26 September 2019
On Friday we celebrated the achievements of our end-point assessors and quality assurance teams with a networking lunch in London.
The team has grown from just a couple of people in June 2017 to a team of 18 industry experts. AIM now offers seven nationally recognised apprenticeship standards, the latest being released just mid-September Publishing Assistant, and has plans to double this number in the next few months.
The only EPAO for the creative industries
AIM is the only recognised end-point assessment (EPAO) organisation specialising in the creative and cultural industries. And unlike many other EPAOs who recruit staff primarily from the education sector, AIM recruits assessors and quality assurance staff who have experience in the industry for which they are assessing.
“Our assessors have all worked or are still practising, in a range of creative roles including PR, visual effects, video production and web development. They understand the needs of this specialist industry and so are in tune with the needs of the employer and the required skill of the apprentices” said Pauline Coyle, lead assessor at AIM.
A growing industry
According to national statistics the UK's creative industries generate more than £100 billion a year to the UK economy and employ more than two million people. New jobs are being created faster than other sectors despite record employment in the UK economy as a whole.
In 2018 the creative industries grew jobs by 1.6 per cent, compared to the UK-wide employment increase of 0.8 per cent. Between 2011 and 2018, creative industries employment has mushroomed by 30.6 per cent, compared to the UK average growth of 10.1 per cent during that period. It is against this backdrop that AIM is investing in its staff, growing its team and increasing its EPA portfolio.
Education Secretary Damian Hinds is quoted as saying: “Apprenticeships give people of all backgrounds the chance to learn the skills they need to get a great job. There are a range of high-quality and exciting apprenticeship opportunities available in creative industries – everything from Junior 2D Artist, to Broadcast production assistant or post-production technical operator. I would urge anyone who is thinking of a career in the sector to visit our apprenticeships website www.apprenticeships.gov.uk and kick-start their apprenticeships journey today.”
More information about AIM’s end-point assessment service can be found on the website
