The Education Committee has today launched an inquiry in to the quality
of apprenticeships and skills training.
While many independent training providers and further education
colleges are providing excellent training, too much provision is
poor. For example, Ofsted last year reported that 37% of
apprenticeship providers were less than good.
The inquiry will examine whether employers, learners and tax
payers are getting sufficient value for the time and money
invested in training, and whether more needs to be done to detect
poor-quality provision.
The inquiry will also look to uncover barriers faced by the
socially disadvantaged in accessing skills training and consider
how Government funding can be used to remove these barriers.
Chair will use a speech at The
Skills Show in Birmingham on today (Thursday) to launch the
inquiry.
He said: “Social justice and productivity is at the heart of
the work of the Committee and high quality apprenticeships and
skills training should play a key part in helping people climb
the ladder of opportunity.
Encouraging more people to pursue training is vital to the
future health of our economy, but too much of what is on offer
does not live up to the standards that people deserve and will do
little to boost our productivity. I am particularly concerned
about the quality of training provided by some
subcontractors.
Through this inquiry we will examine not only the quality of
training but also how effective the current monitoring system is
at rooting out those courses which are not up to scratch.
We will also be looking at how Government funding should be
distributed to ensure we’re filling skills gaps, rewarding great
providers and punishing poor ones.
Finally, amid worrying reports that pursuing apprenticeships
and other forms of training is prohibitively expensive for some,
we will be looking at what can be done to ensure that they are
truly open to everyone, regardless of background.”
Terms of reference
The Committee’s inquiry will look at all forms of Government
funded apprenticeships and skills training funded by the
Education & Skills Funding Agency.
The Committee invites written submissions on the following
issues:
- The quality
of current provision, how this varies by sector, level and
region, and the impact of this on learner outcomes;
- The
effectiveness of the quality monitoring system, in particular the
role and capacity of Ofsted;
- The role of
the Education and Skills Funding Agency in ensuring value for
money, and the impact of different funding models;
- Quality and
oversight of training provided by subcontractors; and
- Quality of
training received by the socially disadvantaged, and barriers to
them undertaking this training.
The deadline for submissions is 5 January.
