Learn about the benefits of apprenticeships and how to get involved in National Apprenticeship Week.
National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) is a celebration of apprenticeships that aims to help educate individuals, employers and education providers on the benefits of apprenticeships and the opportunities available. This year, it is taking place from 9th February (today!) until the 15th February 2026.
Apprenticeships are one of the many career pathways available. By learning on the job, apprentices gain a lot of valuable skills and experience to get them ready for the world of work. Some apprenticeships even have guaranteed roles available at the company you train with and some offer a salary as well. There’s so much variety to explore!
NAW highlights that apprenticeships:
- ‘open doors to exciting and rewarding careers, especially for young people entering employment for the first time
- ‘help businesses build future-ready workforces
- ‘support economic growth by addressing priority skills gaps’.
The overarching theme for this year’s celebration is ‘Skills for life’. NAW is inviting employers to celebrate their apprentices by showcasing their successes and the benefits they have brought to their workplace. They also want apprentices themselves to share their stories (adult learners, young people), talking about the skills they have learnt and the opportunities the experience has given them.
Each day of NAW has its own theme to keep the engagement going throughout the week, Monday is focused on the overarching theme of skills for life; Tuesday is ‘Employer Tuesday’ where businesses are invited to get involved by showcasing how they are supporting apprentices and to hold events; Wednesday is ‘Apprentice Wednesday’ where the apprentices themselves are invited to share their experiences to be a role model for others who may want to get involved; Thursday is ‘T Level Thursday’ which will focus on raising awareness of T Level courses and invite training providers, students and their parents to celebrate their T Level success; Friday is ‘Celebration Friday’ which is dedicated to celebrating the ‘talent, success and accomplishments of your apprenticeships’ and explaining how ‘apprenticeships help to change lives’; and finally, Saturday and Sunday are the ‘NAW Weekender’ which encourages people to share their highlights and activities from the week.
On the NAW website, you’ll find a list of just some of the companies that offer apprenticeships, such as the BBC, Ferrari, Network Rail, Nando’s, Woodland Trust and more. To explore available options, you can use this apprenticeship finder tool.
Learn more
National Apprenticeship Week Schools, Colleges and Training Providers Toolkit
References
- National Apprenticeship Week website (Accessed 09 February 2026)
- National Apprenticeship Week Schools, Colleges and Training Providers Toolkit (Accessed 09 February 2026)
