Apprenticeships, Budget 2025

Reeves puts the ‘squeeze’ on big employers with budget levy tweaks 

Chancellor warned that trio of reforms 'risks dampening appetite among levy-paying organisations already dealing with rising hiring, pension and...

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Apprenticeships

The apprenticeships boost is not the game-changer SMEs need

The Chancellor’s funding pledge for under-25 apprenticeships is welcome, but rising labour costs and missing incentives still leave small...

Jessica Hill
Tina McKenzie
Apprenticeships

Treasury is still skimming the levy while NEET numbers surge

A narrow NEET policy won’t shift the dial – we need to go beyond providing a safety net for...

Jessica Hill
Ben Rowland
Apprenticeships

Are assessment reforms a safety risk we can’t afford?

The government’s drive to streamline apprenticeship assessment may look efficient on paper, but employers warn it risks dismantling the...

Jessica Hill
Justine Fosh and Ann Watson
Budget 2025, Politics

Apprentice minimum wage to rise to £8

New hourly rate will apply from April 2026, chancellor set to announce at tomorrow’s budget

Anviksha Patel
Anviksha Patel
Apprenticeships, Skills reform

Business backlash builds over ‘dumbed down’ apprenticeships

More employer groups gear up to fight assessment shake-up that 'risks damaging the brand and driving employers away'

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Skills reform

The skills system is broken because we keep fixing it in pieces

Employers aren’t walking away from training – they’re being driven off by complexity, cost and constant reform

Jessica Hill
Lindsay Conroy
Apprenticeships

Let’s stop treating school apprenticeships as second-class training routes

Apprenticeships have been overlooked in the education world, yet they’re quietly transforming how we recruit, train and retain talent

Jessica Hill
Monique Macauley
Training Providers

Performance Through People bought by chamber of commerce

‘Business-as-usual’ after training provider deal is announced

Anviksha Patel
Anviksha Patel