Ministers are to face questions from the Lords Economics Committee this week on criticism over the apprenticeship levy, as well as the future of student loans.
The House of Lords Economics Affairs Committee will be grilling Anne Milton MP, minister of state for apprenticeships and skills, along with Sam Gyimah MP, minister of state for universities, science, research, and innovation, on Tuesday 13 March. The Committee said among the questions it will put to the ministers include how fair is the current system loans system, and how biased towards university applications is the careers advice and information provided to pupils? The apprenticeship levy will also be in the spotlight since its introduction has been followed by a decline in apprenticeships. It was introduced last April and makes employers with an annual pay bill of over £3m contribute 0.5 percent of their payroll towards a levy, for the money then to be claimed back to fund training for new or current employees. Members of the House of Lords have already criticised the levy, saying its first year in place had been “woefully inadequate” at a previous meeting of the Select Committee. Employers have been critical of the levy, with the chair of the EEF manufacturer’s body saying last month its impact had been “disastrous”. Dame Judith Hackitt said it was seen as just another tax on business, and that many firms have postponed apprenticeships due to the levy. Figures in January revealed there was 114,000 apprenticeship starts for the first quarter of the 2017-18 academic year, compared with 155,600 for the same period the year before – a drop of more than a quarter. Research from the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) meanwhile, found that more than a third of businesses are not aware of the government’s apprenticeship funding scheme. The government had set the target of creating 3m apprentices by 2020, and the Department for Education has said previously that the levy will “boost economic productivity, increase the country’s skill base and give millions a step on the ladder of opportunity”. The DfE has also said it may “take time” for organizations to adjust to the new funding system, so conclusions should not be drawn too swiftly from the initial figures on apprenticeship starts. First seen here. The post Ministers to face House of Lords committee grilling over apprenticeship levy criticism and the future of student loans appeared first on feCompare.co.uk. from https://fecompare.co.uk/ministers-face-house-lords-committee-grilling-apprenticeship-levy-criticism-future-student-loans/
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You would be forgiven for thinking that apprenticeships are doomed and that vocational learning is not the way forward if you believed all of the recent media headlines and hype.
A lot has been written and discussed in the papers and trade magazines about Department of Education states that show a 41% decline in the number of people starting apprenticeships between May and July 2017. You would be forgiven for thinking that apprenticeships are doomed and that vocational learning is not the way forward if you believed all of the recent media headlines and hype. A lot has been written and discussed in the papers and trade magazines about Department of Education states that show a 41% decline in the number of people starting apprenticeships between May and July 2017. In most quarters the reduction has been attributed to the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy, which insists that firms with a wage bill of £3m or higher pay a monthly fee into a pot for organizations to tap into if they are looking to employ apprentices. Whilst all sectors knew it was coming, there still seems a massive discord with what the Government was trying to do and what it has actually achieved. Lack of communication? Training provider engagement or lack of it? Are firms wanting more flexibility with training? These are all valid concerns and ones I tend to hear a lot when I’m talking to companies about their skills and competency needs and how they can best meet them. However, is it fair to say that the levy is failing? Recent research with engineering and manufacturing firms showed that 55% of respondents felt it was working. It’s not a resounding approval and there is obviously a lot of discontentment out there, but it is still positive. Furthermore, just over a fifth of companies questioned said the change had encouraged them to take on more apprentices which have to be a good thing. Some of the anecdotal information featured in the report centered around poor communication, a lack of understanding and confusion with all of the new types of standards being introduced. The latter was another bone of contention. Two-thirds of manufacturers clearly stated that they didn’t get the new Trailblazer Standards, with 87% of those indicating that content was a major