To celebrate National Apprenticeship Week, UKFT Education Partner theTextile Centre of Excellence(TCoE) outlines the sector-specific apprenticeships on offer in fashion and textiles, as well as additional training opportunities from its base in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, and beyond.The Textile Centre of Excellence is a private, not-for-profit training provider serving the textile manufacturing sector as well as providing a range of generic training courses for other industries and sectors. The company offers quality-assured, flexible training at all levels from entry level skills to foundation degree equivalent programmes.The centre has been trading from its base in Huddersfield for almost 50 years. It has 75 manufacturing members and the main focus of the Centre's training is its commitment to the fashion and textile apprenticeship programme.Fashion & Textile Apprenticeships on offer at TCoE:The centre has been providing high quality fashion and textile apprenticeships for almost 50 years. In that time, the firm estimates that over 3,000 apprentices have been trained in textile production, fashion manufacturing and other sector roles including Team Leading, Management, Logistics, Warehousing and office-based apprenticeships.TCoE offers a range of technical apprenticeships for fashion and textile employers including:Textile Manufacturing Operative L2Materials Cutter L2Sewing Machinist L2Fashion & Textiles Pattern Cutter L3Garment Maker L3Fashion & Textiles Product Technologist L4Textile Technical Specialist L4Bespoke Cutter & tailor L5 (with The Tailoring Academy)Other supporting apprenticeships that could be used by fashion and textile employersBusiness Administrator L3Customer Service Practitioner L2Laboratory Technician L3Team Leader L3Engineering Technician L3Many people mistakenly believe that the Textile Centre of Excellence (TCoE) only supports the textile industry with apprenticeships in textiles. In reality, about 25% of its apprentices train in non-textile roles such as office administration, leadership, laboratory work and warehousing. Additionally, around 60% of its core business comes from outside the textile sector. Founded to support manufacturers, TCoE serves the entire supply chain. While it takes pride in working with some of the world's leading textile businesses, it is equally proud to be expanding into sectors like construction, engineering, retail, hospitality, and health & social care.Short courses/CPDTCoE offers a range of short courses/CPD that could be used as progression including:Full First Aid at WorkRefresher First Aid at WorkEmergency First AidTrain the TrainerILM L2 Award in Leadership & Team SkillsILM L3 Award in Leadership & MangementL2 Award in Fire SafetyIOSH Managing Safety CertificateNEBOSH National General CertificateRTITB Accredited Forklift Truck TrainingSite Safety Consultancy including: Noise, Dust/Air Sampling, CoSHH, Manual Handling, Confined Space, Fire Risk Assessment, Safe Audits etcSkills BootcampsIntroducing Skills Bootcamps has been a significant change to the way TCoE runs training and education. For the first time, there is a programme that complements all other course offers by giving learners the opportunity to visit mills and gain valuable knowledge of how the sector operates, from fibre blending to finished cloth. This new programme is a L3, high intensity knowledge programme with practical applications in the afternoon. The programme provides significant opportunities to enter the textile jobs landscape and progress onto an apprenticeship in a chosen vocational area.To find out moreContact: Martin Jenkins, Director of Trainingmartinjenkins@textile-training.comNational Apprenticeship Week #NAW2025
