had their hearts set on an apprenticeship.

In 2023 the business support will once again be key and continues to enable the building of a positive bond between Business and Schools for the benefit of both.

The local Portsmouth businesses get to link up with talented Year 9s, 10s, and 11s, and the students get the chance to find out exactly what opportunities lie ahead of them as they choose their further educational route and future career.