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£40m fund launched to fix ‘market failures’ in degree apprenticeships

Bidding is open for a £40 million fund to address “market failures” in the government’s flagship degree apprenticeship programme.

The Office for Students is seeking projects that will improve take-up of level 6 degree apprenticeships and “address equality of opportunity”.

Ministers were urged to get a grip on access to degree apprenticeships last year as research by the social mobility charity the Sutton Trust found the “middle-class grab” on opportunities was getting worse.

This comes on top of £8 million that has already been allocated to over 100 existing degree apprenticeship providers this year to develop their provision.

To be eligible for the new fund, providers must be registered with the Office for Students under their approved (fee cap) category, but they don’t have to be currently delivering degree apprenticeships.

Robert Halfon, minister for skills, apprenticeships and higher education, said: “Expanding degree apprenticeships is crucial if we are to build a skills and apprenticeships nation that is fit for the future.

“This extra £40 million will allow even more people to benefit, and I am delighted that the OfS has asked universities ands colleges to show how their projects will create more opportunities for people from disadvantaged backgrounds as part of their bids for this funding.”

Bids for the first wave of funding, for projects running up to July 2024, open today and close on November 20, 2023.

Addressing ‘market failures’

According to OfS analysis, of the 343 higher education providers registered in their approved (fee cap) category, 240 were also registered on the apprenticeship provider and assessment register (APAR), formerly known as the register of apprenticeship training providers.

Of the 240, just 99 providers had recorded any degree apprenticeship starts, which the regulator describes as a “market failure”.

“We consider that the relatively small proportion of registered providers currently delivering degree apprenticeship starts represents a market failure. We wish to address this by using our funding to incentivise providers to begin delivery of degree apprenticeships,” OfS funding guidance said.

And although the number of degree apprentices doubled from 6,920 in 2019/20 to 13,510 in 2020/21, the OfS reports that most of that growth was seen in just 24 providers.

This “uneven and slow” growth was also described as “market failure”.

Fixing ‘middle-class grab’

DfE ministers have consistently lauded the degree apprenticeships programme in recent years, but it has been criticised for providing opportunities for already well-qualified people.

The Sutton Trust reported in December that degree apprenticeships were more socially exclusive than the traditional university route. They found that only 5 per cent of those starting a degree apprenticeship in 2020/21 were from lower-income areas, compared with 6.7 per cent of those going to university.

The OfS said it wants to fund projects that target students who are least likely to access higher education.

Using their associations between characteristics of students (ABCS) measure, the OfS found that 50 per cent of degree apprentices that started in 2021/22 were in the top two quintiles of people who are more likely to access higher education.

Projects should target students that are under 21, have a disability, are from under-represented ethnic groups and come from the two lowest quintiles by the index of multiple deprivation.

Currently, just 30 per cent of degree apprentices are under 21 years old, 12 per cent recorded a disability and 86 per cent are from a white ethnic background.

Waves and strands

To be in with a chance of winning funding, providers have to bid under one of two strands in three funding waves.

Strand one of the fund is for providers that are already delivering level 6 degree apprenticeships but with low take-up. Projects in this strand should increase starts on apprenticeship standards already being delivered and begin delivery of new standards.

Strand two is for providers that are new to delivering level 6 degree apprenticeships to “expand provision of apprenticeship standards with currently lower uptake among providers”.

Across both strands, the OfS expect projects to “increase equality of opportunity” in degree apprenticeships.

Eligible providers can compete for funding in three waves. Wave one, for projects that run until July 2024, and wave two, for projects that run until July 2025, open for bids today. Wave three will open in May 2024.

A total of £16 million is available in wave one and £24 million is available for waves two and three.

Providers have until November 20 to bid into wave one and December 19 for wave two.

Why it’s easier than ever for employers to take on apprentices

The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) and Department for Education (DfE) have released the funding rules changes for 2023-2024. After exploring the changes from the previous year’s rules, a theme emerges: many of the changes make it logistically easier for employers to take on apprentices.

Here are some of the changes that have particular significance for employers.

Flexibility in off-the-job training

Some of the greatest changes in terms of impact for employers are around off-the-job (OTJ) training. Previously, some active learning and OTJ had to take place every 4 weeks; now it must take place every calendar month.

This doesn’t sound like a massive change, but it provides important flexibility for employers who may want their apprentices to be working throughout most of a two-month period. For example, this will benefit those employing retail apprentices over Christmas and January sales.

