Commenting on the report published by
the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) which
calls for urgent apprenticeship reform to improve prospects for
disadvantaged young people in the wake of the pandemic, Anne
Murdoch, college leadership adviser at the Association of School
and College Leaders, said:
“As this research shows, opportunities for apprenticeships were
already in decline before the pandemic struck, and the events of
the past year have made matters worse.
“We have heard from our college members that large numbers of
apprentices were furloughed or made redundant, and that small and
medium-sized businesses could barely afford to keep long-standing
and experienced staff, let alone offer new apprenticeship
vacancies to young people who need a lot of training and support
when entering the workplace.
“The focus on higher level skills in the Skills and Post-16
Education Bill makes it imperative that the government takes the
findings from the NFER seriously because the young people
referred to in this report are the future higher level skills
apprentices. It would be a travesty if the opportunity to improve
the lot of young people, and especially those who are
disadvantaged, is lost amongst the rhetoric of local skills
plans.
“We welcome the NFER’s research, and support the suggestion that
small and medium-sized businesses need to be better funded to
offer apprenticeships for young people.”
