Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the diversity of the (a) socioeconomic background, (b) ethnic heritage or origin and (c) gender of students who successfully secure a degree apprenticeship.

The department has seen year-on-year growth in the number of ethnic minority, female, and people from the most deprived areas starting apprenticeships at Levels 6 and 7.

That said, the department wants to see more people access degree level apprenticeships.

To achieve this, the department is making up to £40 million available to higher education providers to improve access to apprenticeships over the next two years, on top of the £8 million investment in 2022/23. The department is also increasing the care leavers bursary from £1,000 to £3,000 and continues to promote degree apprenticeships in schools and further education (FE) colleges to students of all backgrounds, through our Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge programme.

In addition, we are 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.