stumbling block. This is very disappointing and probably reflects a wider issue in the way apprenticeships are delivered and training providers need to shoulder their share of the blame. Too many are still caught up with the original apprenticeship framework and not supporting their clients to explore the benefits of Trailblazers, which should, in theory, deliver a more rounded and skilled person for your business. So if it’s not purely a case of the levy not working, what has triggered the number of apprenticeships starts to take such a drastic fall? It’s difficult to pinpoint one specific reason and probably a combination of a number of ingredients. The sector may have got a little blasé in thinking that all of the marketing hype around vocational learning would deliver the numbers, neglecting the hard work and engagement with young people that is so crucial in convincing them that engineering and manufacturing is the right career for them. There is still a perception that industry isn’t a great career to go into and, whilst we are changing that, we need to do more to paint a picture of what modern day manufacturing is like. It’s robotics, it’s CAD/CAM systems, it’s precision CNC machines, it’s playing a role in making sure F1 cars get faster, airplanes are lighter, people can walk again – all played out in bright factories. That’s the message we need to get across and we need schools, college and universities to join us in getting this message out there. And the latter needs to be much more than just lip service. There has to be a real co-ordinated approach and nothing would please the sector more than for teachers to get involved with industry so they fully understand the opportunities that exist. This isn’t a riposte to education. I see it as more a tri-party collaboration where everyone plays their part. The government with the right conditions and funding, education and training providers with the right engagement and manufacturers affording young people the same opportunity they had to complete a full-time apprenticeship. At the moment this isn’t really happening, with only a third of the firms featured in the research happy to let their apprentice spend the first 18 months off-site. This has to change. The skills issue will only get more severe if we don’t have a co-ordinated approach to getting apprenticeships back on track. Let’s ALL take responsibility and bridge that gap. First seen here. The post Apprenticeship Levy…success or failure? appeared first on feCompare.co.uk. from https://fecompare.co.uk/apprenticeship-levysuccess-failure/ The CIPD’s Elizabeth Crowley, the CBI’s Neil Carberry, and EFF’s Verity Davidge discuss what the new funding model means for school leavers.
he official story, as told by Anne Milton in her conversation with Spotlight this week, is that while the number of people taking up apprenticeships fell off a cliff in 2017 – dropping by 61 percent in less than a year – the drop was mainly concentrated among lower-quality programmes. The numbers of more advanced, higher-quality apprenticeships rose. In November, FE Week reported a “huge spike” in higher-level programmes funded by the apprenticeship levy, as courses at level four and above rose by over 400 percent. This, says the government, is good news – more people are doing better apprenticeships. But within this data is another story. Supported by a range of anecdotal evidence from businesses, there is a growing concern that apprenticeship reform, particularly the funding mechanism, has reduced the number of apprenticeships available to school leavers in favor of management apprenticeships for people who have already been employed for some time. Elizabeth Crowley, the skills adviser at the Chartered Institute of Professional Development, describes this as “a pre-existing challenge within the system. Before the levy was introduced, two-thirds of apprenticeships went to existing employees. Only a small number actually went to new starters. However, the levy, or rather the incentives in the levy, appear to us to have shifted that balance further.” Crowley explains that the new funding model means the priority for employers is now to recoup their levy money efficiently. “Employers are looking for ways re-badge existing training activities to be able to reclaim their levy money.” In its research into the unintended consequences of the levy, the CIPD found that “46 percent of businesses were looking at ways to rebadge their existing training activity as apprenticeships, including leadership and management training.” “Early indications from [the DfE’s] data show that we’ve hit the lowest point since 2009/10 for the number of young people getting an apprenticeship place,” says Crowley. “The IFS has been quite clear that the changes in the incentive structures actually disadvantage young people, because previously all of a young person’s training would have been paid