Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Sutton Trust report entitled The Recent Evolution of Apprenticeships, published on 8 December, what steps she is taking to increase the uptake of higher and degree level apprenticeships by young people from more disadvantaged areas.

The table attached shows the take-up of apprenticeships by age and home deprivation level from 2017/18 to 2022/23.

The department wants to see more young people from disadvantaged backgrounds accessing higher and degree level apprenticeships as they are crucial in driving social mobility by boosting skills and improving earnings and career opportunities.

We are promoting apprenticeships to students of all backgrounds through our Apprenticeship Support & Knowledge programme. The department publishes the Higher and Degree apprenticeship vacancy listing twice a year, which will highlight over 350 vacancies across the country that are available for young people to apply for in 2023 and 2024. The link to the vacancy listing can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-and-degree-apprenticeships.

The department wants to ensure apprenticeships are accessible for young people and is working with UCAS on the expansion of their apprenticeships service. From this autumn, young people will see more personalised options on UCAS, including apprenticeships. From autumn 2024, students will be able to apply for apprenticeships alongside an undergraduate degree application. This will help put technical and vocational education on an equal footing with traditional academic routes.

The department is also making up to £8 million available to higher education providers in the 2022/23 financial year to support them to grow their degree apprenticeship offers. We are also working with the Office for Students to improve access to and participation in higher and degree apprenticeships.

The department knows that small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are key in creating apprenticeship opportunities for those in disadvantaged areas and we have recently launched an SME pathfinder in four regions of the North of England to support employers to find and hire new apprentices at all levels.

The department provides additional funding to employers and training providers to support them to take on young apprentices aged 16 to18, and apprentices aged 19 to 24 that have an education, health and care plan or have been in care. Apprentices starting in August under the age of 25 that have been in local authority care can also claim a bursary of £3,000.

The department will continue to champion the Social Mobility Commission’s Apprenticeships Toolkit for employers, and work with some of the country’s most influential employers through the Apprenticeship Diversity Champions Network to set out how employers can better recruit and support apprentices from disadvantaged backgrounds.