Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to increase apprenticeships opportunities in the cyber technology sector.

Apprenticeships provide people with the opportunity to earn and learn the skills needed to start, progress or re-train in the technology sector, helping employers to address their current and emerging skills needs and build a diverse pipeline of talent.

The department continues to work in partnership with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and supports their newly launched strategy to make the digital economy more inclusive, competitive, and innovative by supporting the growth of Digital, Cyber, and Artificial Intelligence strategies.

We have put employers at the heart of our apprenticeship system, empowering them to design the standards they need. Employers in the digital sector have so far developed 26 high-quality digital apprenticeship standards across all levels in occupations such as Data Science, Cyber Security, Digital and Technology solutions, AI, Software Developer and Creative Digital Design.

In the 2020/21 academic year there were 18,400 apprenticeship starts in the Information and Communication Technology sector subject area, with 17,000 starts reported so far for the first eight months of the 2021/22 academic year.

The department is also encouraging all employers to offer more flexible training models. There are two flexi-job apprenticeship agencies supporting the digital sector, ensuring apprentices are ready to work on-site and can benefit from the high-quality long-term training that an apprenticeship provides.

We are working closely with stakeholders in the digital skills sector to identify opportunities for improvements that support digital growth and deliver sector growth campaigns via trusted sector voices including TechUK and BCS, to inspire and inform SMEs to recruit apprentices in the digital sector.