apprenticeships | FE Week

Skills minister vows to ‘dig deeper’ into level 2 apprenticeships drop

The skills minister has vowed to “dig deeper” into the drop in level two apprenticeships, and whether it might be linked to the rise in management courses. Anne Milton was speaking exclusively to FE Week following a parliamentary debate on apprenticeships and skills at which the issue was raised. “We need to understand exactly what’s […]

IfA ‘considering’ releasing apprenticeship overspend presentation

The Institute for Apprenticeships is “considering” releasing a presentation given to employers that warned of an imminent apprenticeship overspend. The admission came in a letter, sent today, from its boss Sir Gerry Berragan, in response to a request from shadow skills minister Gordon Marsden. “We are considering the request and will respond as soon as […]

Seven things we learned from the government’s response to select committee apprenticeships report

The government has today published its response to the education select committee’s report, The apprenticeships ladder of opportunity: quality not quantity”, published in October. Here are seven of the key findings from the response: Discounted transport for apprentices won’t arrive anytime soon Last year the Conservative party’s general election manifesto promised to introduce “significantly discounted […]

Pressure mounts on Hinds to explain £500m apprenticeship ‘alleged overspend’

The chair of the influential education select committee has urged the government to be “open and transparent” about a projected £500 million overspend on this year’s £2 billion apprenticeships budget, after the education secretary dodged a question about it in parliament yesterday. Robert Halfon asked Damian Hinds to confirm the figure – first raised by […]

AoC fears college apprenticeships market share will shrink further

The Association of Colleges has warned that colleges’ share of the apprenticeship market will continue to shrink, after FE Week analysis revealed they have been hit hardest by the move to levy funding. New statistics from the Department for Education, which included the number of starts per provider for the first time, show that colleges’ […]

ESFA insists the apprenticeship budget is not under pressure

The top apprenticeship civil servant has sought to reassure the sector after fears were raised of a budget overspend this year, as part of a wide-ranging interview with FE Week. Keith Smith, director of apprenticeships at the ESFA, said he was “not expecting any pressures” on the £2 billion budget this year, in response to […]

Redesigned RoATP to open tomorrow despite no delivery from 1 in 3 approved providers

Almost a third of providers on the government’s register did not deliver any apprenticeships last year, FE Week analysis has revealed – the day before the redesigned register re-opens for applications. There were 1,787 providers on the register of apprenticeship training providers in 2017, of whom 580 – or 32 per cent – had no […]

DfE figures reveal colleges hit hardest by move to apprenticeship levy funding

Colleges were hit hardest by the move to apprenticeship levy funding, FE Week analysis of new figures published by the Department for Education have revealed. The statistics, which included the number of starts per provider for the first time, showed that colleges’ share of the market dropped from 31 to 26 per cent from 2016/17 to […]

Apprenticeship quality remains a ‘mixed picture’, says Ofsted’s Paul Joyce

In July the prime minister claimed that apprenticeship quality had risen since the introduction of the levy and standards – even though Ofsted had found the reverse. Five months on from Theresa May’s comments in parliament, FE Week editor Nick Linford asked Paul Joyce, Ofsted deputy director for FE and skills, if things have improved. […]