for, but now they’re on a level playing field – the employers can spend to reclaim the levy cost for training no matter what age the employees are.” Neil Carberry, managing director of people and infrastructure at the Confederation of British Industry, says that the CBI, too, has “anecdotal evidence from members that some of them have had to cut their apprentice numbers because of the way the levy is structured. And we have had anecdotal evidence from members that some of them are accrediting training they already did via an apprenticeship framework.” For Carberry, a significant part of the problem is that the rules mean companies often can’t spend the money they’re entitled to recoup from the levy. Most importantly, the new rules state that “the only thing that the levy can pay for is the cost of taught time – so, the money that you pay to the college or the private provider for the classroom time off the job.” Carberry quotes an example from a CBI member, “a business in a regulated sector with a £2.5m budget for their apprenticeship scheme. Their arrangement with the college [for off-the-job training] costs £300,000 a year and everything else is a capital cost – the tools for the apprentices, the trainer time, the salaries. But then the levy turns out to be £500,000 – so the cost of the apprenticeship scheme goes from £2.5m to £2.7m. And the question then becomes, can they afford that £200,000 increase in cost?” Verity Davidge, head of education and skills policy at EEF, agrees that many employers will not use their levy allowance. Of the EEF members who are levy payers, says Davidge, a third said they would have to cut training budgets, and three quarters don’t think they’ll spend their full levy allowance. And EEF, too, has seen a change in funding translate into fewer places for school leavers and more management courses. “We do see some companies who have said they’re using them within their existing workforce. The big push at the moment is around leadership and management, so a lot of the management courses have taken off quite quickly,” Davidge explains. This is a concern for EEF’s members, which comprise most of the manufacturing and engineering companies in the country, because it is in these sectors that the classic notion of a good apprenticeship – in which people learned on the job and progressed through a company for much or all of their career – was formed in the UK. “About 75 percent of our members say they still generally recruit 16 to 18-year-olds,” Davidge says, because apprenticeships have “been very much a means of securing the skills they need for the future. For our sector, a level two apprenticeship is never an endpoint. It’s always a stepping stone. Of all the apprentices at the manufacturing companies I speak to, it’s never a case that they’ve just done a level two or even just a level three, they’re on level four, five, six, they do degree-level qualifications.” “Our concern is that if so much money is targeted towards those higher-funded management apprenticeships, actually we’re not targeting it at young people, people who need level two qualifications to move on to level three. The government’s Industrial Strategy says we need technicians, well, let’s make sure there’s enough money to fund technician apprenticeships.” “There shouldn’t be an age limit on apprenticeships”, says Davidge – Neil Carberry, too, says that “the important thing is not the age of who is doing an apprenticeship” – but Davidge, Carberry, and Crawley all argue that the system of funding for apprenticeships as it currently stands is inflexible and that this inflexibility is pushing businesses to compensate, quite rationally, in this way. All three recommend what Neil Carberry calls “a flexible skills levy, so companies can fund the things that make a real difference, not specifically one type of training”. Verity Davidge says that “employers were promised ‘this is your money, and if you train apprentices, you can spend it and you’ll get back more than you put in’. Those goalposts have firmly been shifted, to a point where employers don’t even think they’re visible.” In October of last year, as management became the second most common apprenticeship subject, the DfE’s permanent secretary, Jonathan Slater, told the Public Accounts Committee that it was “very early days in the new levy, and we are watching it closely”. If the trend becomes more pronounced over time, it may grow to have a profound effect on the people who need apprenticeships most of all. First seen here. The post Is the apprenticeship levy pricing young people out of training? appeared first on feCompare.co.uk. from https://fecompare.co.uk/apprenticeship-levy-pricing-young-people-training/ It’s National Apprenticeship week in the UK, and right now, figures show there are currently 8,400 positions up for grabs, in fields spanning from education to engineering and even trainee legal roles.
