The government has been told to explore alternative ways of engaging small and medium employers (SMEs) in apprenticeships after a multi-million-pound brokerage “pathfinder” failed to raise awareness or boost starts.
An evaluation report for the Department for Education’s “SME apprenticeship brokerage” pilot was published on Friday and outlined “significant barriers” including strict eligibility criteria and administrative struggles.
The DfE set aside £2.5 million in 2022 to fund the trial which involved brokers providing SMEs with support to set up apprenticeship service accounts, selecting the appropriate training provider and apprenticeship standard, and recruiting the candidate for the role.
The pathfinder operated in four areas in the north of England where apprenticeship starts have declined substantially in recent years and to support the government’s “levelling up” agenda: Greater Manchester and East Lancashire, Merseyside and Northwest Lancashire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire, and the North East.
Researchers at Alma Economics found that SMEs who had apprenticeship starts through the pilot were “happy with their experience and were satisfied with the support the broker and the training provider had provided”.
However, take-up of the brokerage offer was “lower than anticipated”, the report said without providing any figures.
Payment problems
Payment for brokers was dependent on evidenced outcomes with SMEs at three stages. A 25 per cent payment was made when the broker engaged with an eligible employer. Upon completion of onboarding, where the SME was “equipped with the knowledge and support needed to make an informed decision about recruitment”, a further 50 per cent payment was made. A final 25 per cent payment was made when the SME recruited their first apprentice.
The report said brokers noted that not having an upfront marketing budget “limits their ability to raise awareness of the pathfinder, and accurately target eligible employers”.
It added: “Most brokers and training providers felt that levels of engagement with SME Brokerage Pathfinder were lower than expected and attributed this slow start to engagement with needing time to make local connections, and to understand the nuances of the sectors involved.”
Interested SMEs not eligible
Eligibility criteria for the pathfinder “resulted in interested businesses not being eligible”, researchers also found.
Brokers mentioned having to turn down businesses based on not having been trading for a minimum of 12 months, having had an apprentice in the last two years, or being outside of the geographic scope of the pilot.
Starts ‘much’ lower than projected
Researchers said SMEs who got involved in the pathfinder “valued support in choosing the right apprenticeship qualification and getting assistance registering with the apprenticeship service”.
But overall the trial has faced “significant challenges, including the number of starts being much lower than projected, meaning alternatives should be explored”.
The DfE refused to release the projected or actual starts numbers for the project.
Other barriers included concern from brokers around entry points as set by training providers “leading to delayed starts and not being compatible with the schedules of employers”.
A lack of suitable candidates was “identified as a potential barrier to starts, with challenges in finding the right person to take on the apprenticeship”.
SMEs also struggled with the administration associated with starting an apprentice, including registration for the apprenticeship service account. This was especially the case for micro-organisations where all staff members are multi- functional, and there is no dedicated administrative or HR staff to handle onboarding requests”.
Researchers made a series of recommendations including the need for changes to the payment model and eligibility criteria. But ultimately the DfE was told to “explore alternative models of support for similar programmes in the future”.
SEND pilot flexibilities rolled out
The DfE also released the evaluation report for its apprentices with SEND pilot on Friday.
Following the success of this trial, the government now allows all providers to use a flexibility that allows apprentices with learning difficulties but without a pre-existing education health and care plan (EHCP) or statement of learning difficulties assessment (LDA) to work towards a lower level of functional skills.
FE Week first reported on this move in March. You can read the full evaluation report here.
Your thoughts