its not just the motor trade its any trade, a trainee or apprentice is just to expensive to take on for small firms now. and if they do take on a trainee the wages are simply not enough to survive in todays world. insurance college fees and licensing kills it.
i myself am a apprentice engineer for London underground and am in the final year of my scheme.i achieved c's and above in school in every topic and it took me four years to find this scheme (20 when i started!) and even when i found the position it took six months of recruiting!
My advice for your son is Jo look for schemes in bigger companies e.g non profitable goverment funded companies as they recieve goverment funding for such schemes.
Also try contacting Redwood. ask to speak to a man called Kevin Sowells h takes care of my aprenticeship and can offer great advice even down to writing your CV. He knows where and when to apply and really is a good geezer. His contact number is 0208 749 0853 and e-mail is Kevin.sowells@redwoodskills.com.
Drop him a line and he may be able to help.
You didnt hear it from me