Making enrolment easier

To help facilitate the sign-up process, the apprentice’s line manager is no longer required to sign the documentation. Any suitable individual at the employing organisation with responsibility to agree to the programme can do so.

In addition, training providers can now accept agreement on a training plan in the form of an email from the employer on the apprentice’s start date and obtain the employer’s signature within 42 days of that. However, using this new prerogative should remain an exception. To maintain a smooth onboarding process, we advise that employers continue to look to provide confirmation and a signature before the start date as a matter of policy.

There is also greater flexibility in the initial assessment process. The employer must, of course, agree on the recognition of prior learning, how the apprenticeship will be achieved, the price of the apprenticeship and have input in progress reviews. However, if the employer is unable to attend the initial assessment, the provider can give them the opportunity to contribute afterwards and send them the relevant information after the meeting for review and signature.

Simplifying completion

Where an apprentice works less than 30 hours per week, employers must still extend the planned duration of the apprenticeship. However, apprentices can now complete once they have met the one-year minimum duration provided they have met the OTJ requirements.

On the more administrative side of these changes, a statement signed by the apprentice and the employer to agree that OTJ was less than planned only needs to be provided when both the duration is shorter than planned and hours worked are less than planned.

More flexible review timings

Progress reviews must be completed at least four times a year rather than every 12 weeks, and an alternative frequency can be agreed if there is evidence of good a reason. Similar to the initial assessment, employers must be sent details to review and sign after the meeting if they can’t attend the progress review.

A clearer role for ITPs

The changes also take some of the administrative workload from the employer and place the responsibilities with their training provider. Most noticeably, providers are now responsible for choosing the end-point assessment organisation (EPAO) for the employer, which allows them to draw on their experience and existing relationships. That said, the employer may continue to select the EPAO if they wish.

It has also been clarified that the provider is only responsible for checking that the apprentice is being paid a lawful wage by the employer while the apprentice is on programme.

What’s next?

Providers may wish to make employers aware of this greater degree of flexibility as part of their marketing processes. They should mean more businesses are incentivised to start offering apprenticeships or to expand the number they already offer.

These changes represent a leap forward in simplifying apprenticeships for businesses. However, the ESFA must now ensure that there is a robust and clear framework that allows employers to properly appreciate what is expected of them. The best way to do that would be to recognise and build upon the invaluable experience and expertise of training providers and EPAOs.

I have the answer to better classroom practice. Steal it if you’re busy

Every day we come under increasing pressure to do everything that little bit quicker and better than before. Five-minute meals, 20-minute work outs, 30-minute make overs – harder, better, faster, stronger… The same applies in education, particularly in the chronically under-funded further education (FE) sector, which seemingly normalises ‘more for less’. As availability of resources reduce, pressure increases to be better each year in the various metrics that FE is measured against. Teachers and their learners are ultimately the ones that suffer.

Obvious take alert! Doing things quickly is riddled with issues. Not only does it focus attention on the outcome over the process, but it also leads to irrational thinking. In Thinking Fast and Slow, behavioural psychologist, Daniel Kahneman argues for more focus on slow, rational thinking. He shows that when we have to think quickly, we act on emotions, intuition and impulse. We think our thinking is logical, but in fact we make more errors and rely more on chance for our success.

Take this example for Kahneman’s book. Answer this question without thinking:

If a bat and ball cost £1:10 and the bat is £1 more than the ball, how much is the ball?

Given little time to process, most people’s immediate response to this is 10 pence. It’s got to be, hasn’t it? Well, no. Slow down and read the question carefully. Give yourself a moment to think it through and you can see why that answer is wrong. Give yourself another moment or two and you come to the right answer. (If you’re in a hurry, it’s 5 pence).

Kahneman suggests that the average person makes around 35,000 decisions each day. I’d argue that teachers make many more than this, what with responding to learners’ needs, covering the vast curriculum and countless administrative tasks. And that’s before even considering the cognitive load of moving from one classroom to another several times a day while carrying a smorgasbord of resources.

While these decisions differ in difficulty and importance (e.g., when to nip to the loo), if we had to consciously process all these decisions, we would suffer from serious overload. So, our fast-thinking system acts like a shortcut for us to minimise this. However, making almost all of our decisions based on this system clearly has implications.

You can’t rely on your fastest thinking to improve your teaching

For example, let’s take one of the most fundamental assessment tools that teachers use daily: questioning. I’m as guilty as most here when I check for understanding. Without thinking about a carefully crafted question that can elicit understanding, I often find myself asking an open, voluntary response question instead: ‘Who knows what X is?’