Job search-engine Adzuna, estimates there are currently 8,374 advertised apprenticeship vacancies available in the UK, offering an average salary of £14,759 – significantly more than the government’s £3.50 minimum wage for young, trained workers. Where are they?Those seeking immediate employment should look to London and the South East – where the vast majority of positions appear to be clustered. Jobseekers seeking a training-scheme have 2,484 openings to choose from in the Greater London region, and 1,088 in the South East. However, outside of the capital, there are also plenty of roles to be filled. The cities home to the most advertised apprenticeship vacancies are Manchester (198), Birmingham (166), Leeds (127), Bristol (117) and Reading (110), all worth considering for potential applicants. But what field offers the best pay?Apprentices in the legal sector can expect the highest pay, with advertised wages in this area of £23,904. Engineering placements follow close behind, with an average salary of £22,512 on offer for apprenticeship schemes. Teaching placements (£20,814), consultancy positions (£18,864), and maintenance openings (£18,461) round-off the top five most lucrative apprenticeship opportunities. However, these well-paid positions are not necessarily the most readily available. The sectors currently offering most apprenticeship positions are IT (1,085), hospitality and catering (1,046), and teaching (740) while there are only 9 legal opportunities currently available in the entire country. Doug Monro, co-founder of Adzuna, said: “Increasing apprenticeships is crucial to unlocking the skills crisis currently constraining our key industries. “The government has set an ambitious target to help encourage young blood in skills shortage areas like engineering and teaching. “Publicising and filling these opportunities will be key. Developing further flexible options like graduate apprenticeships will help encourage applicants who wish to study alongside learning on the job, and this should be expanded further. “Another issue is that apprenticeships are currently clustered in the South East corner of the country, and opportunities in the other regions of the UK need to be fostered. “With university tuition fees at an all-time high, more young people are looking at alternative ways to up-skill after school, without the hefty price tag. “Apprenticeships offer a cost-effective way of training on the job as well as developing new talent in skills shortage areas. This makes them a win-win solution for both employers and job seekers.” First seen here. The post National Apprenticeship Week 2018: More than 8,400 roles up for grabs now – and the one job that pays the most appeared first on feCompare.co.uk. from https://fecompare.co.uk/national-apprenticeship-week-2018-8400-roles-grabs-now-one-job-pays/ Apprenticeships: Almost half of company managers fear Government will miss target as numbers fall3/7/2018 Almost half of the company managers think the Government will fail to hit its target of creating three million apprenticeships by 2020, new research has found.
The Government set the target in 2015 but official figures show the numbers of new apprenticeships slumped last year. Of 1,640 managers polled by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), 51 percent expressed concern that the country will need greater investment in skills after Brexit as the number of EU migrants falls. More than a fifth said delays in standards for apprenticeship schemes being approved and implemented had reduced the number of those taking them up. About 900 new apprentices have been waiting to start an apprenticeship in management since the standard is approved in August, the CMI said. When asked how the number of people taking up apprenticeships could be increased, 80 percent of managers said they wanted the freedom to spend the levy on small businesses in their supply chains. The news comes as National Apprenticeship Week begins on Monday. It suggests further problems with the government’s programme intended to boost vocational education as an alternative to university. The aims of the apprenticeship levy have been broadly welcomed by businesses since it was introduced in April last year. The CMI’s survey shows 63 percent agreed that the apprenticeship levy, which pays for the scheme, is necessary to increase employer investment in skills. However, the way the levy has been implemented has attracted criticism from many firms. All companies with a turnover of £3m or more must pay 0.5 percent of their payroll costs into a central pot for training. But the understanding of how the scheme works and the benefits companies receive from it is poor and take-up rates have fallen. According to the Department for Education’s latest figures, 114,400 apprenticeships were started in England in the three months from August to October 2017, 49,800 down on the same period the previous year. Less than half of managers surveyed by the CMI said they expect that number of new starts to increase in the next 12 months. Petra Wilton, the Director of strategy for CMI, said the Government now needs to do far more to widen access to the scheme and raise awareness about the benefits apprenticeships can deliver. Apprenticeships and skills minister Anne Milton said the survey results showed managers back the levy. “I want businesses and everyone to get the skills they need to grow and feedback like this shows that apprenticeships are helping them do just that,” she said. First seen here. The post Apprenticeships: Almost half of company managers fear Government will miss target as numbers fall appeared first on feCompare.co.uk. from https://fecompare.co.uk/apprenticeships-almost-half-company-managers-fear-government-will-miss-target-numbers-fall/ Manufacturers are divided on the success of the Apprenticeship Levy, according to the In-Comm Training Barometer.
