Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase the uptake of degree apprenticeships.

There were over 43,000 starts at levels 6 and 7 in the 2021/22 academic year, which is an increase of 10.3% on the previous year.

The department wants to see continued growth year-on-year in degree-level apprenticeships, and want to ensure that these opportunities are accessible to young people from all backgrounds. To support this, over the next two years the department is making up to £40 million available to higher education providers through the Strategic Priorities Grant, to grow their degree apprenticeship provision and form new employer partnerships, on top of the department’s £8 million investment in 2022/23.

We are also promoting apprenticeships in schools and further education colleges to students of all backgrounds through our Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge programme. The department has published the Higher and Degree apprenticeship vacancy listing, which highlights over 350 vacancies across the country that are available for young people to apply for in 2023 and 2024. This listing is available here: https://amazingapprenticeships.com/app/uploads/2022/11/Higher-Degree-Listing-FEB-2023.pdf.

In addition, the department 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. This will help put technical and vocational education on an equal footing with traditional academic routes.

Alongside this, the department continues to work on a programme of ‘simplification’, exploring ways we can remove unnecessary bureaucracy, complexity, and barriers to engagement for apprentices, employers, and providers.