This isn’t going to help me very much as a teacher, as it will always be the one confident learner that responds the quickest. It’s also not very useful for the rest of the learners in the group, those who have little time to think about the question being asked and are essentially being forced to think fast themselves. It sets them up to make errors.

Because the vast majority of our thinking happens quickly, Kahneman suggests that one should ‘inform their gut and then trust it’. The way to do this is through deliberate practice to create habits, so that our fast response system makes fewer errors.

K. Anders Ericsson and colleagues pioneered the idea of deliberate practice, which they suggest is a highly structured activity with the explicit goal of improving performance. However, this isn’t just a case of doing more of the same in the classroom; it requires the isolation of a practice which is rehearsed outside of the classroom.

Thinking back to my example of questioning, deliberate practice requires slow and careful crafting of key questions that allow the whole class to think and contribute. Sure, I hear you. You don’t have time for that. But if you really want to improve an aspect of your teaching, whether that’s behaviour management, explicit instruction, questioning, feedback etc, you can’t rely on your fastest thinking to get it done.

It’s as good an argument as any for leadership that removes extraneous load from teachers and a system that values experience. Failing those, it’s still a great argument for slowing down when we can – and borrowing someone else’s answer when we must.

Why it’s time to recognise the work of colleges as social action leaders

As the further education commissioner and a strong advocate for the sector, I see the value that colleges add to their communities every single day. Further education is a driver of social mobility that enables people from all backgrounds to gain the qualifications they need to achieve their career goals.

But what we have seen over the past two years is a phenomenal movement within the sector that has begun to reflect the real additional value that it provides. Over 140 FE colleges signed up to the Good for Me, Good for FE campaign in 2021, which to date has generated over £4 million of real social value through volunteering.

This figure – verified by a social action calculator based on the TOMS framework – is the result of an extraordinary collective volunteering and fundraising effort led by college staff and students. Much of this activity was ongoing before the campaign launch, but by equating it with a monetary value, colleges have been motivated and inspired to increase and expand their contribution.

The desire and commitment of people within the sector to help others is evident. This is despite the many working pressures experienced by FE staff and reflects the inherent community spirit that runs through colleges. It has also further reinforced the importance of colleges as civic anchor institutions.

Students too are playing an important part. We are seeing a huge amount of inspirational support from young people across the country’s colleges, with student unions driving impressive fundraising and volunteering activity. For example, a group of students and staff cooking food for the homeless and joining me in sleeping in cardboard boxes to raise awareness and funds. This is particularly important to me since I have chaired a local homeless charity board for over ten years.

Students and staff have also raised money for Macmillan by selling cakes; they have sponsored and joined in Moonwalks for their local hospices; they have sponsored young people to attend school in Kenya and travelled there to help build infrastructure. In Chichester, engineering, travel & tourism and construction staff came together to plan and build a children’s play area in a deprived part of the city. I could go on!

We have seen a phenomenal movement within the sector

These activities benefit everyone – the recipients and the person offering the support. Volunteering is proven to positively affect mental health, which was very much part of the rationale behind the Good for Me, Good for FE campaign.

Crucially, the skills and knowledge young people develop through volunteering activities are immense – from improving communication to developing a first-hand understanding of a specific industry. Gaining experience within a workplace (or any other non-education setting) is not only valuable but essential for every young person, whether it’s paid or unpaid.

Plus, someone who has shown commitment and dedication to a voluntary placement on a regular basis is extremely attractive to a future employer. Volunteering is unequivocally advantageous to everyone involved. I believe it should be encouraged on a much wider scale.

With such stark, all-round benefits – coupled with the goodwill and social conscience found within FE communities, colleges need to harness and enhance this fantastic potential.

By encouraging staff and students to undertake community-focused activities, colleges can be social action leaders. Whether this involves giving staff some annual ‘volunteering days’ or supporting students to take up placements at voluntary services or organisations, all will have an incredibly positive impact.

The value a college adds to its local community has obvious reputational benefits. Leading by example in this way as anchor institutions reflects how colleges deliver much more than just qualifications.

That’s why I am so pleased to be on the judging panel of the inaugural Good for Me, Good for FE awards. These will recognise and celebrate some of the amazing individuals, teams and colleges who go above and beyond to support their communities – helping to make FE the unique sector it is.

I look forward to hearing the winners’ stories – and those of all the runners-up – and celebrating their hard work. I very much hope this will inspire more people to get involved so that more communities, including employers, can reap the benefits of a co-ordinated and successful social action movement across our wonderful sector.