The survey, designed to assess UK industry’s propensity for training, revealed that just 55 percent of manufacturers believe it is working. Of the 71 respondents, just over a fifth said they had taken on apprentices as a result of the Levy, which represents an increase in the face of an annual decline in the number of Apprenticeship starts over the last twelve months. These results are due to be presented to Anne Milton, Minister for Skills and Apprenticeships, during a delegation to Westminster involving 50 employers and apprentices. Gareth Jones, managing director of In-Comm Training said: “There has been a lot of debate around the success or failure of the Apprenticeship Levy and these results show the jury is still very much out. “Companies are tapping into it and we have seen a number of them use it to increase or start using apprentices, which, compared to the national reduction in starts, has to be a good thing. Encouragingly, 89 percent also said they would employ apprentices in the near future.” He added that anecdotal information received through the report indicates that managing directors and training managers believe there needs to be better communication, more transparency and an ability to use the Levy to boost other forms of training. “A good number even indicated they wouldn’t mind going back to the old days of the Engineering Industry Training Board, where every firm paid a Levy but could spend the money on all forms of training, not just apprenticeships,” said Jones. The In-Comm Training Barometer asked manufacturers about the new Trailblazer Standards – where employers dictate training according to their needs – with two-thirds saying they didn’t understand them and 87 percent of those respondents citing ‘content’ as the main stumbling block. When it comes to the appetite for different types of Apprenticeships, only 32 percent of companies are prepared to let their apprentices stay off-site for 18 months to complete their full-time Apprenticeships. “It is vital that a tri-party collaboration happens here and everyone plays their part…industry to allow individuals the time to learn, providers to deliver industry-led content at high levels with no shortcuts and Government with funded initiatives to help industry upskill and become more productive,” said Jones. “Results from the Barometer also showed that companies, especially SMEs, aren’t preparing their workforce for the next industrial revolution, with just 45 percent of respondents saying they are futureproofing their skills for Industry 4.0.” The Training Barometer was completed by small, medium and large manufacturers, supplying 12 different engineering sectors. First seen here. The post Survey finds manufacturers divided over Apprenticeship Levy appeared first on feCompare.co.uk. from https://fecompare.co.uk/survey-finds-manufacturers-divided-apprenticeship-levy/ Dame Judith Hackitt has called upon the government to rethink the Apprenticeship Levy, which she says has turned a “win-win” scenario to a “lose-lose” scenario. Dame Judith was addressing numerous captains of industry at the Semta Skills Awards in London.
During her speech, she said that the new system, which finances apprenticeships, needed urgent radical reforms to reverse the ‘collapse’ of new start apprenticeships. “We are not asking for the levy to be scrapped but it does need a rethink if it is to achieve what we all want and what the UK needs for the future. “We have seen the number of new starts collapse with many companies postponing or halting apprenticeships. What should have been a win-win has become a lose-lose. “To train the talented individuals we are going to see here tonight costs more than £27,000. Providers are reluctant to offer courses, which cost more than the cap, so there is a need to recognize the true cost of different types of apprenticeship not have one simple cap. “There needs to be greater flexibility for employers and providers to agree on payment schedules especially in sectors like ours where upfront costs are high. “The expiry date of funds needs to increase – an average engineering apprenticeship takes 48 months. “The rules on transfer of unused levy need to be relaxed – moving the current cap at 10% to 50% would stimulate levy funds being used across supply chains. “The levy should be used for what it says on the tin ¬- apprenticeships, without dilution to fund other training schemes. “And the process of approval of apprenticeship standards must be streamlined. We know that the IFA has taken time to set up, but if we are to achieve the momentum we need on apprenticeships we cannot have the delays and deferrals, which we have been seeing. “We all need to work together to make this as easy to implement as possible, not create unnecessary obstacles when we all want the same thing – more and more young people taking up apprenticeships. “These conversations need to continue elsewhere – and urgently.” First seen here. The post Apprenticeship Levy a “lose-lose” scenario appeared first on feCompare.co.uk. from https://fecompare.co.uk/apprenticeship-levy-lose-lose-scenario/ Snobbery around not going to university didn’t stop Natasha Meek from finding another way to learn.
