apprenticeships | FE Week

How to increase apprenticeship starts

The levy has had more than its share of teething problems, but it’s not time to bin it yet, says Kathleen Henehan The apprenticeship levy got off to a troubling start: figures show a 59-per-cent fall in starts during its first three months. This seems to confirm fears that it would place incentives into the hands of large employers who don’t typically […]

Ditch job-specific apprenticeship standards

Simply put, there are too many pathways, says Rob May, and they’re more than likely too specialised to be truly useful More than a few people in the sector believe that multiple regulators and a lack of standardisation will fundamentally undermine the apprenticeship reform programme. It’s an opinion I’ve shared in the past, but I’m […]

David Hughes and the AoC are wrong about degree apprenticeships

David Hughes is wrong to criticise the rise in management apprenticeships – they are opening opportunities to people who’ve never had them, argues Mandy Crawford-Lee The University Vocational Awards Council believes in the vital role of colleges in delivering college and work-based training programmes for young people and adults. We also want to champion HE […]

The DfE’s blanket BAME strategy is cloth-eared

The government’s strategy to increase BAME participation in further and higher education ignores important differences between ethnic groups, argues Safaraz Ali It is critical for all of us in the post-16 education sector to take action to widen BAME participation in apprenticeships across England, but it is only by recognising missed opportunities that we can […]

Apprenticeship funding model report provokes dismay

A long-awaited report on whether the government’s forecasting tool to predict apprenticeship starts is working has caused dismay over “seriously flawed” assumptions. Cambridge Econometrics won a £15,000 contract in March to assess the Department for Education’s apprenticeships projection tool, that looks ahead to resulting spending requirements under the new apprenticeship levy-based system. In its tender […]

Levy cash must be used to widen access to apprenticeships

The AoC’s Teresa Frith believes that the chancellor should make tweaks to apprenticeship funding, rather than wholesale changes Apprenticeships are an increasingly important part of the long-term plan for workforce development, enhanced productivity and social inclusion in England. The government’s reform programme is aimed at ensuring apprenticeships in England become more rigorous and more responsive […]

Apprenticeships are “fragile” training, research shows

Relying on employer involvement makes apprenticeships a “fragile” form of training, according to new research. A new study by Oxford University’s department for education and the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) has reviewed apprenticeship participation on a global scale, and suggest they “play an important role in supporting young people to make the transition […]

Learn from recent history to avert apprenticeship disaster

Government figures have revealed a dramatic 61-per-cent drop in apprenticeship starts between May and July, compared with the same period last year, following the levy launch. As the sector waits to see if this forces a major rethink, FE Week’s deputy editor Paul Offord looks back to another apprenticeship policy catastrophe that sparked a quick U-turn. […]

What do employers really want from an apprenticeship provider?

Employers are becoming increasingly savvy about what they want from training providers. Annette Allmark explains exactly how to make your pitch stand out and win more business It’s almost six months since the levy was introduced, enough time to make an initial assessment. After a snapshot survey in August, we discovered that employers struggle to […]