Nominations for the 2023 Good for Me, Good for FE awards close at 11.59pm, September 29, 2023.

Colleges are key to closing employment gaps for young people with learning disabilities

This past decade has seen great strides towards genuine inclusion in education and employment for people with disabilities. National Inclusion Week celebrates its eleventh year this month, the Disability Confident scheme launched in 2016 has seen over 18,000 employers sign up, and the number of people with a disability who receive high qualifications increases every year. But when it comes to young people with a learning disability, how close are we to closing the inclusion gap?

While the employment rate for disabled people remains low at 53%, compared to 81% for non-disabled peers, the situation is a lot more dire for those with a learning disability or who are autistic. Employment outcomes for people with learning disabilities have declined from 5.6% in 2021 to 4.8% in 2023, even as that same period saw the highest number of job vacancies in the country.

Increasing numbers of educators and employers are now embracing the social model of disability and know inclusivity brings enormous benefits for disabled and non-disabled people alike. And yet, young people with SEND who want to finish their education, find their feet and earn a living wage face enormous challenges.

The partners in our consortium, Internships Work, have helped thousands of young people into work through supported employment schemes. We know that for young people with SEND the journey to fulfilling employment starts in education. Colleges are agents of change. By helping students access supported internships and other employment pathways, they are offering young people a chance to gain lifelong skills and to be ambitious about their future.

Supported internships are not new. Introduced in 2013, they have a proven track record of success, consistently driving change for young people with additional needs. Stories like Toseef’s are the rule, not the exception, for supported interns. On average, 70 per cent of supported interns in our partnership get a full-time, paid job upon completion. Research shows that supported employment programmes consistently achieve better outcomes for young people.

High-quality support is available to colleges

When Internships Work was launched in 2022, commissioned by the DfE, the programme aimed to double the number of supported interns by 2025, with 4500 young people benefiting annually – transforming their lives and defying societal assumptions. We are on track to deliver that goal, but we cannot do it without the support and involvement of our education partners.

Colleges and schools are pivotal in driving inclusion for young people with SEND and setting them up for success. They can and must offer young people who come through their doors not only qualifications but the skills to raise their ambitions and succeed in life. The key now is to make sure that support and opportunity follow every young person as they leave college and step into their future. With local authorities, employers, mentorship schemes and charities, we need to work together to make supported internships work.

For busy colleges, getting involved in supported employment can feel overwhelming: it is a responsibility and might involve additional administrative pressures. In reality, high-quality consistent support is available to guide colleges in making the process work seamlessly for them. We can offer efficient tools and support fostering partnerships that will enable colleges to build sustainable transition to employment programmes.

In return, colleges that provide supported internships can benefit from enhancing their reputation, attracting funders’ interest and creating enormous positive impact for their communities.

We are asking colleges to open their doors to supported internship programmes. Embrace the resources and support available, collaborate with their local SEND employment forums, and together, let’s shape a future where every young person’s potential is recognised and fulfilled. Join us in creating a world where diversity and inclusion are not just aspirations, but employment pathways for all.

Five practical tools for engaging in supported internships:

Access the college information page at Internships Works, a 360-degree employment support package for education providers.
Sign up for job coach training to equip your staff with the skills to guide students toward successful careers.
Connect with local SEND employment forums to collaborate with stakeholders to drive lasting change.
Engage with Internships Work’s regional leads to unlock the potential of supported internships for young people with learning disabilities.
Become a peer reviewer for the Supported Internships Quality Assurance Framework (SIQAF) to play an active role in elevating the quality of supported internships.

This article was also co-authored by Claire Cookson, CEO, DFN Project SEARCH

NDTi, BASE and DFN Project SEARCH are partners in the Internships Work consortium, commissioned by the Department for Education to double the current supported internship provision in England.

A supported internship changed my prospects and could help your learners too

About 3 years ago, I was finishing college and trying to look ahead to a bright future. Finishing education and starting to look for work is daunting – every young person has been there and I was no exception. But my disability meant that the idea of getting a full-time paid job doing work I would enjoy, especially in the NHS, seemed nearly impossible. Only about 5 per cent of people with a learning disability like me have a paid job in the UK, so I was likely to become one of the 95 per cent who don’t.

Through my college, a mentor recommended doing a supported internship – a programme for young people with learning disabilities which is just like a usual internship in a workplace but with extra support from a job coach.

