Uncategorised Archives | National Leaving Care Benchmarking Forum

National Apprenticeship Week: 9-15th February 2026 – This week marks a week-long celebration that brings together businesses and apprentices across the country to shine a light on the positive impact that apprenticeships make to individuals, businesses, and the wider economy.

Two years ago, during National Apprenticeship Week Care X Apprentices created their 5 Key Messages. In 2026, we’d like to continue this conversation by exploring ways support has been developed in these areas and what is working well.

1) Care-experienced apprentices need support with career progression

“It was a busy transition into my next role, I was training for the new job, and finishing off my apprenticeship studies. But my manager in my new role still gave me time for my final assessments. So they’d give me, like, one day a week to work on it.” Care X Member

“I do think the support available to apprentices at the council is very good because of the different opportunities available. There’s always something going on that you can volunteer for. It definitely helps with career progression, not only does it boost your skills, but it can help you network, because at these events, there’s different employers, colleges, education providers and all sorts. During my apprenticeship, I helped with a raising aspirations event. I did a career profile for myself and explained what my role is, how we go about getting my role and stuff like that to primary school children. They asked me a variety of questions, and they were quite interested in what I do.” Care X Member

“A role came up in the same team I was working in around the time my apprenticeship was due to finish, so I applied. Being a care leaver and being an internal candidate, they interviewed me before they even considered anyone else which was good. Obviously, I did well enough to get the role, but I did feel I could have improved on the interview if I had more time to prepare. I had my interview on the same day they I found out that they were going to interview me. I think it’s because they wanted to prioritise the interview and they wanted to get done quickly, but equally I could have done with more preparation time to speak to my mentor. I had a mentor all the way through my apprenticeship and that continues even now I’ve completed it. I can still check in with them and if I was applying for another role in the council, they would happily support me.” Care X Member

2) Care-experienced apprentices need enhanced wages and financial support

“Our local authority has a top-up for every week on top of your salary. We get around 50 to 70 pounds per week extra on top of your apprenticeship salary. That can help you with travel, buy technology or really just not struggle to make ends meet. So, you’re starting off in a really comfortable position. You feel better in yourself that you’re providing for yourself, you’re managing your home, and you’re able to get those little treats that you want. All these things that make me feel like I’m taking control of my adulthood and it’s hard to do that as a care leaver so that extra support was just amazing. It’s a wage that we can actually function on and definitely takes off a lot of that financial stress as a way to help us in our apprenticeship. Like when everything’s tight, your creativity’s shot, you’re stressed all the time, and you’re not able to really function at your best.” Nawaal, Care X Member

3) Care-experienced apprentices need good induction and support with the emotional and practical side of their apprenticeship opportunity

“Being able to keep my connections with my emotional well-being practitioner and my leaving care advisor definitely supported me into thriving during my apprenticeship journey. My employer made it very flexible for me to see them even if I was working or any point really. During times of transitions like moving house, you’re getting a million different deliveries, and you’re packing up your whole life, I had a lot of grace during that time. I think that understanding of your experience and actually having that flexibility and actually holding that grace makes you more effective in your role. It helped me feel safer in the workplace as well.” Nawaal, Care X Member

“I’ve got a good manager who’s really good that way. I like being pushed to my limits and I’m really busy but I need somebody to tell me to slow down sometimes. My boss always tells me, ‘You need to think about your health, your health is number one’. I think it’s good to have a PA to talk to but I also have support from work, and everybody else.” Chloe, Care X member

4) Care-experienced young people need a wide range of apprenticeship opportunities available

“It all comes down to celebrating everybody’s individuality and uniqueness that we all bring to this world. For me, without the possibility of a part-time apprenticeship it wouldn’t have been possible to do an apprenticeship. A lot of young people find the thought of a full-time apprenticeship daunting whether it be because of mental health, or childcare so being able to do it part-time is really important. If you look online, they’re always advertised as full-time so it’s knowing that that option is there because I wouldn’t have known if it wasn’t for that one person in York who told me.” Abbie, Care X member

5) Care-experienced apprenticeship opportunities should be celebrated sensitively and not add to the stigmatisation of young people

“Cumberland is good in that they understand that, yes, I’m care-experienced but they also see me as an employee not just a care leaver. So I’m treated as an individual which is very, very good.” Chloe, Care X member

