The long-awaited level 2 administration assistant apprenticeship has been pushed back again – possibly until August.
FE Week understands the standard has been assigned a funding band of £4,000 and is awaiting final approval from work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden.
The apprenticeship was initially allocated an indicative £6,000 funding band after being signed off by a government route panel last year, with employers behind its design expecting it to be available for delivery from August 2025.
It is understood the revised funding decision and ongoing affordability concerns in the wider apprenticeship system delayed the start date.
Employers told FE Week they were “at a loss to understand why Skills England is not providing any definitive updates or timelines”.
Minister signals importance for young people
An August 2026 launch would come six years after the level 2 business administration apprenticeship framework was closed to new starts in 2020.
It was one of the most popular apprenticeships across the country under the old-style framework system – hitting around 30,000 starts annually, 83 per cent of which were for under-19s.
The absence of a direct replacement at level 2 under the new-style standards system has been a source of frustration for employers and training providers, who argue this apprenticeship would help address the rising number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET).
The administration assistant standard has been the subject of a lengthy employer-led campaign for approval, including public sector bodies such as councils and the NHS.
A source close to the trailblazer group said: “After over five years of lobbying, we were advised in December that the standard was finally being approved, so the continued delay in publishing this vital standard is incredibly frustrating.
“With all the rhetoric around NEETS and the decline in young people on apprenticeships, and the fact we know there is huge demand from the over 900 employers who supported the trailblazer group from all sectors, we are at a loss to understand why Skills England is not providing any definitive updates or timelines.
“Unofficial sources have said August 2026, and if this is the case then this needs to be confirmed so employers can plan and providers are ready to deliver.”
FE Week asked skills minister Jacqui Smith about the apprenticeship’s launch in a recent interview for National Apprenticeship Week.
While she did not confirm a specific date, Smith emphasised that apprenticeships of this kind would play an important role in supporting young people into training.
“I don’t know the exact detail about the timing, but certainly that type of apprenticeship, alongside foundation apprenticeships, alongside thinking about other ways in which we can encourage young people into training, will be a really important way in which we both pivot to young people and we use apprenticeships and skills to address the NEETs issue, which is an enormous priority for Pat and the team,” the minister said.
Budget pressures contribute to delay
Last year’s apprenticeship budget overspent for the first time, and £43 million has been added in-year to this year’s pot, which now stands at £3.118 billion.
Ministers are streamlining the apprenticeship system to cut costs, including by defunding level 7 apprenticeships for people aged over 21, and are working up plans for potential cuts to management apprenticeships.
A level 3 business administration standard has been live since 2017 and is consistently one of the top five most popular apprenticeships with around 12,000 annual starts.
The addition of a level 2 administration assistant apprenticeship is likely to prove popular and therefore expensive, even with a £4,000 funding band.
The Department for Work and Pensions told FE Week that officials would share an update on this apprenticeship “in due course”.
L2 BA is needed / has been missing too long!!
The question is will there actually be any job vacancies created by employers at that level when Jacqui Smith manages to “sign off” this Standard. The article suggests that many potential recruits will currently be NEETS, I realise that can cover a wide range of ability levels & work ethic attitudes, but the £8-00 / hr rate means circa £1K per month costs to the employer.