During my time at college, I was very quiet and often struggled to adjust to new environments, but my tutors helped my confidence grow and they could see my caring side; they already knew I could be a great care worker. They encouraged me to apply for an internship at my local NHS Foundation Trust.

One of the things I really wanted to do (but was also really scared to do) was to learn to use a defibrillator and the programme promised me that. Little did I know that learning to use a defib was going to be just a small part of the exciting, sometimes nerve-wracking but always important jobs I would get to do on a daily basis.

Doing an internship in the NHS is extraordinary – no two days are the same and no two people you meet, patients or staff, are the same. During my rotations (the internship allows you to try working in different departments on rotation), I met people and families I really wanted to help. Like the lady who was looking after her husband who’d had two strokes and was on her own without any family, to whom I lent a compassionate ear. Or the lady who never took part in any day activities because she only spoke Urdu and needed a translation sheet.

My colleagues can’t believe I was the quiet one in college

It turns out that not only could I work on the ward, but because I am compassionate and pay attention to needs, I could really help patients – sometimes better than any of the permanent staff on the ward. For listening to and helping patients and developing tools like translation sheets to improve our work, I was given a Calderdale and Huddersfield Foundation Trust star award. It’s a moment I am really proud of.

That’s not to say that every day at my job has been easy. It has been three years of ups and downs, but earlier this year I got a permanent paid position with the trust as an engagement support worker, and I could not be prouder. I am also a learning disability champion within the trust.

Nowadays, I am confident and chatty. In fact, I recently gave a speech at the nursing and midwifery conference. My colleagues can’t believe I was the quiet one in college. I have also been very lucky. The rest of the team really values my opinion, so while they have been teaching me how to work in the fast-paced ward environment, I have been teaching them to better understand patients and colleagues with learning disabilities. I think it’s a win-win for everyone!

This coming September, I will be speaking to other young people with learning disabilities who are coming onto the supported internship programme to tell them about my journey. I just can’t wait, because I know the internship will change their lives like it changed mine.

Toseef is an Engagement Support Worker at Calderdale & Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust and a former DFN Project SEARCH supported intern. Before his internship, he studied at Calderdale College.

If your skills strategy isn’t funding – it’s not worth talking about

In this time of crisis, and it is a crisis, there should be one message and one alone coming from our political leaders. That message is more funding.

To be specific, we need to see an increase by a minimum increase of 10 per cent across all FE funding, distributed through per-learner funding. This needs to happen now. Not in months. Not after another review. Not after a general election. Now!

Yes, we need a coherent government skills strategy, but that is not what the sector is crying out for. I talk to leaders across the sector and the message is clear: Current funding is not enough to meet the minimum expectations of employers, learners and Ofsted.

Providers are not asking for gold-plating here. They just want to offer a high-quality experience that boosts learning and transforms lives. But the cost increases everyone is facing make that impossible.

This is not news to anyone. There is no point feeding the public headlines about ambitions for the future while the system that delivers it collapses around us. Policy makers can design whatever skills system they like on paper; without funding, it will fail our young people, adult learners and the economy, hurting the most disadvantaged first.

There is not point trumpeting the amount of funding that is available either. However plentiful it sounds to the layperson, the sector needs more. It won’t be fobbed off with standard responses about numbers of billions or the biggest investment ever. There simply isn’t enough, and too much of what there is doesn’t make it to the frontline. The problem is the amount of funding made available per learner per course.

Providers can increase group sizes, reduce programme hours, increase staff delivery hours and wipe out other expenditures. But all that was already happening before we faced spiralling costs, increased regulation and increasing employer and learner expectations.

We have reached a critical point. Providers are going bankrupt, the range of provision is being slashed and all I hear as I travel the country is: “Mark, I have nothing left to cut”.

Generally, the learners that need FE the most are the poorest funded and the first to lose opportunity. Apprenticeships are part of the solution, but they are far from the whole solution. The whole adult skills system is in a perilous state.

There is no space left for innovation and efficiency

Funny enough, I don’t hear complaints about lack of opportunities for management degree apprenticeships, but I do hear plenty about the challenges faced by the care, childcare, hospitality and retail sectors – the very jobs we classed as essential during the pandemic and asked so much sacrifice from.

These are entry-level jobs that are vital for the overall performance of our economy. So let’s get real here. Yes, degree apprenticeships are fantastic and should be encouraged. And yes, far more university students should be doing a degree apprenticeship. But is the maximum funding of £27,000 really causing a crisis and the withdrawal of provision?

