Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the timetable is for the introduction of the Commercial Airline Pilot Standard apprenticeship to be introduced; what estimate he has made of the number apprenticeships that will be taken up; what plans he has to introduce targets for the number of women to take up an apprenticeship and in what locations the apprenticeship will be taught.

The Institute for Apprenticeships (IFA), an independent employer-led organisation, is responsible for the development of new apprenticeship standards including the timings for the introduction of the Commercial Airline Pilot standard. Employers are working with the IFA on the development of the Commercial Airline Pilot standard, which is not yet ready for delivery. This apprenticeship will be allocated to a funding band once the standard and end point assessment plan have been developed.

It will be for the employer group developing the Commercial Airline Pilot standard to determine the eligibility criteria and the appropriate length of the apprenticeship to ensure full competency of the standard and compliance with any licensing requirements. An apprenticeship standard must have a minimum duration of 12 months.

Apprenticeships are jobs and as such the number of apprenticeship opportunities offered, and the locations of those opportunities, will be determined by employers. An employer will also determine apprentice pay taking into account the Apprentice National Minimum Wage and the National Living Wage: https://www.gov.uk/apprenticeships-guide/pay-and-conditions.

We have not set a target for the number of apprentices that will take up any particular apprenticeship nor have we set targets for starts by women. Women accounted for 53 per cent of apprenticeship starts in 2016/17.