Apprentices

(asked on 16th March 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data his Department collects on the number of businesses offering apprenticeships; and what steps his Department is taking to encourage more businesses to offer apprenticeships.


Answered by
Alex Burghart Portrait
Alex Burghart
Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
This question was answered on 21st March 2022

Apprenticeships provide people with the opportunity to earn and learn the skills needed to start an exciting career or boost their skills in a wide range of industries. The department wants more employers to offer high-quality apprenticeships.

In the 2019/20 academic year, there were 66,900 unique enterprises in England, with at least one matched start for apprenticeships. Of these, small enterprises with 0-49 employees represented 71.2% (47,633), medium enterprises with 50-249 employees represented 15.3% (10,236), and large enterprises with 250+ employees represented 13.5% (9,031). Further data breakdowns for apprenticeship employers' industry characteristics is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships-in-england-by-industry-characteristics/2019-20.

To support employers in all sectors to offer apprenticeships, the department is increasing funding for apprenticeships in England to £2.7 billion by the 2024/25 financial year. We are also encouraging the use of more flexible training models, such as front-loaded and accelerated training and flexi-job apprenticeships to ensure that apprenticeships work for employers in all sectors.

We are also engaging with employers through our Join the Skills Revolution campaign. The campaign aims to increase small and medium-sized enterprises’ awareness and consideration of apprenticeships and other skills programmes, such as traineeships and T Level industry placements, to drive action to increase uptake.

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