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10 April 2026

Tag: apprenticeships

Employers having control over UK skills policy is ‘rhetoric, not reality’

The government should move away from its “unhelpful” mantra of “employers in the driving seat” in UK skills policy because this is “more rhetoric than reality”, new research has suggested. The phrase was coined with regard to further education in the latter years of the Coalition government – 2010-2015. However, the study has found that […]

Apprenticeship quango launches Quality Strategy with aspiration that no apprentice starts without an assessment body

Employers should have access to at least one end-point assessment organisation (EPAO) before apprentices start their programme, the body responsible for apprenticeship standards and assessment has said today. The “best practice” recommendation, made in a new ‘Quality Strategy’ unveiled by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education today, has been made despite there currently being […]

Scrap funding rule that stops providers from transferring their unspent levy, says UEL

A university has called for the scrapping of an apprenticeship funding rule that stops them from using unspent levy funds to support local businesses. The University of East London delivers apprenticeships to large employers, but after missing out on a non-levy allocation they have to turn small employers away. One solution would be to share […]

Damning Ofsted visit finds provider not knowing who its apprentices are

A training provider has been heavily criticised for not knowing accurately enough who their apprentices are, in an Ofsted monitoring report which rated it ‘insufficient’ across the board. Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust was today accused of failing to understand what constitutes a “high quality apprenticeship programme”. Ofsted found that managers are “unable to provide […]

DfE department responsible for apprenticeship policy has hardly any apprentices

The division responsible for running and promoting apprenticeships within the Department for Education employs the lowest proportion of apprentices across the whole department. Of the 519 people working within the DfE’s Higher and Further Education office, fewer than 10, which is less than 1 per cent, are apprentices. It is not clear the exact number […]

Allow employers to appeal for more time to spend their apprenticeship levy cash, CBI urges

Employers should be allowed to appeal for more time to spend their apprenticeship levy funds if the standards they want to use are still in development, the Confederation of British Industry has said. Its new report, ‘Getting apprenticeships right: next steps’, published today, calls on the government to introduce a process for such employers to […]

Management apprenticeships continue to soar as Milton ‘thrilled’ with rise in starts

Management standards are continuing their reign as the most popular apprenticeships, according to the first statistics for 2018/19 published by the Department for Education this week. The team leader/supervisor had the most starts of any standard in the first quarter of the year, while three other management standards were among the 20 most popular. They […]

2019: The year ahead in FE and skills

2019 is set to be a big year for the FE and skills sector. While it’s still not clear what impact the biggest event of the year – Brexit – will have (on anything!), we’ve taken a look ahead at some of the other key developments expected over the coming 12 months – including the […]