School leavers, particularly those going to university or college this month, are being strongly encouraged to get vaccinated against meningococcal disease after figures released today showed less than a fifth of young people across the West Midlands have received the vaccine so far this year. Last month Public Health England (PHE) advised all school leavers, but especially ‘freshers’,to get the jab from their GP to protect against this potentially deadly disease.

The leading government backed organisation for promoting apprentice training in the UK has become a strategic partner in a ground breaking initiative that will culminate in a major awards evening in Birmingham. WorldSkills UK and The Asian Apprenticeship Awards have agreed to become strategic partners for the forthcoming awards on the 10 November. The very best in Asian apprentices will be celebrated at a gala event in November that will be the first of its kind.

A new coding club is set to open at Bilston Library this week, giving children the chance to develop their computer programming skills. Run by volunteers from the University of Wolverhampton's Computer Science course, the after-school club will meet every Wednesday from this week at 4.30pm and 5.30pm. The Code Club is open to children aged from nine to 11 and gives them the chance to use Scratch, the graphical programming language, to design their own computer games, animations and websites.

The UK construction sector could be heading for a major skills crisis in the wake of Brexit, but Walsall College is warning firms to take action now to future proof their workforce and safeguard the UK industry. According to a recent report by business consultants, Arcadis, there are more than 200,000 construction workers currently working in the UK from EU countries. While the impact of Brexit still remains unclear, the skills gap in the sector is already at an all-time high, following the government’s announcement last year that it needs to build one million new homes before 2020 to meet the growing demand for housing in the UK.

More than 2,000 city residents - a record amount - poured through the doors at the fourth Wolverhampton Jobs Fair. They were able to take advantage of over 1,500 job and apprenticeship opportunities - and a large number walked away with interview invites. The event was organised as part of the build up to Wolverhampton Business Week and was held in the WV1 Suite at Molineux Stadium.

A third of young people (32%) aged 16 to 21 in the West Midlands aren’t confident about finding a job in the next few years and lack information about local job opportunities (36%), according to a new report published by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) and EY Foundation - Age of Uncertainty: Young people’s views on the challenges of getting into work in 21st century Britain.