Why has there been a fall in the number of apprentice
starts? Is the minimum wage for apprentices too low? Why is adult
learning in decline? Can the artificial barriers between higher
and further education be broken down?
These are some of the questions
the House of Lords Economic Affairs
Committee will be asking two panels of witnesses
on Tuesday 27 February 2018.
At 3.35pm the Committee will hear from:
-
Professor Alison Fuller, Pro-Director (Research and
Development), Institute of Education, University College
London
-
Dr Hilary Steedman, Senior Research Fellow, Centre
for Economic Performance, London School of
Economics
-
Antony Jenkins, Chair, Institute for
Apprenticeships.
Questions the Committee is likely to ask them
include:
-
The Government says that existing employees should
only become apprentices if they need a lot of training to do
their job. Have employers been adhering to this? Should
employers be allowed to 'rebadge' existing employees as
apprentices?
-
Half of all apprenticeship providers inspected by
Ofsted last year were rated as inadequate or required
improvement. Will the new apprenticeship standards improve
quality?
-
Should degree apprenticeships receive funding from
the higher education budget, rather than from the
apprenticeship levy?
-
Are apprentices paid enough? Should maintenance
loans or grants be available to them?
At 4.35pm the Committee will hear from:
-
Professor Sir Alan Tuckett, Professor of Education,
University of Wolverhampton
-
Professor Ewart Keep, Professor, Director, Centre
on Skills Knowledge and Organisational Performance, Oxford
University
-
Stephen Evans, Chief Executive, Learning and Work
Institute.
Questions the Committee is likely to ask them
include:
-
What are the merits of a lifetime tertiary
education loan entitlement, which could be drawn down at
different stages within a person’s lifetime?
-
Should the apprenticeship levy’s scope be widened
to cover other sorts of workplace training?
-
Could online courses become a valid alternative to
traditional forms of qualifications?
-
Do you think targets for participation or people
achieving particular levels of qualification are
helpful?
These evidence sessions will start at 3.35pm
on Tuesday 27 February 2018 in Committee Room 1 of the House of
Lords.
These sessions are part of the Committee’s ongoing
inquiry into the economics of higher, further and technical
education.
