Apprentices

(asked on 21st February 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he plans to take to promote apprenticeships to young people in (a) Harlow and (b) the UK.


Answered by
Gillian Keegan Portrait
Gillian Keegan
Secretary of State for Education
This question was answered on 2nd March 2020

We have introduced a wide range of reforms to improve the quality of apprenticeships and to encourage employers across England to create more high-quality apprenticeship opportunities.

Since May 2010, there have been 4,392,000 apprenticeship starts in England. Of these, 7,200 apprenticeships starts have been in the Harlow parliamentary constituency.

From August 2020, all starts will be on the new apprenticeship standards which are replacing existing frameworks. These are designed and driven by industry to create apprenticeships that are high-quality providing employers in Harlow, and across England, with the skills they need. Over 510 standards have already been approved for delivery to apprentices.

We are working hard to encourage take up of our apprenticeship programme. The third phase of the Fire it Up campaign launched in January 2020 with a planned media investment for this phase of £2.9 million. It is targeting certain groups to widen participation in apprenticeships. Our 13th annual National Apprenticeship Week took place in February 2020. Nearly 900 events were held across the country, aiming to change perceptions of apprenticeships.

In January 2018, we introduced a legal requirement for schools to give training providers the chance to talk to pupils about technical qualifications and apprenticeships, so that young people hear about the alternatives to academic routes.

We also offer a free service to schools through the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge for Schools and Colleges (ASK) programme to ensure that teachers have the knowledge and support to enable them to promote apprenticeships to their students. In the last academic year, ASK reached over 300,000 students throughout England. In Harlow, ASK has worked with 8 schools and colleges and has engaged with 840 students in the last three academic years.

In the 2019-20 financial year, funding available for investment in apprenticeships in England is over £2.5 billion – double what was spent in 2010. This is supporting employers of all sizes, across England, to provide high-quality apprenticeship opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds. We are moving smaller employers onto our award-winning apprenticeship service to give them a greater choice of training providers. They can also benefit from transferred funds from levy payers. Levy transfers can help to support new starts in supply chains and address local skills needs.

Essex County Council and the South East Local Enterprise Partnership are members of the East of England Apprenticeship Ambassador Network. They are working with local employers to take advantage of transfers to support more small- and medium-sized employers in the area to offer apprenticeships.

Reticulating Splines