apprenticeships | FE Week

Autumn statement: £200m levy pot reduction forecast by Treasury

Fresh concerns have been raised about apprenticeship funding in England, after predictions on what the levy would raise were revised down by £200 million. In the Phillip Hammond’s autumn statement on Wednesday, government forecasts suggested that the levy would raise a projected £2.8 billion in 2019/20. However the Treasury had predicted in last year’s statement […]

Autumn statement: Hammond approves 10p apprentice minimum wage rise

The national minimum wage for apprentices will rise from £3.40 per hour to £3.50 – a bigger increase than rates for most other groups – following the autumn statement. Chancellor Philip Hammond presented the self-proclaimed “balanced and prudent” budget plans to the House of Commons today. He said next to nothing about FE, but a […]

How does the directory of apprenticeship training providers work?

Last month, the government launched its directory of apprenticeship training providers, part of the raft of reforms coming in time for the introduction of the levy in May. Despite being lumbered with a seriously unsexy name, ‘Find Apprenticeship Training’ has been bigged up as the one-stop shop for any employer, large or small, which finds […]

Government adviser criticises full-time vocational courses

The whole notion of full-time vocational courses has been “challenged” by the man who chairs the Apprenticeship Delivery Board, much to the dismay of many of his colleagues in the sector. David Meller (pictured), who also called for financial help to be given to poorer learners needing to relocate, made the controversial comments in a […]

Apprenticeship figures: Are colleges skipping lunch?

There’s nothing wrong with colleges not providing apprenticeships, unless it threatens their future viability, says Ben Verinder Recent figures on the proportion of apprenticeships delivered by different types of providers appear to paint a miserable picture for colleges. Once again their share of the market has fallen; they now deliver fewer than one third of […]

Apprenticeships aren’t the only answer

A system of any extreme is unlikely to deliver the right outcomes for individuals, employers or the economy, says Gemma Gathercole There can be little doubt that apprenticeships are the hot topic in the skills world, but recent events and reports have shown us there is still little consensus on what our apprenticeship system should […]

Dear minister, it’s time to come clean on apprenticeships cuts

With the government attempting to hide or downplay the scale of their funding cuts, there is a huge gulf between rhetoric and reality on apprenticeships, says David Lammy. During the course of the parliamentary debate on apprenticeship funding cuts on November 1, I mentioned cuts 30 times. I brought up local figures and evidence from […]

It’s all about apprenticeships: what are colleges waiting for?

Colleges are sadly still proving themselves to be out of step with the seismic shift in funding priorities towards apprenticeships. Nick Boles asked a year ago at AoC Conference why they were still letting independent training providers steal their lunch. Little has changed since. In fact, the situation has worsened. I get it that colleges […]

Mining apprenticeship standards delay leaves ‘recruitment time bomb’

The mining and processing sector has been left without the means to deliver apprenticeships even though it faces a “recruitment time bomb”, sector representatives told FE Week. A trailblazer group has been working on new apprenticeship standards for over two years, but faced repeated rejections from the government – including having one plan turned down […]