apprenticeships | FE Week

Mystery surrounds late Learndirect performance breach

The nation’s largest FE provider has finally been hit with a serious performance breach notice, a month after its apprenticeship achievement rates plummeted below minimum standards. But some in the sector are wondering why the notice did not appear earlier – or why it was only eventually included in the government’s notices of concern list […]

All-party parliamentary group on apprenticeships calls for pay reform

Pay for apprentices should be far more flexible, increasing in line with their experience and level of qualification, the all-party parliamentary group on apprenticeships has recommended. The APPG is launching its annual report this afternoon, in a House of Commons event attended by the new apprenticeships and skills minister Anne Milton, and her shadow Gordon […]

Exclusive : Taylor review into ‘Modern Working Practices’ calls for more flexible training

A hotly anticipated government review of employment practices is to call for apprenticeship and loan funding to be made available for “modules” and “flexible” courses, FE Week can reveal. Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of the Royal Society of Arts, was asked by the prime minister to “develop proposals to improve the lives of this country’s citizens” through […]

National charity pilots deaf apprenticeship programme

The National Deaf Children’s Society is taking on deaf apprentices for the first time in an effort to open up more apprenticeship opportunities for those with impaired hearing, reports Samantha King It will be the first time the charity has run an apprenticeship programme of any kind, taking on three level three youth work apprentices […]

Employers slam “inordinately long” development time for apprenticeship standards

Employer groups have complained about the “inordinately long time” it has taken to develop the new apprenticeship standards, some of which were first published over two years ago but are still unready for delivery. FE Week analysis has found that 16 apprenticeship standards published on the gov.uk website between April 2014 and March 2015 have […]

ESFA is jeapordising degree apprenticeships

The ESFA’s approach to the allocation of apprenticeship funding for non-levy employers undermines the apprenticeship reforms and specifically, degree apprenticeships, says Adrian Anderson The apprenticeship reforms put the employer in the driving seat. Employers develop apprenticeship standards that define the knowledge, skills and behaviours required for an occupation, and they decide which to use to […]

How to improve apprenticeship completion rates

Apprentices need to understand why completion is so important, and this needs to be led from the top, says Alan Woods The phrase ‘I’ve started so I’ll finish’ might be commonly associated with University Challenge presenters, but it also articulates a mental resolve that should be adopted by young apprentices. When it comes to the […]

Conservatives are lying about 3m apprenticeships for young people

The Conservative manifesto has repeated the pledge from 2015 to “deliver our commitment to create 3 million apprenticeships for young people by 2020.” This target description remains at best grossly misleading, and now they’re repeating it two years later, I think it’s fair to call this a lie. Why? Because in reality they are aren’t […]

C&G Group buys apprenticeship agency in effort to corner nuclear industry

The nation’s largest training provider to the UK civil nuclear industry has been bought out by the City & Guilds Group – through a deal that will also involve it taking on board an apprenticeship training agency. The purchase of Gen2, which works with more than 250 employers across six sites in Cumbria, was announced […]