“But you’re smart.” This was one of the many responses I received when I told tutors and peers about my wish to go for an apprenticeship. It wasn’t until I attended the college that I realized that people had misconceptions about who should take on apprenticeships and that university places were for ‘gifted people’. Unlike most families, my parents were apprenticeship advocates – they both achieved their career goals through earning and learning. In many ways, I knew that I would too. PressureHowever, there’s a great deal of pressure on A-level students to take a route that may not suit them. So much so that in January of last year I began applying to go university. I had always wanted to be a journalist but the course descriptions didn’t fit what I was after – university has to be a worthwhile choice if you’re signing up to years of student loans and debt. When I confessed to my tutor and friends that I didn’t want to spend three years of my youth at university, all of a sudden it felt like other students were part of a community of which I couldn’t be part. Classmates would ask me which university I had applied for, and as soon as I told them I hadn’t applied they would swiftly talk to someone else. I wasn’t like them anymore. Understanding how you wish to start your careerIt wasn’t until my college started an employment tutorial that I began to feel accepted again. I had a wonderful tutor who rebuilt my confidence and encouraged me to take on work experience. In every college, there should be more space for students to explore different options. Being an apprentice doesn’t mean you’re less clever, or better than anyone doing a degree. It’s about understanding how you want to learn and how you wish to start your career. In November, I became an apprentice journalist at Johnston Press. So far, the 18-month apprenticeship has been a whirlwind of wonderful and challenging events. I spend three days a week at the office, one “news day” where I visit the court and one day studying for my NCTJ qualification at an accredited college. There’s something to be said for putting your studies into practice and the value of an apprenticeship lies in the ability to seek help from experienced professionals. Meeting the PMLast week I had the opportunity to speak to the Prime Minister Theresa May about the importance of apprenticeships and how we must eliminate the snobbery that still surrounds them. “We want to make sure other routes like apprenticeships and technical education are there but also are valued,” she said. As a young person, this ambition to build a country with a workforce based on both students and apprentices really resonates with me. We need to stop treating university like a one-size-fits-all form of education. The main way to create a united country lies in education, whether you choose academia or not. Apprenticeships and degrees need to have a guaranteed value. Students shouldn’t have to end up with £60,000 of debt for studying. Nor should apprentices have to manage on minimal wages. The world is changingApprenticeships are not for short-term gain by employers and should be treated as a valid and valued option. Much like the stress of university interviews, searching for the right apprenticeship requires the same amount of resilience and determination. My advice to aspiring apprentices would be to tick off extra-curricular roles and make an effort to gain experience and useful skills. It’s time to get serious about the importance of education. Educate today’s youth and you educate tomorrow’s. The world is changing. First seen here. The post People said I was ‘too smart’ to do an apprenticeship appeared first on feCompare.co.uk. from https://fecompare.co.uk/people-said-smart-apprenticeship/ Ahead of National Apprenticeship Week, members of the House of Lords demanded an explanation for the alarming drop in apprenticeship starts following the introduction of the levy.
Members of the House of Lords discussed the alarming drop in apprenticeship starts at a select committee on 27 February, concluding that the first year of the apprenticeship levy has been “woefully inadequate.” The number of people embarking on apprenticeships fell by 35% in November 2017; and has plunged 60% since the levy was introduced. Lord Forsyth of Drumlean was keen to know why a significant portion of levy money was spent on existing employees, rather than attracting new recruits. “Only 43% of employees on a level two or three apprenticeships were aware they were doing an apprenticeship!” he said. “Was the levy really designed to send senior people on MBA courses? Perhaps I’m being naive, but I didn’t think that was its purpose!” Dr. Hilary Steedman, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics, explained, “It’s easier for providers who are struggling to recruit apprentices to offer apprenticeships to employees already in place.” Many businesses are also stepping back until the dust settles around the confusion the new standards have created. Professor Alison Fuller, Pro-Director (Research and Development), Institute of Education, said, “The levy has played a role in destabilizing the system. That isn’t to say it’s a bad thing to try and do, however, to make the employers an active partner will take time. “There has been a view from a number of stakeholders to stand back and wait until everything calms down. We have seen this result in a drop in young people starting apprenticeships.” “We are in a crisis of