Ministers should consider withholding a larger share of apprenticeship funding from training providers until apprentices complete their programmes in a bid to boost achievement rates, the Sutton Trust has urged. Currently, 80 per cent of the agreed training cost of an apprenticeship is paid through monthly instalments during delivery, with the remaining 20 per cent paid at the end of the programme. Social mobility charity Sutton Trust today proposed rebalancing the timing of payments for large training providers so that “greater weight” is given to apprenticeship completion. A possible alternative would see 70 per cent paid during delivery and 30 per cent at completion, the charity said, arguing that this could give providers a stronger incentive to focus on achievement and training quality. However, the Sutton Trust acknowledged that changing the payment balance could affect providers’ running costs. It called for a consultation involving training providers, employers, apprentices and other stakeholders to explore the benefits and drawbacks. Simon Ashworth, deputy CEO and director of policy at the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, warned that moving more funding to completion would be a “huge mistake”. “It encourages recruitment to focus on those who are most likely to complete, not those furthest from their destination, so that would be self-defeating,” he added. “If anything, providers need funding at the start to reflect the real cost of onboarding and supporting learners, not more money withheld until the end.” Tick-box training accusations The proposal was among a series of recommendations in a Sutton Trust report, ‘staying the course’, which explored why young people leave apprenticeships before completing them and how achievement rates could be improved. Fewer than two-thirds of apprentices currently complete their programmes, with the rate even lower among those in the most deprived areas. The national apprenticeship achievement rate has, however, risen from 51.4 per cent to 65.4 per cent in three years. In March, work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden said he would “like to see achievement rates reach and exceed 70 per cent in the coming years”. Drawing on interviews with 317 apprentices aged 18 to 30, including 100 who had dropped out, the Sutton Trust report said weak line management, a disconnect between workplace duties and off-the-job training, workload pressures and disjointed programme delivery were common problems. The research was based on qualitative interviews and is not nationally representative. Sutton Trust said its findings were intended to illustrate apprentices’ experience rather than provide statistical estimates. Apprentices told researchers they were often left to manage the relationship between their employer and training provider themselves, including flagging diary clashes and trying to make their training fit their work. The charity also pointed to financial pressures, including low apprenticeship pay, living costs and travel expenses. Some apprentices described training as a “box-ticking” exercise – leading researchers to criticise online training mostly delivered by independent training providers. The report said remote provision can offer flexibility, but warned that poor-quality online learning and sporadic tutor contact can leave apprentices isolated. The Sutton Trust repeated its call for apprentices to have a minimum requirement for face-to-face off-the-job training – a recommendation first made in another report by the charity last year called ‘a world of difference’ – as well as clearer rules on what counts as off-the-job training and stricter enforcement. ‘The real issue is affordability’ Other recommendations from the charity included a call on Skills England to introduce a fully funded, optional line-management training unit for small and medium-sized employers taking on young apprentices. It also wants apprenticeship brokerage services, being funded with £240 million in 14 mayoral strategic authorities, to be available to all areas of the country. Ashworth said apprenticeship completion depends on an apprentice remaining in work as well as the quality of training, adding that providers already operate within a highly regulated system of inspection and accountability. “Overall quality of apprenticeships is in a good place; the real issue is affordability,” he claimed. “Providers would love to provide more in-person support, but funding bands have struggled to keep up with inflation, and popular programmes for young adults such as level 3 business administrator have not had a funding increase since deployment in 2017. Here lies the real challenge that the report does not grasp.” A government spokesperson said: “Apprenticeships remain one of the most effective routes into a good career, with achievement rates increasing 14 percent points over a three-year period to 65.4 per cent. “We have worked to further strengthen the apprenticeship system, including introducing changes to the funding rules to ensure they support high-quality training for all apprentices. “We have robust measures to ensure training providers deliver a high standard of service and support apprentices effectively.”