Shadow Education Minister for Young People Woodcock on panel to look at ‘big questions’ over 3m apprenticeships target

Shadow Education Minister for Young People John Woodcock (pictured above) features among an FE and skills Parliamentary panel that will tonight reflect on “big questions” surrounding the drive for 3m apprenticeship starts.

He will be joined by Ashley McCaul, chief executive at London training provider Skills for Growth, councillor Tom Bewick, managing director at consultancy firm New Work Skills Ltd and chair of Brighton & Hove City Council’s children, young people and skills committee, and Mike Thompson, director of early careers at Barclays Bank.

They will be considering England’s apprenticeship system in light of the government’s target of 3m starts by 2020.maccaul bewick thompson

The House of Commons event is hosted by the Young Fabians Education Network (YFEN) and is entitled ‘Beyond 3m: A successful apprenticeships system for the UK’.

A spokesperson for YFEN, the section for under-31-year-olds of the Fabian Society left-wing thinktank, said: “Big questions remain on how we can develop the apprenticeship system we need.

“This event will explore, how do we encourage more businesses to offer more high quality apprenticeships; given how oversubscribed many current apprenticeship schemes are, how do we ensure that apprenticeships offer progression routes into good jobs; and, what can we learn from successful vocational systems overseas.”

The event, he added, will also look at how Labour should respond to recent policy announcements around apprenticeships.

The 90-minute panel is set to run from 6.30pm — follow @FEWeek for live coverage on Twitter with the #Beyond3m hashtag.

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