The first fully recognised and industry created apprenticeship training programme has been launched by training company Realise.

The programme, developed by long term industry trainers David Preston and Richard John, is ready to use and follows on from the announcement of hiring of the first event apprentice.

Preston was part of the development team for the apprenticeship Standard and has a 30 year industry background, including running global events programmes for organisations such as IBM and Kaspersky Labs. He has joined forces with industry training expert Richard John to create the industry’s first specialist training company that will support event apprentices.

said FIRST MD Mark Riches, who chaired the industry’s development of an event apprenticeship through the government’s Trailblazers initiative. “We have a bona fide, government apprenticeship scheme, we’ve got the first event apprentice in place, and now we have the first comprehensive training programme, it’s great news for the industry.”

The new programme is positioned at level 3, broadly equating to A levels, and is open to UK residents aged 16 and over. It is positioned to be relevant across event management companies, exhibition organisers, third party agencies, venues, hotels and other businesses within the events supply chain.

“It’s an 18-month programme, which has been created and approved by the government and is ready to support the first event apprentices,” said Preston. “The syllabus is a combination of structured workplace learning and assessment, supported by a blended learning programme of online development and participation at specialist workshops. The material is designed to give a practical grounding for a career in event management that is designed to lead to an ongoing job upon completion.”