Apprenticeship refusal

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Good afternoon all

My daughter was offered an apprenticeship at a local nursery two weeks ago. She has been chasing them for paperwork and a start date, only to be told the manager is of sick.
Today she heard back from the manager that she wasn't allowed to give her the job as she is only 16. My poor daughter has turned down two jobs and another interview based on the fact that they had given her the job. I'm absolutely appalled at how they have treated her and that they haven't done their due diligence to check wherther or not she was allowed to be offerd a role based on her age.
She left school in June and hasnt been working but has been job hunting. 6th Form or college aren't an option now, she is also neurodiverse and doesn't want to go back into a school setting.
Can anyone offer any advice on how I can escalate this? I have contatced both the manager of the nursery and the recruitment department. Its a country wide nursery group.
Thanks in advance.

If you escalate something, you need to know what you want from it. What do you want to happen? They can’t give her the job. It’s fair to complain about how they have handled it.

Escalate it for what reason? They can’t give her the job, that’s the end of it. Escalating it isn’t going to change the position that she is in now. Focus your time and energy on helping her to find something else now, you gain nothing from wasting more time on a dead end.

You need to find out why being age 16 is a problem (if it genuinely is), eg is it company policy? If so the manager should have known. So begin by asking that. I would be surprised if being 16 prevents her from being eligible for the actual apprenticeship, but I may be wrong. Since your DD wants the job I would approach this tactfully, first with the manager, explaining how keen your DD is, how willing to learn. Try and get the reasons in writing if the manager is adamant she cannot give your DD a job. If this approach is unsuccessful you could make enquiries with the company head office.

I am not convinced that being 16 is a bar to working in a nursery. Plenty of 16 year olds do childcare courses at college which require placements in nurseries or other childcare settings.

If there’s lone working or key holding responsibilities involved she may need to be 18. I would move on, don’t ponder it and good luck in finding somewhere suitable x

Escalate OT to what or who? Do you think they will turn around and sa,y 'Woops sorry she can have it now' what d you actually want now that will change it?

Erm what’s the point? It’s going to have no positive outcome for your daughter. She’s been knocked down best to concentrate on her getting back up again.

No, I disagree with all, I think there is a point to complaining about this awful treatment.

Isn't the usual school leaving age 16 - so they would assume she is 16 - perhaps it's insurance reasons, not a company decision.
I was imagining a garden nursery - I'm sure rules are very strict for a child nursery.

Thanks for the responses. Escalate it because they knew she was 16 and went through the whole process with her and to avoid this happening to someone else in the same situations. This was also through a government apprenticeship scheme, so there had to be something amiss.

To add. I did escalate it to the head office for clarity, only to be told that the manager was in the wrong and they were in fact able to offer her a place on the scheme as originally thought. The manager at the branch had her wires crossed. My daughter will now be starting in October once her DBS has come through.

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