And by the way, in everyone else’s book, degree-level apprenticeships are HE, not FE. You can’t offer a degree apprenticeship without degree-awarding powers. So why aren’t HE putting their hands in their pockets?

I realise there is no ‘magic money tree’, so it’s time to compromise.

If there is no more money and the system needs more funding per learner, we have to lower the number of learners the sector caters for. If it seems crazy to be arguing for lower numbers when skills are at the top of everyone’s agenda, that’s because it is. But the mad reality we find ourselves in is that without it we will see providers continuing to go bust, colleges in deficit and the quality of delivery declining.

Ofsted have been explicit: Poor funding is already impacting quality. There is no point in further supercharging numbers if the price per learner does not allow for the expected quality of delivery to happen.

FE has always had a lower funding than the rest of the education system and it deserves praise for creating innovative and efficient ways of maintaining quality. But there is no space left for innovation and efficiency.

So if your skills strategy isn’t to fund the sector, it is no strategy at all.

Pepe Di’Iasio confirmed as ASCL’s next general secretary

Pepe Di’Iasio has been confirmed as the next general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders union.

The head of Wales High School in Rotherham and former ASCL president was nominated by the union’s ruling council earlier this year. The membership then had an opportunity to make further nominations, but none were received.

Di’Iasio will replace Geoff Barton in April 2024. He is standing down after seven years in the post.

Di’Iasio said it was a “huge honour to have been selected as general secretary and to have the opportunity to represent our fantastic members across the UK in their work on behalf of children and young people”.

“I will speak truth to power, with the courtesy and respect that is a hallmark of ASCL, but with an absolute determination to produce a better settlement for education.”

Colleges ‘must have funding and staff they need’

He said schools, colleges and trusts “simply must have the funding and staff they need to produce the successful educational outcomes we want to see for all our children and young people”.

“I look forward to leading a superb team of highly committed and talented ASCL staff and working alongside our elected members on ASCL Council whose invaluable work ensures that the association is able to represent the voice of leaders accurately and authentically.”

Di’Iasio has previously been an executive headteacher of two schools and served as assistant director of education in Rotherham.

Barton said he was “absolutely confident that Pepe will take ASCL from strength to strength”.

“He is an outstanding leader with a deep belief in the power of education to transform lives, and a total commitment to support and represent our members in their vital work in the nation’s schools, colleges and trusts.

“He will be an eloquent advocate for the profession who speaks from the heart.”

ASCL has 24,000 members in total. Around 500 members work in colleges.

DfE records £96m apprenticeship underspend in 2022-23

The Department for Education handed £96 million of apprenticeship funding back to the Treasury last year, new figures show.

Of the department’s £2.554 billion total apprenticeship budget in the 2022-23 financial year, £2.458 billon, or 96 per cent, was spent.

It marks an increase in the underspend the department recorded in 2021-22, when just £11 million of its apprenticeship funding went unused.

The rise in underspend follows an increase to the overall apprenticeship budget between those years: it rose from £2.466 billion in 2021-22 to £2.554 billion in 2022-23 to ease pressure being caused by soaring numbers of higher-level apprenticeship starts, which are the most expensive to deliver. There were also no employer cash incentives in 2022-23.

In response to a written parliamentary question from Lord Storey, DfE minister Baroness Barran stated that in the last two financial years, on average, 98 per cent of the English apprenticeships budget was spent.

She said that any underspends in overall departmental budgets by the end of the financial year are returned to the Treasury.

Barran added that as employers choose which apprenticeships they offer and when; annual spend of the apprenticeship budget is “subject to employer demand”.

The underspend for 2022-23 means that £2.178 billion of apprenticeship funding has been handed back to the Treasury by the DfE in the six years since the UK-wide apprenticeship levy was launched in 2017.

These underspend figures are for England only. The devolved administrations also receive funding from the levy to invest in their skills programmes separately.

The DfE’s apprenticeship budget is used to fund training and assessment for new apprenticeship starts in all employers. It means that levy payers’ unspent funds are used to support additional costs and apprenticeships in smaller employers.

The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education warned that the apprenticeships budget was heading for an overspend back in 2018. A National Audit Office report a year later said there was a “clear risk” the programme was not financially sustainable under current arrangements, and costs of training apprentices were around double what was expected in 2015.

But pressure was eased when the Covid-19 pandemic hit in March 2020 and numbers of new starters fell.

The government has committed to increasing England’s apprenticeship budget by £200 million to £2.7 billion by 2024/25.

See this week’s edition of FE Week for more analysis.