Potteries Educational Trust
‘apprenticeships’
David Phillips explains why reform is needed to ensure trainees learn a broader set of skills to suit businesses’ needs. Presented with the top line figures, most people would assume the apprenticeship programme is in fair shape and they would be right. In the last academic year, there were around 520,000 apprenticeship starts, more than […]
Opinion
Traineeships are the government’s latest weapon in the fight against youth unemployment, but, asks Mike Hopkins, what hope do trainees really have of a job in the end and is the free labour offer, that is inherent to the programme, open to abuse? There appears to have been some frustration at a slow uptake on […]
David Harbourne agrees with much of what has been recommended in the Labour skills taskforce review, but recommends a more flexible approach to policy. There’s something vaguely familiar about the apprenticeship reforms proposed by Labour’s skills taskforce — also known as the Husbands Review. As it happens, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Take the […]
Business leaders have attacked Labour leader Ed Miliband’s plans to make firms train a “local” apprentice for every foreign worker they employ. John Longworth, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, labelled the proposal an “apprentice tax” on employers. He said: “Businesses need to be able to choose the talents and resource they need […]
News
An extra £20m funding will be available for over 19 traineeships, but there is no new cash for 16 to 18-year-olds despite a “pressing” need. The funding, announced by Skills Minister Matthew Hancock on Thursday, is for the government’s flagship scheme which offers learners work experience alongside English, maths and employability training. The cash has […]
The government’s £232m pot of cash for FE loans could be going on courses not aimed at getting people into a job or higher education, FE Week has learned. The cash was set aside by the Skills Funding Agency to fund provider “loan facilities” as part of the new 24+ advanced learning loans system, launched […]
High street fast food business Subway was among hundreds of employers on the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) website advertising jobs that paid less than the national minimum wage, FE Week has discovered. The legally-required amount that employers must pay apprentices went up 3p to £2.68 on October 1. But many jobs — with start dates […]
Download your free copy of the FE Week 16-page special report on the PAYE proposal in the government’s apprenticeship funding consultation, sponsored by Pearson. Click here to download (10mb) ——————————————————————————————– Introduction Time has been called on a consultation into the most radical reform proposals for apprenticeship funding in generations. The government have confirmed around 350 responses […]
Supplements
Teresa Frith compares different visions for the future of apprenticeships. The Husbands Review of apprenticeships is, at first glance, wife of the Richard Review. It also takes what, by all measures, is a successful government-supported initiative and seeks to introduce radical change. It would be a brave person who claimed there is nothing wrong with […]
