The KitKat Challenge - Apprenticeships Insight Morning

The KitKat Challenge - Apprenticeship Insight morning with U5 and L6

It is National Apprenticeship Week and to celebrate, students in U5 and L6 worked together to create a new flavoured KitKat as part of The KitKat Challenge.

Students worked in teams of 8 to research and choose a new flavour, create marketing to support their idea and recruit 3 apprentices to join their venture.

The day started with Paul Hamlin from Cogent Skills introducing what an apprenticeship is and how they work. Students learned about the different levels and how a degree apprenticeship compares with a traditional university degree.

Megan Jones, a current 1st year apprentice at Vertex shared her journey and reasons behind her decision to choose an apprenticeship over university. Megan talked about the lab work she is involved in which is currently focusing on researching a cure for Huntington’s disease.

Students were then tasked with completing The KitKat Challenge by choosing the apprentices they would like to hire, researching salaries, responsibilities and the different apprenticeship levels culminating in a presentation of their work.

There was an eclectic mix of flavours presented to our judges which included roast dinner, strawberry and rose, mystery duo, a meal deal, Oreo, ice cream, and popping candy.

They all did an amazing job researching different apprenticeships to find one that suited the needs of their business by using the provided links to websites including the National Apprenticeship Service, Not Going to Uni, The Student Ladder, and UCAS.

The aim of this event was to help students raise their awareness of apprenticeships, the industries they can be found in and where to look for vacancies.

79% of students agreed that they have increased their awareness of apprenticeships and how to research their options.

The winning team was Kit Around The World who created a KitKat that celebrated flavours from around the world.