An Interview With:

We’ve been seeing the benefits the Back the Future campaign has already achieved through the businesses that have pledged and their ongoing actions in our recent case studies.

It’s fantastic to see the progress and impact being made by the individuals, companies and sectors supporting the pledge but we’re diving deeper into why this matters today along with more context around the formation of Apprentice Decent Wage Pledge & its overall aims in our interview with co-founding sponsors, CSR.

What led to the formation of CSR and the focus on training and education – why apprenticeships?

After performing market research to understand regulatory requirements in 2010, we developed a plan, in partnership with a large scientific employer, to enable it to address its scientific entry level skills gap, by providing 21 apprentice laboratory technicians. This was our first experience of delivering apprenticeships as part of workforce development. Upon completion, the programme had a 95% success rate, and the employer continues to use apprenticeship programmes to this day. In the last 13 years we have grown to the largest supplier of scientific apprenticeships in England.

Creating Apprentice Decent Wage Pledge (ADWP) and championing it

Before ADWP, were you finding challenges for employers recruiting apprentices that made you want to support and champion ADWP?

Employers offering competitive wages contribute to higher retention rates and increased completion rates for apprenticeship programmes. When apprentices are adequately compensated, they are more likely to remain committed to the programme and see it through to completion.

What do you hope to achieve with ADWP?

Ensuring fair wages for apprentices contributes to diversity and inclusion initiatives. Our hope is that the ADWP will eliminate economic barriers and provide opportunities for individuals from various backgrounds to access apprenticeship programmes.

How are you working with employers to Back the Future?

We are collecting data on average wages from our collective of employers plus cost-of-living data in those geographical areas, as the cost of living varies across regions, and apprenticeships need to provide a wage that aligns with the local cost of living. This data is then supplied to our employers which then informs their recruitment strategy. A good wage ensures that apprentices can afford to live in the area where they are undergoing training without facing undue financial challenges.

Championing apprentices

What value do you believe apprentices and apprenticeships hold for the future of recruitment and supporting the economy?

Apprenticeships focus on practical skills and real-world experience, producing job-ready individuals. This targeted skill development is highly valuable to employers, reducing the time and resources needed for additional training after hiring.

Apprenticeships offer an alternative pathway to career success, reducing the emphasis on traditional academic degrees. This is especially important as the job market evolves, with increasing recognition of the value of practical skills and hands-on experience.

How about the value apprenticeships hold for apprentices and why are you championing them?

Our vision is to bring education and industry together for a brighter, safer world and to inspire the next generation of scientists and healthcare professionals through apprenticeships.

Apprenticeships provide practical, hands-on experience in a real-world work environment. This experience is invaluable, allowing apprentices to apply theoretical knowledge to actual tasks and gain a deeper understanding of their chosen field.

To allow our apprentices to progress in their chosen fields, we map our technical inputs to industry requirements and provide the highest quality of education possible to all our learners, supporting and enabling all of them to achieve their maximum potential.

Our aim is to give all our students a fun, interesting learning experience and enable them to access a meaningful career in the STEM sector of their choice.

CSR Scientific Training has been delivering quality scientific Apprenticeships and work- based training since 2011. We are the country’s leading scientific training provider and are proud to work with some of the most innovative scientific product and service industries in the UK. CSR also has a solid and rapidly growing presence in the British Healthcare sector.

Our dedicated team of tutors and assessors have strong industrial and academic backgrounds in Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Biotechnology and Forensic sectors and are passionate about learning and development.