Ministry of Defence: Apprentices

(asked on 7th December 2023) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 13 November 2023 to Question 71 on Defence: Training, what steps he is taking to ensure that apprenticeship programmes align with the (a) current and (b) future needs of his Department.


Answered by
Andrew Murrison Portrait
Andrew Murrison
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
This question was answered on 15th December 2023

Over 95% of non-commissioned recruits into the Armed Forces are offered an apprenticeship in conjunction with their trade training, demonstrating that apprenticeships are entirely aligned with the requirements of the role. The Civil Service aligns their apprenticeship offer to the annual Strategic Workforce Plan and in collaboration with the Heads of Professions. Defence ensures its apprenticeships are suited to the needs of the business both now and in the future, and is actively involved in ‘Trailblazer’ groups which develop the Apprenticeship Standards to match our future needs.

The majority of the apprenticeships completed by Service personnel are currently delivered at Levels 2 (GCSE) and 3 (A-Level), but they are increasingly available at higher levels up to Level 6 (Honours degree). For Civilian personnel, there are over 100 apprenticeship standards being offered from Level 2 to Level 7 (Master’s degree) across a wide range of subject areas. These apprenticeships support an individual’s ‘through career’ personal and professional development and meets the demands of the future force through upskilling and reskilling, as well as contributing positively to Social Mobility.

Having recently been awarded Platinum status for the 5% Club, the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) effective Earn and Learn capacity and capability has been nationally recognised. Additionally, all three Armed Services were recognised at the Department for Education’s Top 10 Apprenticeship Employers’ awards (Army – first place; Royal Navy – third place and the Royal Air Force – seventh place). The average military achievement rate is over 80%, and the Civil Service at 56%, both above the national average. These metrics and achievements provide evidence that Defence’s apprenticeship programme is extremely effective.

All our programmes are subject to, and have been successful in, Ofsted Inspections, and the core Civil Service apprenticeship schemes are assured for quality by both the MOD and the Cabinet Office in order to ensure additional rigour. We recognise that in the Civil Service there is more work to do to ensure that completions are as good as they can be, and work is in progress to increase achievement rates.

Reticulating Splines