£20m funding boost to North East traineeship provider

North East training group MCQ has received a major funding boost from the government, making it the largest provider of traineeships in health and social care in the North East and Yorkshire.

The company, which runs vocational training and assessment facilities in Newcastle, Middlesbrough, Humberside and Yorkshire, has been backed as part of the government’s Traineeship Programme.

The scheme - designed to help youngsters boost their career progression - was last month assigned a new £20m funding package to support its aim of growing the amount of employers and training firms providing traineeships to youngsters.

“Traineeships give young people the helping hand they need to compete for apprenticeships and other jobs,” said skills minister Matthew Hancock when the new funding was announced. “We have responded to this demand by providing additional investment and in time traineeships will become the clear route for young people looking to get the crucial grounding they need in the world of work,” he added.

MCQ has won a significant amount of this funding to enable it to increase its capacity for helping 16 to 23-year-olds in accessing career-lifting traineeships.

The company is now looking to expand its team of employee engagement officers to cater for growing demand from young people keen to enrol on traineeships and apprenticeships.

Guy Saxton, quality improvement manager at MCQ, said: “With university fees rising and the job market becoming increasingly competitive for young people, traineeships have an extremely important role to play in helping people find a successful career.

“The new funding will further enhance our offering in this area within health and social care as the region’s largest deliverer of traineeships.”

MCQ was described by education watchdog Ofsted recently as having enthusiastic staff who are “well-qualified and have good occupational knowledge that they use successfully to engage learners”.

Ofsted’s report also noted: “Learners enjoy their programmes and are highly motivated to progress to the next level of study, with assessors making learning interesting and challenging.”