Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether it remains Government policy to increase BAME participation in apprenticeships by 20 per cent by 2020.

The Government is still planning to increase the proportion of apprenticeships started by those who are Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) by 20% by 2020.

Provisional data for 2016/17 showed 11.2% of starts were by people from BAME backgrounds which is up from 10.5% the previous year.

The Government has encouraged a higher representation of BAME apprentices through our marketing campaign, ‘Get in Go Far’. This has included recognising BAME apprentices in high status professional roles.

We have also launched the Apprenticeships Diversity Champions Network. The Network, comprised of 27 employers, has been developed to engage employers and communities to ensure apprenticeships are undertaken by those from a range of peoples, including BAME.

We are currently working with Local Enterprise Partnerships to help improve BAME representation in apprenticeships at a local level.