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10 April 2026

Tag: apprenticeships

Apprenticeship end-point assessment crisis exposed

The Institute for Apprenticeships has rejected concerns about apprentices being unable to graduate – accusing people who raise them as simply “inflammatory”. FE Week was first to raise the issue of a lack of end-point assessments back in 2016, but are the apprentices really affected? We spoke to scores of providers and employers, and our […]

What lessons can we learn from end-point assessments?

End-point assessment is a vital part of any apprenticeship, and Thomas Burton explains how to get it right. The government wants its trailblazer apprenticeship reforms to have independent end-point assessment (EPA) to drive up productivity. Seen as a vital source of ammunition in the nation’s economic arsenal, the reforms are designed to redress a skills […]

More traineeships are leading to apprenticeships

The proportion of young people who complete a traineeship and move on to an apprenticeship has risen but it still sits below 40 per cent. A pre-employment programme, traineeships were launched five years ago in the government’s drive to support low-skilled unemployed people below the age of 25 onto apprenticeships. But interest – which was […]

Why are apprenticeship drop-out rates so high?

Jisc’s Paul Feldman argues that to boost completion rates, we first need to understand why apprentices are dropping out The government’s desire to have three million people start apprenticeships by 2020, and its moves to widen access through last year’s careers strategy, are both steps in the right direction. These measures will feed into the […]

Chancellor announces £80m to support small businesses with apprentices

There will be an extra £80 million released to help small businesses recruit apprentices, the chancellor has announced in his spring statement to Parliament. But it isn’t strictly new funding, a Treasury official later admitted. “We are committed as a government to delivering three million apprenticeship starts by 2020 with the support of business through […]

95% of apprenticeships agreed at full cap price, despite negotiation ‘experiment’

The government should drop its “experiment” with negotiated apprenticeship prices, after it emerged that almost every single one is currently being agreed at full cost, the boss of the Association and Learning Providers has said.   Mark Dawe wants “fixed pricing” for all apprenticeships, both for the new employer-designed standards and for the older frameworks. Every […]

More part-time apprenticeships are needed – here’s why

Apprenticeships as they stand are low-paid and inflexible, and that prices out people with care needs and children. This must change, warns Dr Carole Easton  As the government struggles to reach its target of three million apprenticeship starts, and while employers figure out how to make the most of the new levy, the needs of […]

Barnfield College could lose its apprenticeships provision

Barnfield College has been rated grade four by Ofsted for apprenticeships, which means it will lose the right to offer them under updated government rules. An inspection report out this morning rated it ‘requires improvement’ in all other headline fields, except for adult learning programmes and provision for people with high needs, where it was ‘good’. […]