Introduction of traineeships to the horse racing industry has helped both trainers and their new staff since the previous training model was overhauled three years ago.

When people joined the horse racing industry in the past, they used to start their apprenticeship with a residential course at either the British Racing School (BRS) in Newmarket, Suffolk, or the Northern Racing College (NRC) in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, and then moved to a racehorse trainer’s yard where they would complete the apprenticeship in Race Horse Care and Management.

Completing the residential would give learners an NVQ Level 1 and they would gain their Level 2 when they successfully completed their apprenticeship.

National Association of Racing Staff (NARS) Union Learning Fund Project Manager Kevin Parsons, himself a graduate of the BRS apprenticeship when he was a teenager, explained:

What was happening was the learners were leaving home, having a 12-week crash course and then going straight into a work environment that might not suit the learner or where they might not meet the expectations of their new employer."

And in terms of retention, we found that some learners who were completing the residential course were moving yards, or even leaving the industry altogether, and some trainers were signing up for apprentices and then losing them.”

It was to address these issues that the industry overhauled the old model three years ago by introducing a traineeship between the residential course and the full apprenticeship, and NARS Chief Executive George McGrath was fully involved in the reform through his place on the Industry Development and Training group.

During the new six-week traineeship, the majority of employers not only cover the cost of board and lodging (as they do for the apprenticeship) plus expenses but also pay their trainees.

Kevin said:

Nearly all trainees are paid as per our industry minimum pay scale for normal employees."

The traineeship helps learners make the adjustment from their preliminary 12-week training to the world of work in general and, in particular, to the way their new employer runs their yard.

Kevin added that:

In the past, some employers would take people on expecting them to be the finished article, so there was a bit of pressure on learners to come in and work at the same level as a fully qualified employee." 

This is definitely a better system, as the traineeship helps employers understand how learners need some work experience before they’re able to do the job they need them to do and it gives the learners the chance to integrate into the yard over a period of time.”

Kevin continues to visit the learners on their residential courses, sharing his own experiences of the industry and encouraging them to plan for the future since only a handful can make it to the very highest level as jockeys and life-changing injuries are only ever one bad fall away.

Kevin said:

It’s quite similar to football – they all arrive at the British Racing School or the Northern Racing College and they want to be the next Frankie Dettori or Tony McCoy, so I always tell them that being a jockey isn’t the be-all and end-all, there are other careers in the industry and all the courses we can offer them through NARS."

This case study is one of five published in Helping Young People into Work and Training