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11 April 2026

Author: Jude Burke

Damian Hinds reacts to concerns that spend on apprenticeships is soaring

The education secretary didn’t deny that the apprenticeships budget is heading for a £500 million overspend this year, when he was quizzed about it by FE Week. Damian Hinds was asked whether he acknowledged the Institute for Apprenticeships’ concern, revealed in a presentation by its chief operating officer Robert Nitsch last week, that “we are […]

DfE pauses publication of monthly apprenticeship starts

The Department for Education has yet to reveal how many people have started apprenticeships in 2018/19 – even though it had been publishing monthly updates until now. Provisional figures for the final month of 2017/18 were published in October, and numbers for August – the first month of 2018/19 – were expected alongside today’s final […]

Apprenticeships starts down nearly a quarter last year

Apprenticeship numbers fell by almost a quarter last year compared to the year before, according to final figures published by the Department for Education this morning.  There were 375,800 apprenticeship starts in 2017/18, a drop of 118,600 – or 24 per cent – on 2016/17’s total of 494,400, and a decrease of 26 per cent […]

DfE urgently seeking answers to why level two apprenticeships fell by 38%

The Department for Education is urgently seeking to “improve understanding” of what’s behind the drop in level two apprenticeships, as the latest statistics show numbers have fallen by more than a third in the space of a year. There were just 161,400 starts at level two in 2017/18, according to the final apprenticeship figures for […]

Advanced learner loan participation falls for first time

The number of people taking out advanced learner loans last year fell by more than eight per cent – the first overall fall in number since the loans were introduced in 2013. A total of 109,000 people took out loans in 2017/18, compared with 119,000 in 2016/17. Participation at all ages fell except for those aged between […]

Give nursing degree apprenticeships special treatment, education committee urges

The NHS will not meet its apprentice recruitment target unless nursing degree apprenticeships are given special treatment, an influential group of MPs has warned. The education select committee’s report, ‘Nursing degree apprenticeships – in poor health’, based on its inquiry over the summer, was published today. It highlighted a series of obstacles to the delivery […]

Ofsted annual report 2017/18: Nine key findings for FE

Amanda Spielman presented her second annual report as Ofsted’s chief inspector this morning. She used it to highlight improvement in overall FE outcomes in the face of funding pressures, as well as concerns that the apprenticeship levy isn’t being used as intended. FE Week has the nine key findings for FE and skills providers.   […]

Levy budget bust: Government agency warns of imminent apprenticeship over-spend

The apprenticeships budget for England is set to be overspent by £0.5 billion this year, rising to £1.5 billion during 2021/22, according to the government agency for apprenticeships. The warning from the Institutes for Apprenticeships follows a refusal from the Department for Education last month to answer FE Week’s questions concerning the full levy costs. […]