Too many apprentices are not getting the high-quality training
they deserve and too many people, particularly the disadvantaged,
are not being given the support they need to pursue an
apprenticeship and get on in life, says
the Education Committee in a report
published today.
The report focuses on the twin challenges of improving
apprenticeship quality and promoting social justice. While it
recognises the good work being done by many FE
colleges and independent training providers, it
calls for clearer oversight of apprenticeship training and
assessment and a tougher approach to poor quality training. Amid
a tripling in the number of approved providers, the report
recommends an expanded role for Ofsted inspections and a cap on
the amount of training that new providers can offer until they
have proved their provision is of sufficient quality.
The Committee calls for redoubled efforts to recruit
apprenticeships from disadvantaged backgrounds and help them
climb the ‘ladder of opportunity’. The report recommends a range
of measures, including the creation of more bursaries, increases
to the apprenticeship minimum wage, and increased incentives for
small and medium-sized businesses and social enterprises to take
on apprentices.
Rt Hon , Chair of the Education
Committee, said: “Many great FE colleges
and independent training providers
are doing incredible work with
apprentices. However, the reality today is that
there is not enough high-quality apprenticeship training, which
is letting down both the apprentices and
employers.Apprenticeships can offer an extraordinary
ladder of opportunity for young people to get the skills,
training and jobs they need to ensure security and prosperity for
their future.
“There has been an explosion in the number of training
providers in recent years but neither employers nor apprentices
can have genuine confidence that quality training is being
provided by these new entrants. It’s time for a cap on the amount
of training which new providers can offer until they prove they
are up to scratch. It’s time to get tough on sub-contractors, who
too often seem to be delivering training which doesn’t deliver
for the apprentice or the tax-payer, and lead providers who cream
off large management fees while providing nothing of value
themselves. Apprentice funding needs reform to ensure the
system is working with and not against employers such as in
increasing the top funding band to better match the full cost of
delivery for some apprenticeships.
“Apprenticeships can play a crucial role in achieving social
justice. But those from disadvantaged backgrounds still find too
many barriers to undertaking an apprenticeship. Travel costs
should be cut for young apprentices. We need to move towards
abolishing the apprentice minimum wage, introduce more bursaries,
and a new social justice fund is necessary to support
enterprises, charities and others that help the hardest to reach.
Much more help needs to be given to apprentices to progress to
higher and degree apprenticeships and both the Government and the
IFA should make degree apprenticeships a strategic priority.
“Only by boosting the quality of apprenticeships, and
breaking down barriers to entry, can we ensure that
apprenticeships genuinely offer a ladder of opportunity for the
disadvantaged and the chance for all to get the skills to get on
in life”.
The Committee calls for stronger enforcement and more severe
sanctions for employers who fail to pay the apprentice minimum
wage. The report says that it is vital the Government also
introduces a kitemark system for good apprentice employers to
encourage best practice and help apprentices choose the best
employer for them.
The report recommends that the Social Mobility Commission conduct
a study into how the benefits system helps or hinders apprentices
and that the Government acts upon its findings.
Addressing the need for young people to have clearer routes into
apprenticeships, the report calls on the Government to get tough
on schools that evade the Baker clause and that a proper
UCAS-style portal for technical education, skills, FE and
apprenticeships should be introduced.
