DWP row back on plans to sink maritime apprenticeships

Ministers have U-turned on plans to scrap a batch of maritime apprenticeships after employers and MPs warned axing specialist standards due to low enrolments was “illogical”.

The decision has raised hopes in other specialist industries, including aviation, that officials will reconsider plans to ditch apprenticeships in their sectors, including one to train pilots.

Skills England had earmarked the level 3 small commercial vessel crewmember apprenticeship and four other maritime standards for retirement because of “low starts on programme since approval”.

But the Department for Work and Pensions has now confirmed all five will be retained following representations from employers, trade unions, training providers and representative organisations.

The decision follows warnings in Parliament that scrapping specialist apprenticeships would undermine regional skills pipelines, worsen labour shortages and make it harder for young people to enter industries such as maritime.

The government is reviewing England’s 700-plus apprenticeship standards as part of an effort to streamline the system. Switzerland and Germany – two countries often held up as having world-class technical education systems – offer around half as many apprenticeships.

But employers have warned ministers not to throw the baby out with the bathwater by selecting apprenticeships for defunding solely based on recruitment numbers.

Wave of discontent

The small commercial vessel crewmember apprenticeship has recorded more than 50 annual starts in recent years – mostly for people aged under 25.

While modest compared with recruitment in larger sectors, businesses and MPs argued this reflects the specialist nature of the workboat and small commercial vessel industry rather than a lack of strategic value.

Scrapping this apprenticeship would make entry into the maritime sector “financially prohibitive” for young people, a letter recently sent from MPs to the work and pensions and education secretaries warned.

Self-funding the requisite Maritime and Coastguard Agency accredited short courses and diplomas can cost individuals upwards of £22,000, not including lost earnings and travel expenses.

The letter said: “Replacing a structured, workplace-based apprenticeship with fragmented short courses will erect financial barriers to entry, exacerbate ageing demographics within the maritime workforce, and deepen local skill shortages.”

Ben Wheatley, marine superintendent at Marine Plant Hire in Devon, said retiring the apprenticeship would be “crazy”, warning it was vital for recruiting skilled crew to meet expansion plans.

“Our business operates about 28 commercial vessels, and lots of our crew members have come through this apprenticeship scheme,” he told FE Week.

He cited two employees who became first mates after completing the apprenticeship, saying neither could have afforded to enter the industry without it.

The programme combines essential maritime qualifications with practical skills, opening up well-paid, year-round careers to school leavers, and no other maritime apprenticeships are direct alternatives, Wheatley said. With offshore wind expected to increase demand for workboats and crew, he warned the apprenticeship would become increasingly important.

Ryan Tozer, managing director of SeaRegs Training, added the apprenticeship removes the financial barrier posed by expensive mandatory training, and cited an example of office receptionists becoming pilot boat coxswains who steer and navigate.

He argued low enrolment numbers should not justify retirement, as small vessels typically require only two or three crew members but are essential to keeping ports operating. Growing demand for port services, maritime security and defence, and unmanned vessel technology would increase the need for trained personnel, Tozer added.

The other maritime apprenticeships earmarked for retirement were officer of the watch (near coastal), marina and boatyard operative, marine pilot and seafarer (deck rating).

Most of those usually record below 50 starts each year, but the seafarer standard consistently enrols around 140.

South Devon MP Caroline Voaden and South West Devon MP Rebecca Smith both raised the issue in the House of Commons during Department for Work and Pensions questions this week.

Work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden declined to intervene directly, saying instead that Skills England had heard the representations.

Smith, who is also a shadow education minister for the Conservatives, said: “Judging the value of an apprenticeship purely by how many people enrol completely misses the point. This is a specialist qualification, but for coastal communities like ours, it plays an important role in supporting harbour authorities, maritime businesses and our growing defence sector.”

Voaden, a Liberal Democrat who sits on the education select committee, said axing maritime apprenticeships would limit opportunities for young people, restrict business growth and harm coastal communities. “It is an illogical move for a government supposedly committed to good growth in every postcode,” she added.

She said it was “fantastic news” that the government had ultimately “decided to protect vital maritime apprenticeships”.

RMT Trade Union general secretary Eddie Dempsey said his union “strongly welcomes the fact that Skills England has listened to the concerns, evidence from our seafarer members and to employers and training providers who recognise the vital importance of apprenticeships to deliver local seafarer jobs and careers in our coastal communities”.

Nothing beats a Jet2 apprenticeship

In aviation, big-name employers including Jet2 are concerned about the proposed retirement of standards including the first officer pilot, aviation customer service operative, aviation operations manager and ground operations specialist.

The issue has been raised in Parliament by Labour MP for Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme Lee Pitcher, as well as Scott Arthur, Labour MP for Edinburgh South West.

First officer pilot launched as an apprenticeship in 2019 but does not appear to have had any starts as airlines perceive it as not fit for purpose in its current form due to aviation’s highly regulated and costly training environment.

Training provider availability is also an issue facing aviation apprenticeships, according to DWP minister Lilian Greenwood.

But there is appetite from the industry for pilot apprenticeships since training for the role costs up to £130,000.

Employers such as Jet2, which want to use the apprenticeship as a route into the industry for people from lower and middle-income backgrounds, have been trying to fix its delivery problems. But they fear Skills England will scrap it because it has struggled to take off for so long.

British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA) acting general secretary Zohra Francis said: “Being a pilot is a rewarding and enjoyable career, one of the best available to young people, but one for which cost of training is often a barrier. There already is an apprenticeship scheme for pilots which needs some changes so it works for the industry and increases pathways into aviation.

“I’m asking the government to sit down with BALPA, the airlines and stakeholders to iron out the problems and make the pilot apprenticeship work, so that everyone with the right potential and ambition, regardless of their background, can have a real chance of becoming a pilot.”

Housekeeping duties

The government began streamlining England’s suite of apprenticeship standards last year following then chancellor Rachel Reeves’ November budget.

Ministers defunded a batch of popular management apprenticeships months later that were being mostly used by existing, older workers as opposed to young people entering the workforce.

FE Week understands the government is continuing to explore other standards to defund, namely those that are perceived as generic training that resemble continuing professional development instead of discrete occupations.

Skills England has also consulted with multiple industries to find other apprenticeships that could be surplus to requirements, including those with low starts and in areas where there is too much overlap and duplication between standards.

Experts previously urged officials to recognise that there are heritage skills and niche apprenticeships where small numbers were to be expected, and which they said must not be disproportionately affected.

Baroness Alison Wolf, who served as an adviser on skills to Number 10 from 2020 to 2023, told FE Week in January that simply taking out apprenticeships based solely on their number of new starters would be “lazy and counter-productive”.

Since last year’s budget, nine apprenticeships have been retired, with a further 11 in the pipeline, according to Skills England’s official apprenticeships database. However, this does not include those apprenticeships currently planned for defunding but which are awaiting final consultation decisions.

A Skills England spokesperson said: “Our strategic Skills for Work programme, which spans all sectors, is considering how occupational standards and apprenticeships they underpin can better support growth, employers, places and young people. This isn’t about individual standards – it’s about making sure the system is fit for the future.

“Skills England carries out periodic reviews of individual apprenticeships to make sure they continue to reflect the needs of employers, learners and the wider economy.”

Other apprenticeships currently being considered for retirement include operational research specialist; chartered landscape professional; land referencer; landscape technician; and animal technologist.