The Young Apprenticeship Scheme was started by the government in 2004. The scheme's main aim is to provide to young people of between fourteen and sixteen years of age, the opportunity to spend some of their school time in a business environment and have a more hands on approach to learning about business.

The students study the national curriculum at school for four days of the week, but on the fifth, they go out to their work placements in order to find out what it is like to work in a business or retail environment. They do different tasks such as working on computers, filing or photocopying which will help them develop skills that can be used in their future careers.

One of the aims of the scheme is to provide young people with 50 days of work experience that will contribute to their 2-3 GCSE's (A*-C) in business administration.

Both Education Bradford and the Government have worked hard to find young people work placements. But it has only been possible locally because of the good will of the businesses in Bradford and their staff who supervise and mentor the Young Apprentices allocated to them.

At the start of their placements, Work Placement Diaries are handed out to the Apprentices so they can record their daily routine, duties and thoughts about the work they do. At the end of the course the diaries are handed in to be assessed externally by the training providers.

We spoke to two Young Apprentices from a Bradford Secondary School, who said "From a personal perspective, I feel that the course is a great experience, and also that it gives you a great insight to the world of work. It is different from school, the environment is more demanding and the employer expects a professional approach to the daily routine. The feeling of being able to work with grown ups who have deadlines to meet is more exciting than sitting in classrooms 5 days a week learning about the outside world, especially when you can experience it for yourself and spread your wings."

"I would recommend this course because you get to experience new exciting things and meet new people."