“It’s about boundaries. Being treated as a professional not just a young person. Keeping those boundaries means we can give so much more. I really struggled growing up with having the confidence to speak up. Being able to have that supportive team who can push you to be the best that you can be so that you can go in the right direction at the same time. I’ve got a really good manager, she pushes me, throwing me into challenges but respecting how difficult it can be but knowing that’s the way I need to go if this is the career choice I want to make.” Abbie, Care X member

“Obviously there’s a level of professionalism involved, like letting the manager and workers know about what’s going on but I didn’t feel like I had to put on an extra mask. Like. they saw me as, ‘You are staff member but you’re also one of ours and we’ll treat you as such’. I really felt that support from my local authority. Whenever I wanted to do something or had an idea it was very supported and they trusted me as somebody who can actually bring something to the Council. That was probably one of the biggest things. They actually gave me autonomy by saying, we trust you to carry this project from start to finish and we’ll support you to get staff members that can help you with your vision. It ultimately helped my confidence in being a trusted staff member. I think that was a big thing for me and I’ve done so much now.” Nawaal, Care X Member

“In my first week as an apprentice, I went to the National Leaving Care Benchmarking Forum and from there, my network just grew. I was in my first week on the job and I just found it really valuable and obviously through there I got involved in the Care X Network and the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network and all these great things.” Care X Member

Example of Positive Practice: The Introduction of Barking and Dagenham’s EET Coordinator

In 2024, Barking and Dagenham (LBBD) Corporate Parenting introduced the EET Coordinator role with a clear and ambitious purpose: to support Children in Care aged 16+ and Care Leavers aged 18–25 into education, employment and training (EET). The role is designed to provide tailored, one‑to‑one support for young people with their education, employment or training journey, helping them build confidence, develop skills and move towards long‑term, positive outcomes.

The EET Coordinator works directly with a caseload of young people, offering bespoke interventions that remove barriers and open doors to opportunities. This includes developing a wide range of accessible and practical support specifically designed for our young people. Opportunities on offer include;

CV‑writing workshops
Interview skills sessions
Care Leavers Job Fairs
Fortnightly EET opportunity newsletters
Weekly in‑person drop‑in sessions offering hands‑on support with applications and interview preparation

Working closely with departments across the Council, the EET Coordinator plays a key role in creating work experience placements and ring-fenced apprenticeships for Care Leavers. Strong partnerships with the voluntary and private sectors further ensure that care‑experienced young people can access meaningful opportunities within the wider community.

A significant focus of the role is on apprenticeships. The EET Coordinator meets monthly with the Apprenticeship and Career Development Manager and Early Careers Lead to identify opportunities within the Council and advocate for the creation of additional apprenticeships for care‑experienced young people. Alongside this, apprenticeship opportunities are sourced through the Care Leavers Covenant, GOV.UK apprenticeships and wider online searches. To date, this work has secured five apprenticeships for LBBD Care Leavers – three within LBBD, one within the NHS, and one in the construction sector.

To ensure Business Support Officer (BSO) apprenticeship roles offered within the Council are filled by LBBD Care Leavers, the EET Coordinator works closely with the Apprenticeship and Career Development Manager, Business Support teams and the Barking and Dagenham Works broker. Young people are supported to complete applications at Barking and Dagenham Library with expert guidance from Job Shop brokers. The EET Coordinator provides further support through interview preparation and ensuring reasonable adjustments are made for young people with additional needs. Care‑experienced panel members are also included on interview panels.

The outcome has been extremely positive: due to the high quality of applications, an additional apprenticeship position was created, resulting in three LBBD Care Leavers successfully securing and accepting BSO apprenticeship roles. The two remaining applicants were supported by the EET Coordinator and Early Careers Lead to secure paid work experiences as Data Processing Officers within the Council. This experience is extended so they can continue within the Council.

The EET Coordinator continues to support all apprentices, both within LBBD and externally, staying in regular contact through drop‑ins, check‑ins and one‑to‑one support. This ranges from help with pay and contract queries, to emotional support when roles feel challenging, or guidance on next steps in their EET journey. Ongoing liaison with employers ensures apprentices receive the full financial support available to them, including the £3,000 Care Leaver Bursary and LBBD’s own apprenticeship allowance of up to £200 per month based on attendance. The allowance helps apprentices manage any associated costs such as lunch and travel.

Together, this work is making a real difference – creating opportunities, building confidence and helping care‑experienced young people move forward into sustainable education and employment.