significant transition from frameworks to standards,” Anthony Jenkins said. “There are 200 standards, and another 300 in the pipeline. It will take another two to three years to complete.” “Is this transitional, or have we got something badly wrong?” Lord Kerr asked. “A number of bigger companies have decided to treat the levy as a tax. They will carry on with the apprenticeship schemes but don’t expect to get anything back. “A number of colleges have said that the job of setting standards is an extraordinarily bureaucratic job. If you’re saying finalizing standards will take two-three years, this transition period will last quite a long time. Should we be worried that it has increased the cost to businesses but produced a lower number of apprentices?” Not necessarily, according to some members of the committee who believe that the emphasis should be on raising the standard of apprenticeships, rather than the number of them on offer. The majority of apprenticeships in the UK are level two – just above GCSE level. The skills crisis in the UK stems from a shortage of workers at level three or four. Antony Jenkins, Chair, Institute for Apprenticeships, said, “We’re seeing a higher level of apprenticeships. It’s too early to see it definitively, but I think this is transitional and we are seeing some positives, such as higher quality apprentices.” The assumption had always been that a significant amount of levy funding would be consumed by non-levy paying businesses, i.e. those too small to reach the payment threshold. Smaller businesses typically offer more apprenticeships, however, a myriad of red tape has prevented them accessing the funds they are entitled to. Steedman said, “I am concerned that the emphasis in helping employers cope with these changes has been on levy-paying employers. These are tremendously important, but it has meant that the vast bulk of small companies who provide the majority of apprenticeships were just given a website and a number to call. It’s been made too complicated. It needs to be simplified.” Lord Kerr of Kinlochard asked when we could expect to see the 3 million new apprentices that the government promised by 2020. “We shouldn’t have the target and we shouldn’t be driven by it,” said Steedman. “I would like to see fewer apprenticeships and more apprenticeships going to young people. There are too many low-quality apprenticeships. Some young people on apprenticeships are not well served and they deserve better. Jenkins said that the target is still achievable, however, it is the institute’s priority is to ensure high-quality apprenticeships over quantity. “I had thought that was your job to deliver 3 million apprentices, Mr. Jenkins,” Lord Kerr quipped in response. “The architecture of the whole system seems to be woefully inadequate,” Lord Darling of Roulanish concluded. “Everyone has a finger in the pie but no one is in charge, and if you look at it from the viewpoint of the apprentice, who feels they are being given an inadequate training service, they have nowhere to go.” First seen here. The post House of Lords lambasts apprenticeship levy appeared first on feCompare.co.uk. from https://fecompare.co.uk/house-lords-lambasts-apprenticeship-levy/ A widespread lack of awareness over engineering apprenticeships is hampering UK industry’s ability to attract and foster the next generation of engineering talent, according to Engineering UK’s annual report.
Published ahead of Apprenticeship Week (5 – 9th March) the report claims that annual demand for people with “core engineering” skills stands at 124,000 a year, with an additional 79,000 workers needed each year in “related” roles – those that use engineering knowledge with other skills. Given the current supply of talent coming through the education pipeline, the annual shortfall is claimed to be up to 56,000. Despite efforts to encourage uptake of apprenticeship the report points to low levels of awareness, with 58 percent of 11 to 14-year-olds surveyed in Engineering UK’s 2017 Brand Monitor, saying they know very little about apprenticeships and the different types of apprenticeships available. Understanding is similarly low among parents with only 46 percent saying they know what apprentices do and 55 percent having some knowledge of the different types of apprenticeships available. What’s more, while apprenticeships have recently grown in popularity (2015 to 2016 saw a year-on-year increase in apprenticeship starts of 7.4 percent) early data for 2017 indicates numbers are dropping. This decline has coincided with the introduction of the apprenticeship levy, suggesting it is yet to have the desired effect. Commenting on the research, EngineeringUK’s chief executive Mark Titterington said: “Together with government, we…need to ensure that apprenticeships that are offered are of a consistently high quality and that they are open and attractive to a diverse range of young people, particularly girls. “The focus on what can make apprenticeships work, including looking at the impact of the levy, quality of current provision, and perceptions of young people, will be one of the topics that will be part of our new, extended research agenda”. First seen here. The post Apprenticeship ignorance driving engineering skills gap warns report appeared first on feCompare.co.uk. from https://fecompare.co.uk/apprenticeship-ignorance-driving-engineering-skills-gap-warns-report/ |
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