Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support service sector apprenticeships.

The department is increasing investment in the apprenticeships system in England to £2.7 billion by the 2024/25 financial year to support employers of all sizes and in all sectors, including the service sector, to benefit from the high-quality training that apprenticeships offer.

The department has removed the limit to the number of apprentices that small and medium sized enterprises can take on and have cut by a third the number of steps needed to register to take on an apprentice.

The department continues to promote apprenticeships in schools and colleges through the Apprenticeships Support and Knowledge Programme, supported by £3.2 million of investment each year. The Career Starter Apprenticeships campaign is also promoting apprenticeships at Levels 2 and 3, including Level 2 Hospitality Team Member, which offer great opportunities for those leaving full-time education. In addition, students can now see apprenticeship vacancies on their University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) hub and later this year they will be able to apply for apprenticeships on UCAS.

Apprenticeship starts by sector are published as part of the department’s apprenticeship statistics releases. The statistics released also show the number of apprenticeship vacancies published on the department’s Find an Apprenticeship service. These statistics are accessible at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships#explore-data-and-files.