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10 April 2026

Tag: apprenticeships

Apprenticeships in green skills sectors require joined-up thinking

Apprenticeships can only meet our green skills needs if we follow the lead of employers, and link up across government departments, writes Jennifer Coupland Apprenticeships and technical education are vital to train people for two million green jobs targeted by government by 2030. This is a great opportunity for business to take advantage of the […]

Apprenticeships should be a core part of the levelling-up agenda

The government needs to take action over the decline in apprenticeship starts if the country is to ‘level up’, writes David Phillips The government has outlined ambitious and laudable plans for their levelling-up agenda, with the release of their recent white paper. This promises to address geographic inequality across the country by investing in education […]

Students are keen on apprenticeships, but still need earlier guidance

Among current undergraduate applicants, almost half expressed an interest in apprenticeships, writes Clare Marchant As part of FE Week’s focus on apprenticeships, we’ve delved into our latest UCAS survey data to get an up-to-date picture of how the undergraduate students and apprentices of the future feel about their next steps ̶ setting them up for […]

Can we reduce learner dropout without increasing trainer workload?

Training managers end up struggling with caseloads due to the volume of reporting required, writes Brad Tombling The training provider sector is critical to delivering the full skills complement needed to run tomorrow’s private and public sector businesses.    The future of the training industry is optimistic. But there are some operational and policy-induced hurdles […]

The government must act quickly if targets for electrical vehicles are to be met

We are on countdown to 2030, when no more new petrol and diesel cars will be allowed – but apprenticeships are lagging, writes Sue Pittock At the conclusion of the Commons passage of the skills bill, the government said the new “future skills” unit within the Department for Education will give schools data to show […]

Switching off Treasury cash for apprenticeships is a big mistake

Many of the same problems plague the apprenticeships system as a decade ago. We need a big review, writes Tom Bewick This week, the Treasury switched off the £3,000 incentive scheme to boost England’s apprenticeships during the pandemic. That’s a real pity. Because by all accounts, the scheme had been an incredibly successful way of […]

Employers keep asking for unnecessary maths and English grades from apprentices

The issue facing aspiring apprentices will be even more pressing if BTECs are defunded, writes Henry Faulkner-Ellis Imagine a school leaver has just completed their GCSEs and wants to get on to an apprenticeship scheme. They search through the vacancies online but find that almost every advert asks for qualifications they don’t have. This is […]