Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many high-quality apprenticeship standards were available in the agriculture, environmental and animal care sector in each of the last ten years.

Apprenticeships are a great way for people to receive high quality training and to begin or progress in a career in the agriculture, environmental and animal care sector. There are 40 occupationally specific apprenticeship standards currently available in this sector, including Level 3 veterinary nurse, Level 4 countryside ranger and Level 5 horticulture and landscaping technical manager.

The first employer-designed apprenticeship standards were introduced in 2014 to replace apprenticeship frameworks, as part of reforms to improve the quality of apprenticeships. Since August 2020, all new apprentices have been on apprenticeships designed against these standards. The table below shows the current number of apprenticeship standards on the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education’s (IfATE) agriculture, environmental and animal care occupational route. Three further standards are currently in development.

Employers decide which apprenticeship places they offer and when, according to the needs of their business. The table below shows the number of apprenticeship starts in the agriculture, horticulture and animal care sector subject area, across both apprenticeship frameworks and standards, since the 2012/13 academic year.

To note:

• Low means fewer than five.
• There has been a small number of starts on frameworks since their withdrawal in 2020. Framework starts are recorded where an apprentice is returning to framework apprenticeship after an extensive break.