Listen to this story Members can listen to an AI-generated audio version of this article. 1.0x Audio narration uses an AI-generated voice. 0:00 0:00 Become a member to listen to this article Subscribe As education secretary, Nadhim Zahawi stood before a sea of college leaders at the Association of Colleges annual conference in November 2021, he issued a “call to arms”: Colleges needed to increase their share of the apprenticeship market. Back then, around 30 per cent of apprenticeships were delivered by colleges. “If we really want to transform supply we will have to grow that number,” Zahawi told them. “I know colleges are more than capable of it.” Become a member for unlimited access to FE Week Our members enjoy early access to exclusive content and in-depth articles before anyone else. Get expert journalism on FE and skills, experience fewer ads, and unlock a growing range of member benefits. subscribe If you have an account, please login. Sign in
Peter Marples 25 September 2026 The reasons given for Colleges not rising to the challenge of Apprenticeships is a national disgrace and utter nonsense. Colleges are Public Organisations with a civic duty that occupy buildings paid for by the tax payer. They should use those buildings to deliver services to local employers, not operate as an exam factory – filling the seats in September and then doing little else. I have spoken to many CEO’S of Colleges and frankly they don’t understand Apprenticeships or see it as too risky. But they are happy for the private sector to take the risk. How many College CEO’s have fronted big levy presentations to employers – never seen one because they would be embarassed ! They should be made to deliver – after all they are no longer independent as they were in 1992 and if they don’t they should be closed down or merged or the leadership removed.
anon 25 September 2026 “Skills England estimates the UK will need 12,000 extra electricians by 2030, and 10,000 more plumbers and heating and ventilation workers.” In Skills England’s more recent Skills Needs Assessment, they estimate that workforce sizes for both electricians and plumbers need to be 32,400 larger in the UK by 2035. If you adjust for current devolved nation population and workforce size that means c26k electricians and c27k plumbers in England. That is future workforce size, not ‘new entrants’ as it doesn’t factor in those leaving the workforce (i.e. annual attrition). If you add in replacement demand on top of additional workers, it is considerably more than 12k & 10k by 2030 as described in this article. A word of warning too – not all provision is necessarily effective in meeting industry demand. QAR alone is not a sufficient measure of assessing performance. A certificate doesn’t install a solar array, EV charge point or heat pump, a certificated person in the workforce does.
Tony Allen 30 September 2026 I have to say what a litany of feeble, half-hearted excuses. Most of the issues listed here also apply to ITPs. The real reason is that most colleges (there are some notable exceptions), are only interested in September starts. They are not flexible enough to accommodate anything else. Not that long ago I was approached by a national chain of care homes, who wanted a provider to run their apprenticeship programme. 400 starts per year. They had approached 5 large colleges across the country. They all said they could not do it, mainly because it would involve the monitoring of some apprentices who worked permanent nights. I approached an ITP who snapped up the chance. Stop whinging colleges, and start serving your employers
Anon 12 October 2026 Colleges need to revamp their apprenticeship delivery model. Day release over a 3 year period just doesn’t work, so until they radically change their approach, they will continue to lose out to ITPs.